Artifacts of Diplomacy: Smithsonian Collections from Commodore Matthew Perry's Japan Expedition (1853-1854)

Abstract

Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry's Japan Expedition (1853-1854) not only began a tradition of "gunboat diplomacy" so often associated with mid-nineteenth century American expansionism, it also initiated a new collection of "artifacts of diplomacy"-historical, scientific, and ethnological materials that would become the first acquisition of Japanese artifacts by the former United States National Museum, now the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.Commodore Perry practiced traditional diplomatic gift exchanges. The ethnological artifacts described in this catalog are, in the main, the reciprocal gifts to the United States government, President Franklin Pierce, the Commodore himself, and other members of the expedition party by Japanese government commissioners and by officials of the Kingdom of Ryukyu. They were received prior to and following the signing of The Treaty of Kanagawa on 31 March 1854. Also included are artifacts purchased at bazaars in Hakodate and Shimoda by some members of the expedition party for the specific purpose of expanding the collections of the United States National Museum. Descriptions of all known materials collected by individual expedition members as well as expedition-related graphics now in the Smithsonian Institution collections also have been included here.This study of the Japan Expedition collection, through the compilation of a catalog, provides a comprehensive chronicle of the collections. The chronicle records the expedition party's collecting activities, scenes of gift exchanges, and the assessments of the gifts, both positive and negative, made by Commodore Perry and others. It includes a history of previous exhibitions of portions of the collection. The catalog contains extensive documentation of the artifacts, with full descriptions based on both published and archival sources in English and Japanese. These descriptions, combined with the provenance of each object, provide a unique profile of mid-nineteenth century, preindustrial Japanese material culture.