Kakemono familie Cock Blomhoff

A Dutch woman on Deshima. Kakimono (wallscroll), c. 1817. Everyday life for the Dutch at the trading post of Deshima was bound by strict rules. For example, no European women were permitted. Nevertheless, one Dutch head, Jan Cock Blomhoff, brought his wife to Japan in 1817. Within a few months the Japanese authorities had sent her home to the Netherlands. There, in 1822, she died without ever having seen her husband again. This rare appearance of a European woman in Japan made an enormous impact. Titia Cock Blomhoff became the subject of numerous Japanese portraits. Here she is shown together with a Javanese servant and a European wet-nurse. The wet-nurse is carrying the woman's son wrapped in a Japanese shawl. The silk painting is pasted on paper.