Manufacturing Silk. Hand-colored albumen print

Japan, c. 1890s (before 1896).
Image 19.8x25.7 cm.; mount 20.8x26.5 cm.

Unidentified studio. Captioned "K 19. Manufacturing Silk" in the negative.

The image depicts the re-reeling of raw silk (agekaeshi, 揚げ返し): silk wound on small reels (kowaku, 小枠), ranged along the floor, is transferred onto a large multi-reel frame turned by a crank, to be made into hanks (kase, 綛) for export. A young woman at right turns the frame, while two others, seated at left, tend the small reels. The scene was staged in the studio, against a painted backdrop of Mount Fuji, as part of the series of Japanese trades and industries produced for Western visitors.

Binding & condition

Mounted on card (probably a split album leaf). Good: minor rubbing, verso rough from splitting.

References

Takashima Suteta, Illustrations of Japanese Life (Tokyo, K. Ogawa, 1896), reproduced in collotype with the caption "Reeling threads" [Nichibun Early Photographs, GL001036].