A magnified view of the moon, complete with ships

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Ranjin Tokoromi Gachirin Shinzu ["True Image of the Moon, as Observed by the Dutch"]

[Creator unidentified].

[Japan, ca. mid to late Edo period (18th century to early 19th century)]. Manuscript on paper, mounted on fabric scroll.

A fanciful rendering of the face of the moon, complete with Western ships and explanatory text purporting that 'Westerners' (the Dutch) claim that black spots on the moon, when observed through a telescope, are revealed to be mountains, forests, trees, and people's houses. The title and text resemble those of Gachirin Shinkei-zu (ca. 1796), a copperplate-engraved work by Shiba Kōkan (1747-1818) thought to have been based on an engraving from Athanasius Kircher's Mundus Subterraneus (1665). The illustration here, however, is significantly different from those of Kircher and Kōkan, suggesting the unidentified creator conducted their own observation of the moon or used artistic license. A description in Kagahan no Kaiunshi (1997, p. 218) of the title, illustration, and text of a moonscroll seems to match this work. Any other Edo period moon illustrations featuring Western 'black ships' have eluded search results.

One hand-painted illustration on paper, mounted on an elegant non-contemporary sandan hyōsō scroll. Discolouration, small marks and scrapes and light soiling to paper. Housed in non-original paulownia box. Paper illustration measures 39.7 x 26.8 cm.

A magnified view of the moon, complete with ships
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