A Member of Commodore Perry's Party, Western Woman on a Horse

About this artwork

Research in Progress

Art Historical Context

**A Member of Commodore Perry Party, Western Woman on Horse** *Yoshitora Utagawa (Japanese, active 1850–1870), 1861, Print* *Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Hamill and* This striking woodblock print by Yoshitora Utag captures a Western woman riding horseback, identified as a member of Commodore Perry's expeditionary party. Created in 1861, just eight years after Perry's "Black Ships" arrived in Japan in 1853–1854, the artwork reflects the profound cultural shockwaves of that historic moment. Perry's fleet forced Japan to end over two centuries of national isolation (sakoku), signing treaties that opened ports like Yokohama to foreign trade and influence. Yoshitora, a prolific artist from the renowned Utagawa school of ukiyo-e (pictures of the floating world), specialized in vibrant, detailed prints depicting everyday life, actors, and—post-Perry—exotic foreigners known as *yokuhama-e*. Though the exact printing technique is unspecified, these multicolored nishiki-e woodblocks used intricate carving and layered pigments to bring dynamic scenes to life, blending curiosity with subtle exoticism. The image of the poised rider symbolizes Japan's first glimpses of Western women, often idealized or sensationalized in Japanese art as symbols of modernity and change. Held in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's collection, this print offers a window into the Bakumatsu era's tensions, bridging traditional Japanese aesthetics with the dawn of globalization. It invites visitors to ponder how art documented—and shaped—cross-cultural encounters. (198 words)