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Title: [Asian decorative motifs]
Description: Illustrated trade card depicting Asian decorative motifs, including bamboo, a crane, and a fan. In the left a dragonfly flies over a stalk of bamboo. In the center is a large Asian character, possibly meant to be Chinese, surrounded by a geometric border. In ther right, a crane stands on one leg among reeds and a hand-held fan is spread open., Title supplied by cataloger., Date based on medium and content., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Misc [1975.F.1034]

Title: Omai a native of Ulaietea, brought into England in the year 1774 by Tobias Furneaux esqr. commander of his majesty's sloop Adventure Humbly inscribed to the Right Honble John Earl of Sandwich, first commissioner for executing the office of the Lord High Admiral of Great Britain and Ireland; &c. &c. &c. By his lordship's most devoted humble servant, Fras. Bartolozzi
Description: Full-length portrait of Mai (known as Omai in Britain,) a young indigenous man from Raiatea, who became the second Pacific Islander to visit Europe. Mai is depicted with long, black hair, barefooted, attired in a white robe, and has tattoos on his hands. He holds a feather taumi (gorget) in his right hand and a carved wooden headrest, which may have doubled as a stool, under his left arm. Mai acted as an interpreter to James Cook and joined the crew of the H.M.S. Adventure, traveling to London in 1774. During his two-year stay in England, he became admired by London high society and painted and sketched by a number of artists including Sir Joshua Reynolds, William Hodges, William Parry, and Nathaniel Dance. Mai returned to Tahiti in 1776., Title and date from item.
Creator: Bartolozzi, Francesco, 1727-1815, engraver
Date: October 25, 1774
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **portrait prints - O [(3)5750.F.180a]

Title: Day's soap does it Washee, washee, see him rub on his washboard in the tub; see him wash and smile with glee for he's from hard labor free; with Day's soap his work is done when his rivals just begun
Description: Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyrighted 1887 by Day & Frick., Racist metamorphic trade card showing a caricaturized Chinese man laundry worker washing a sheet on a wash board in a washtub. Includes a tab that when pulled lifts the washer's arms up and down to reveal the text "Day Soap" on the wash board. The man wears his hair in a queue and is attired in a long-sleeved, blue collared shirt with buttons down the front, blue pants, and slip-on, cloth shoes. He smiles and looks to the right. The tub rests on a table beside a bar of soap, labeled “Day’s Soap.” On the ground behind the table is a basket of laundry. Sheets hang on a drying line. In the background, the wall has Chinese-stylized decorations including a gold wallpaper depicting birds and fish and a purple and gold wall hanging that reads, “Day’s Soap.” Peter Day founded the Day & Frick soap manufactory firm in 1886. He retired as president of the firm in 1917., Purchased with funds from the Walter J. Miller Trust for the Visual Culture Program., RVCDC, John D. Avil founded the Avil Printing Company (also known as John D. Avil & Co.) in West Philadelphia and managed it from the early 1860s until his death in 1918.
Date: [1887]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Day's [P.2012.62.8]

Title: [Scene on Atlantic City boardwalk near Lindley's baths]
Description: Scene depicting the busy Atlantic City boardwalk with many promenaders. Several businesses line the boardwalk including a photographic studio, Adams Bath Houses, Lindley's Baths, and Shimamura & Company. Through the glass storefront window at Shimamura & Co., numerous vases and framed works are visible. Men, women, and children promenaders include two African American girls attired in white dresses and hats; three women attired in Japanese kimono carry parasols and one carries a fan; members of a band; and a white boy carrying a sign for "Cleveland's Iron Pier." In the left, a large American flag flies. An observation tower with people is seen in the background. Shingo Shimamura, along with several Japanese partners including Y. Mayebara, and Takemura, opened Shimamura and Co. in 1888 at Tennessee Avenue and the Boardwalk, Atlantic City. The store sold Japanese art and decorative arts. In 1906, Shimamura opened another store at 579 Broadway, New York City., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from attire of the people., Purchase 1989., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1895]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - unidentified - Cities [P.9260.590]

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