Title: Coffee Itinerary VOC Advertising Poster.
Artist: Gihachiro Okuyama (1907-1981).
Signed & Dated: Signed and titled in Pencil to margins.
Medium: Woodblock Print.
Paper Size: H: 53.75cm x W: 38.25cm.
Condition: Minor creases, browning & tape residue to margin/verso. Image remains strong & striking. Please refer to photos / Contact for any further questions & condition report.
Notes: A rare & remarkable print by Gihachiro Okuyama who also appears to have had a passion for documenting the Japan’s history with coffee - also publishing a book 珈琲遍歴 “Coffee Itinerary” in 1957.
It is unclear whether this woodcut was designed and printed at the time as to accompany/promote his book, however the image likely echoes the first introduction of coffee to Japan in the late 17th/early 18th Century from early Dutch/European traders. The image bears the crest of the “Dutch East India Company” (VOC) who first shipped coffee to Japan through their Dejima trading port, Nagasaki, circa 1690.
More research is required to clarify who the figures in the image are - maybe chief traders of the Dutch East India Company (VOC Opperhoofden) & Deshima port chiefs, together with their fellow representatives. Nonetheless, coffee as a printing theme has continued through Gihachiro Okuyama’s son - Gijin Okuyama - who has published his own “The History of Coffee” series, circa 1990, since his father’s death.
Title: Coffee Itinerary VOC Advertising Poster.
Artist: Gihachiro Okuyama (1907-1981).
Signed & Dated: Signed and titled in Pencil to margins.
Medium: Woodblock Print.
Paper Size: H: 53.75cm x W: 38.25cm.
Condition: Minor creases, browning & tape residue to margin/verso. Image remains strong & striking. Please refer to photos / Contact for any further questions & condition report.
Notes: A rare & remarkable print by Gihachiro Okuyama who also appears to have had a passion for documenting the Japan’s history with coffee - also publishing a book 珈琲遍歴 “Coffee Itinerary” in 1957.
It is unclear whether this woodcut was designed and printed at the time as to accompany/promote his book, however the image likely echoes the first introduction of coffee to Japan in the late 17th/early 18th Century from early Dutch/European traders. The image bears the crest of the “Dutch East India Company” (VOC) who first shipped coffee to Japan through their Dejima trading port, Nagasaki, circa 1690.
More research is required to clarify who the figures in the image are - maybe chief traders of the Dutch East India Company (VOC Opperhoofden) & Deshima port chiefs, together with their fellow representatives. Nonetheless, coffee as a printing theme has continued through Gihachiro Okuyama’s son - Gijin Okuyama - who has published his own “The History of Coffee” series, circa 1990, since his father’s death.
Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC)
