Dutch mansions in Dejima, Nagasaki (Nagasaki Dejima Rankan no zu)

Unknown

Handscroll painting of the Dutch mansions in Dejima, Nagasaki (Nagasaki Dejima Rankan no zu), painted in ink and colours on silk in Japan during the 18th century. During the 1630s, Japan’s ruling shogunate began to tighten restrictions on foreign trade and interaction, and in 1641, the Dutch were ordered to relocate to Dejima, a small artificial island in the bay of Nagasaki. This painting shows the everyday activities of the Dutch traders on Dejima. Prohibited from crossing the bridge to the mainland without permission, the Dutchmen are shown smoking and playing billiards while their Indonesian servants tend to the gardens. From comparison with similar works, it is likely that this was originally part of a larger handscroll painting showing more of the compound. Preserved as two fragments, the painting was conserved and remounted as a handscroll in 2015 with the support of the Friends of the Chester Beatty.