An Unusual Namban Leather Wallet

Object Description

An Unusual Namban Leather Wallet
The whole surface embossed with scenes from daily life
Leather, metal,
Nagasaki, Japan
Circa 1870’s

SIZE: 10.5cm high, 18cm wide – 4¼ ins high, 6¼ ins wide

Object Literature

Namban wallets are not unusual of course, but to find an example such as this one with embossed surfaces definitely is. It may be a wallet commemorating the first train and railway in Japan, in 1872, between Shimbashi (Tokyo) and Sakuragichō. The symbols include: Dutch Trader Boots, a Book, a Japanese Compass, Ships, a Hand (or Glove), a Winged Cherub, a Rickshaw, a Globe, a Sabre and Musket, Flags, Trumpets, a Horse, a Bowler Hat, Rifles, Swords, an Umbrella. The main symbol is the locomotive emerging from a tunnel, depicted across the top of the wallet, underneath the inner flap.

Object Details