Albumin print, Japan, hand-colored, Osuwa Temple, Nagasaki, circa 1890

This historical photograph shows an excellent, culturally historically fascinating, and masterful example of early Japanese photographic art from the late 19th century during the famous Meiji period, taken as an original albumin print mounted on cardboard. The albumin process used was the dominant photochemical technique of that era, in which egg white was used to bind the light-sensitive silver salts to the paper.

The motif shows the famous Suwa Shrine, in the English-speaking world of that time often referred to as Osuwa Temple, in Nagasaki. In the foreground, several individuals in traditional clothing can be seen, including Buddhist monks or priests, as well as a mounted samurai or police officer, lending the scenery enormous historical depth and documentary power. These noble photographs were typically produced by the large commercial photo studios in Yokohama, Nagasaki, or Kobe for exclusive souvenir albums of wealthy Western travelers. The absolute highlight of this artwork, composed in landscape format, is the elaborate hand-coloring. Japan was the absolute world leader in this precise hand-coloring technique, used to create the impression of a lifelike color photograph.

This spectacular collector's item originated in the period between 1880 and 1895. The rarity features the photograph dimensions of 26,5 x 20,5 cm mounted on a 27,9 x 21,9 cm original cardboard backing and is in good age-appropriate condition with a beautiful, even, slight toning. It shows a waviness of the cardboard due to storage, partially somewhat yellowed cardboard margins, as well as the original white caption at the bottom margin: "B223 Osuwa-Temple, Nagasaki."