This collection of photographs from the Detroit Publishing Company Collection includes over 25,000 glass negatives and transparencies as well as about 300 color photolithograph prints, mostly of the eastern United States. Subjects strongly represented in the collection include city and town views, including streets and architecture; parks and gardens; recreation; and industrial and work scenes. [From the LOC website

Tags: Asia, asian, bw, Detroit Publishing Company, Japan, Japanese, kimono, ladies, music, musical instruments, musicians, photograph, women

Tags: .jpg, color, daily public domain, DPD, Edo period, free, graphics, illustration, image, Japan, Japanese, kimono, lady, painting, PD, print, public domain, Torrii Kiyonobu, Wiki Commons, Wikipedia, woman

"Frost" by Bertha Boynton Lum (1869-1954), c. 1920. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LOC #LC-DIG-ppmsca-10484.

Bertha Boynton Lum (1869-1954) was an American artist who was so influenced by Japanese art that she moved to Japan for a time. She studied the techniques of traditional Japanese arts and painted and made prints of scenes of Japan and Japanese life.

This print seemed appropriate for this time of year. It is from c. 1920 and is called Frost. I found it in the Library of Congress digital collections. Click on it to view it / download it full-sized.

Peace,
Bekka

Tags: .jpg, 1920, Bertha Boynton Lum, color, daily public domain, DPD, free, graphics, Japan, Library of Congress, LOC, nature, painting, PD, print, public domain, snow, tree, Winter

This delightful illustration is from a 1909 book [yet another illustrated pre-1923 text I found on Project Gutenberg] called Child-Life in Japan and Japanese Child Stories, by Mrs. M Chaplin Ayrton [Edited by 'William Elliot Griffis, L.H.D.' Sorry, but I am ignorant of what 'L.H.D.' stand for...]. No names for illustrators is given, just a note that the pictures and engravings are by ‘Japanese Artists’.

Here is a very Japanese style illustration by one of those ‘Japanese Artists’ of two boys playing with tops. Click it to see and download it full-sized.

Two boys playing at dueling tops, from _Child-Life in Japan_ by Mrs. M. Chaplin Ayrton, 1909.

Project Gutenberg is an excellent source of PD images, if you have patience. Try the advanced search feature and ask for texts available in HTML because these will often have illustrations. Unless you are looking for a particular subject, just browse and see what you find.

Peace,

Bekka

Tags: 1909, boys, bw, children, daily public domain, DPD, graphics, Japan, PD, Project Gutenberg, public domain, tops, toys

This will be a quick post, as I am already late in posting it. [That's what I get for dozing off early in the evening and failing to schedule it beforehand. Now I'm up in the middle of the night, posting.] But today I began reading the novel Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. A lush book, really; I don’t know about the movie – I haven’t seen it, but if it is as lush as the book, it would be a feast for the eyes.

Anyway, this leads me to today’s Daily Public Domain image, a print by the famed 19th c. Japanese artist, Utagawa Hiroshige, entitled Kawachirõ. It was created between 1837 and 1844; and depicts a party at a teahouse, where the men are being entertained by three geisha. I found it among other prints by Hirogishe in the Library of Congress digital collections. Click to see it full-sized.

Kawachiro, by Utagawa Hiroshige, created between 1837 and 1844. Library of Congress Digital Collections, LOC # LC-DIG-jpd-01272.

And now I will go back to the lushness of my book, and hopefully, the peace of sleep. Peace,

Bekka

Tags: Asia, color, daily public domain, DPD, free, geisha, graphics, image, Japan, Library of Congress, LOC, PD, print, public domain, tea, teahouse

The two images I am giving you today are by Helen Hyde [1868-1919], an American etcher and engraver who made beautiful color woodblock prints of life in China and Japan at the beginning of the 20th c. She lived in Japan from 1903 and 1913, learning Japanese woodblock printing techniques, during which time she also made journeys to China and India. Many of  Hyde’s gentle color prints are sweet and touching depictions of children, and I am proud to share a couple with you [The second one she created after returning to the United States]. Please click on a picture to see it full sized.

The Honorable Mr. Cat, 1903, by Helen Hyde. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LOC# LC-USZC4-11474.

Blossom Time in Tokyo, 1914, by Helen Hyde. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LOC#LC-USZC4-6829.

The originals reside in the Library of Congress.

Peace,

Bekka

Tags: blossom, cat, children, color, daily public domain, DPD, festival, free, graphics, holiday, image, Japan, Library of Congress, LOC, PD, print, public domain, woodblock

Today’s Daily Public Domain images are of antique foreign postage stamps, all found on Wikipedia Commons. Great for decorating travel journals. Want some real postage stamps? I have grab bags of vintage US postage stamps for sale in my shop [along with other grab bags - Check it out!]

Stamp from the Spanish Sahara, 1924.

Stamp of Imperial Japan, 1922.

Stamp from Ireland, 1922.

Stamp from Egypt, 1914.

If you like what you find here in my blog, please write me a note!

Bekka

Tags: 1914, 1922, 1924, asian, camel, color, daily public domain, DPD, Egypt, Eire, free, graphics, image, Ireland, Japan, Mt. Fuji, PD, postage, public domain, pyramids, stamp