© Copyright 2025 - The Library Company of Philadelphia, 1314 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. TEL (215) 546-3181 FAX (215) 546-5167
For inquiries, please contact our IT Department
- Title
- Costume guerriers Japonais
- Description
- Interior view of the Japanese display, including samurai armor, at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. Shows a mannequin attired in Japanese samurai armor, carrying a bow, and mounted on a horse. In the left is another mannequin attired in samurai armor stands and holding a spear. A sign reading "Couvernement Du Taichiou De Satsousma" rests at the foot of the display. In the right is a norimono, a Japanese palanquin or litter. Nets hang down from the ceiling. In the left background is a partial view of more objects, including another mannequin. The Exposition, held April 1-November 3, 1867, celebrated the technological and economic progress of the Second French Empire, as well as originated the classification system followed by proceeding international exhibitions. It was the first time Japan exhibited in a national pavilion at a world’s fair., Title printed on mount., Date inferred from content., Blindstamped on mount: Concession Unique., Yellow mount with rounded corners., Photographer's imprint printed on verso: M. Leon & J. Levy Ferrier, Sucrs. de Ferrier pere et fils et Soulier, 113, Boulevard de Sebastopol, 113 Paris. Vues sterescoptique sur verre de L'Exposition Universelle de 1867 ainsi que de tour les Pays, Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
- Creator
- M. Leon & J. Levy
- Date
- 1867
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Michael Zinman World's Fairs Collection - Stereographs [P.2008.36.40]
- Title
- Nanki-Poo
- Description
- Racist trade card promoting thread manufacturer J. & P. Coats and depicting a character from The Mikado or, The town of Titipu, the opera by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. Shows the white man actor in character as Nanki-Poo. He stands holding an open fan with his hands up. He wears a blue decoration in his hair and is attired in a blue-striped coat, red shirt, blue and white obi, red tunic, and sandals. A branch of pink flowers is overhead. An oversized spool of thread labeled, "J & P. Coats 200 yds 50 best six cord," is in the left. Brothers James Coats, Jr. (1803-1845) and Peter Coats (1808-1890) established the firm J.&P. Coats, a thread manufactory. Their brother Thomas Coats (1809-1883) joined the firm soon after. By 1840, three quarters of the British company’s business was with the United States. In 1896, the firm merged with thread manufacturer Clark & Co. and formed J. & P. Coats, Ltd. In 2015, the firm was renamed, “Coats Group.”, Title from item., Date deduced from the history of the advertised business., Text printed on recto: The flowers that bloom in the spring, tra la. breathe promise of merry sunshine, as we merrily dance and we sing, tra la, we welcome the hope that they bring, tra la, of a summer of roses and wine. And so, Coats' spool cotton is always a thing as welcome as flowers that bloom in the spring., Advertising text printed on verso: White, black and colors for hand and machine. J & P. Coats' Best Six Cord Thread.
- Date
- [ca. 1880]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Trade Cards - J. & P. Coats [P.2024.38.2]
- Title
- A Japanese family. A pretty and interesting cut-out
- Description
- Print depicting a Japanese man, boy, and two women, which could be cut out and made into a paper toy. In the left, shows a Japanese woman attired in a red kimono with green trim tied with a black and yellow obi and wearing her hair up and adorned with a kanzashi hair ornament. She looks left with her left hand at her waist and holds a fan in her right hand. In the right at her feet are white flowers. The Japanese man wears a chonmage hairstyle, which is shaved in the front with a top knot, and is attired in a blue, green, and white kimono and slip on shoes, and has a sword in a scabbard at his waist. He stands with his face in right profile. In the top right, the boy, attired in a white and red kimono and socks, sits on the ground beside a white flower. In the bottom right, a Japanese woman, attired in a blue kimono with gray trim tied with a black obi and wearing her hair up and adorned with a kanzashi hair ornament, sits on the floor with her left hand resting on her leg and her right hand up. She is surrounded by two vases, a black stand with a teapot on top, and a decorative screen depicting a bird. In the top center, shows a diagram depicting how the figures could be cut out and flaps used to stand them upright., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyright 1910, by the North American Company., Published in the March 6, 1910 Sunday supplement of the North American newspaper., Text printed on recto: Directions: Paste this sheet upon a sheet of heavy cardboard: let it dry thoroughly, and cut out pieces around heavy black lines. To make figures stand, bend the flabs backward at the dotted lines, A, B, C, D, E, F, as in the diagram. When ready, stand the figures up and arrange to suit yourself., RVCDC, Larry Semon (1889-1928) worked as a cartoonist for Philadelphia and New York newspapers before becoming an actor, director, producer, and screenwriter during the silent film era.
- Creator
- Semon, Larry, 1889-1928
- Date
- 1910
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC- Paper toys - Japanese [P.2024.71.2]

