Philipp Franz von Siebold (1796-1866)

Ambitious to Surpass all Others in Creating the Finest Collection and Most Comprehensive Anthology of Japan

Siebold was a German who worked as a doctor in the Dutch factory at Deshima from 1823 to 1829.  He was instructed to collect as much material as possible about Japan by the Dutch government, and was readily able to do so, for 'Dutch Learning', or ‘rangaku’ (蘭学) was becoming all the rage in Japan at the time, and his lectures in medicine and natural history were attended by eager listeners, through which he was able to build an extensive academic network.  

As Josef Kreiner (professor at Bonn University and one of Germany's leading Japanologists) relates in his discussion of Siebold (1996), Blomhoff favorably introduced Siebold to local officials, and was allowed to move about relatively freely, establishing a clinic and school close to Nagasaki at Narutaki (鳴滝), where he treated patients, provided education, and maintained a botanical garden.  He preferred to receive payment in kind for his services: special objects for his growing ethnographic collection or seeds and plants for his garden.  He used his consultations as opportunities to frequently ask visitors questions thereby collecting a good deal of information from varied sources about Japan in a short time. 

Siebold also made frequent use of the services of Kawahara Keiga, who recorded through his meticulous illustrations a great variety of plants, animals and landscapes, many of which Siebold used in his treatises on native flora and fauna.  Keiga also accompanied Siebold in 1826 to Edo on the official visit to the Shogun, assiduously illustrating along the way and at Edo.  

Siebold also collected the works of many other leading artists of the day.  He acquired some marvelous paintings by Katsushika Hokusai, as well as illustrated books by him (Von Siebold and Japan, pp. 162-171; 174-175).  He intentionally collected diverse works and images including: vivid images of crustaceans by Mori Shunkei (森春渓), landscapes by Yokoyama Kazan (横山崋山), monsters by Toriyama Sekien (鳥山石燕),  human and animal cartoons by Kuwagata Keisai (鍬形蕙斎), plants and insects by Kitagawa Utamaro (喜多川歌麿), picturesque villages and temples by Kawamura Bunpo (河村文鳳), dramatic monochrome compositions by Tatebe Ryotai (建部凌岱), for example, and other illustrated works, including books on flower arrangement (for the above artists see examples in Von Siebold and Japan, 1988).  Many of these images presage artistic trends that would arise in Europe and the Americas in the years to come.  

Besides paintings and books, Siebold collected other things with prescient designs, including small Japanese playing cards known as 'karuta' (kartenspiel) with highly abstract images (200 Jahre Siebold, 1996, pp. 96-97); also diagrams similar to 'dissection puzzles'/'tangram' charts with cubist reminiscent illustrations, called 'chie-no-ita' (智慧の板,  which, while it is claimed there are more ancient precedents, the sudden re-appearance of them in the later 19th century in the West is most likely due to the availability of Japanese examples at that time); and numerous examples of 'katagami' (型紙) in the form of pattern sample books (kire-mihon-cho 裂見本帳), panels of pattern samples (kire-mihon 裂見本),  and actual individual textile samples (kire-ji 裂地), as well as paper prints of patterns, which are well-researched as to having had a major impact on modern graphic design (see scattered examples 200 Jahre Siebold, 1996).

But the numerous paintings, books, and objects with artistic value he obtained comprised but a fraction of Siebold's collecting. His collecting of biology specimens, comprised of thousands of plants and seeds and hundreds of stuffed animals, is well-known; he also collected intriguing commercial products, manufactures, and models, such as agricultural contraptions and architectural models built in fine detail  (e.g. a  shoka 商家 1:10 scale and machiya 町家) as well as precisely drawn architectural prints (e.g. of a yashiki  屋敷 in Von Siebold and Japan, 1988, pp. 112-113), and paintings of houses in the early stages of construction (which remind one of the rise of so-called 'balloon framing' in America just around this time after Siebold's return).  One of the most surprising Japanese healthcare related products that Siebold brought back to Holland, were samples of commercially packaged and sold powdered toothpaste (薬歯磨  200 Jahre Siebold, 1996, p. 74), a Japanese invention that has received little scholarly attention.

In 1827 the Dutch government instructed Siebold to return to the Netherlands with his collections.  Ships were sent from the Dutch East Indies to Japan, where the collections were brought aboard in the late summer of 1828, but just at that moment, a hurricane hit Nagasaki, and some of the collection was marooned and thereby checked by the Japanese authorities, whereupon maps were found. Fortunately, most of the collection on another ship was able to leave Japan in February,1829 (with, by the way, Fisscher on board). Siebold, however, was arrested on suspicion of spying (as was Kawahara Keiga due to his association with Siebold), as the smuggling out of maps was an offense that carried severe penalties.  After almost a year of house arrest, Siebold was told to leave Japan for life, and finally sailed for the Netherlands, arriving there in July, 1830 (Keiga too, was released earlier but no longer was to work in Dejima). 

Siebold, now in Holland, recommended that the Dutch state purchase his collection in the following year; other countries, such as England and Russia, were eager to get their hands on such collections, including Fisscher's objects, so it was important to get ahead of them (Keblusek, p. 15).  Siebold probably also feared that if foreign scholars had access to such objects in their own country, they might ‘steal his thunder’, so as to speak, regarding his planned tomes on Japan. In April 1831, King William I promised that his collection would be purchased by the state, and the collection was stored in Siebold's house in Rapenburg in Leiden, to be finally open to the public in 1837, as the 'Collection von Siebold' (today the site of the Japan Museum SieboldHuis).  Between 1847 and 1859 the collection was located on the Paardensteeg (a street in central Leiden that no longer exists) and called the ‘Japansch Museum', from there in 1860 the collection moved to Breestraat (also in the city center), under the name 'Rijks Japanese Museum Von Siebold' and finally in 1864 the collection was renamed and reconstituted as the 'Rijks Ethnographic Museum' in a building on the Hogewoerd (in the southeast of the city center), according to Keblusek.  

Thus in The Netherlands, from the late 1830's, long before Japan was officially 'opened', leading members of society who directed the course of politics and culture---heads of state, scholars, and artists---had already visited Japanese collections containing the same kinds of art and ideas that would cause the great rush of interest in Japan decades later.  As Van Gulik, Director of the National Museum of Ethnology at Leiden notes, 

"Both Von Siebold's Japanese Museum and his estate ‘Nippon' became widely known. The first page of the guest book of Von Siebold's museum is inscribed with the signatures of the Czarevitch Alexander of Russia (later Czar Alexander II) and of his uncle the Prince of Orange, later to become King William II of The Netherlands.  Many others from the Courts of Europe followed and hundreds of scholars, artists and interested visitors from far and wide came to visit the museum.  ...  At his residence 'Nippon' many hundreds of plant specimens brought over from Japan were cultivated and thus first introduced to Europe."  (Von Siebold and Japan, 1988, p. 17)

Surely that exposure to Japanese images and ideas, which was to have such an impact in the decades to come, must have had an influence on the minds of those who saw it earlier, if not openly harped upon by artists or scholars, nor recognized by the general public during those years. 

The Public Display of Japanese Art

 A Shift from Royal Patronage to Private Enterprise in the Netherlands

From 1830, a general economic downturn in the Netherlands coincided with the Belgian revolt in the same year, which dragged on for years, and lead to deep cuts in the purchasing budget of all museums.  Then, in 1840, King William I abdicated the throne, and his son William II became king, who was not much interested in either art or science.  Under his reign, in 1848, the Dutch government was, unwillingly, given full responsibility for all national museums and their collections. Henceforth they were simply to be maintained, but no more than that, and the golden era of collecting by the state, of active royal patronage, was now over, though royal family members would continue to purchase Japanese goods for themselves.  

Dirk Boer: Entrepreneur par Excellence

Dirk Boer, mentioned earlier as a private supplier of exotic Japanese items to the Royal Cabinet of Rarities, was the man who would step in after King William I to play the main role in the public promotion (and sale) of Japanese art, and in the education of the public regarding Japanese culture, society, and geography.  For that reason, his person and enterprises deserve to be examined in some detail, for which we will rely primarily on Marika Keblusek's work.  

Starting as a house servant to Baron Cornelis Van Zuylen van Nijevelt (1777-1833) in The Hague, where his wife also was employed, Boer simultaneously engaged in profitable commercial activities on the side, with the financial support of the Baron, though eventually establishing his independence as a merchant and shop owner.  Boer was a resourceful entrepreneur and a skillful social climber, one to which those who met him must have taken a genuine liking to.  Through his employer, relatives of his wife, and other acquaintances, he eventually developed an extensive network of business associates and contacts.  Keblusek believes he must have met Blomhoff, for instance, in the house of the Baron after Blomhoff’s return from Japan in 1823, and heard much about Japan.  But that he was already interested in Japan from years earlier can be determined, for instance, from his sending to his wife, 4 chests of Japanese goods in 1818.  We discussed an example of Boer’s offerings to the Cabinet of Rarities in 1828.  But already in 1825, he had delivered such goods to the Cabinet, and between 1828-31 his name was frequently mentioned in the administrative records.  

Charisma and Contagious Enthusiasm for Japan

Dirk Boer seems to have had a genuine passion for Japan.  Japan was an endearing theme for him throughout his adult life, a fascination perhaps magnified by the fact he had never been there, and thus could be idealized by him as a land of his dreams.  It must have been a contagious enthusiasm that won so many people over to supporting his enterprises.  He not only wanted to sell Japanese goods, which he was good at, but also to share his passion for Japan with a wider audience, and one might say 'enlighten' them.  In later years, at the height of his success, writing in his guide for his ‘Japanese and Chinese Panorama’, we get a sense of Boer's heartfelt admiration for the country.  As Kublusek relates, Boer spoke of Japan “in lyrical terms” describing, for instance, the view of Mount Fuji, which he had never seen, as (we have taken the liberty here to roughly translate and arrange it as verse): 

“A heavenly valley, where the neat rice blooms with promise,

 And the proud crown of the fiery peak, still shrouded with snow, 

Is joined by a collection of mountains at its astonishing height, appearing as so many hills. 

The beautiful fields and the clearest of skies---everything, 

Everything gathers here to give the viewer a striking fantasm of a spring morning in Japan.”  (Keblusek, p. 29)

Patriotism and pride mixed with an admiration of Japan into one: it was the Dutch who were the only ones allowed to set foot in Japan, who were welcomed at the Japanese court in Edo.  Only “our dear flag" could be raised and respected there: “we are the only people of our entire globe who may enjoy this honor”.  The Dutch were treated with “friendship and trust, and are deemed worthy to become exclusive owners of those precious products which are sought in vain elsewhere.” 

Retail Success, Expansion, and Royal Recognition: 'Japansche Winkel' and later 'Japansch Magazijn'

By 1827, Boer had set up his Japanese Shop, 'Japansche Winkel' by securing financing from Ennius Harmen Bergsma, member of the Supreme Court, and an influential man in The Hague who he probably met through his former employer, Baron van Nijevelt.  It was through such contacts such as Bergsma and Blomhoff, that he was able to further extend his network of associates and business dealings.  With firm financial backing, sourcing contacts, and business acumen, Boer’s 'Japansche Winkel became a great success, reported in magazines even in other Dutch cities.  

His shop by 1833 was brimming with diverse goods from medicines, to soy and ginger, to lacquered objects and porcelains, to basketwork and bronze statues, to name a few.  Though few were explicitly identified as such, there were definitely Japanese goods of high quality on display. Some other objects identified as Japanese include a "Japanese lantern on a stand"; "Japanese toys"; "Japanese Imperial Linen", and "Japanese Clothing".  A visitor from Haarlem wrote in the magazine Algemeene Konst en Letterbode: “Since my youth, having always had such a great taste in objects made of Japanese lacquer with colored Mother of Pearl, I found many objects of that nature in that shop” that is, in "the beautiful Japanese shop of Mr Boer".   There were various Chinese manufactures as well.  But the emphasis it seems was primarily on ‘semi'-oriental items, "East Indian" lacquerware of unidentified origin, textiles not necessarily from Japan, including gloves and stockings; buckles, watch keys, and buttons; or smoking related goods as cigars and pipes, for example (Keblusek, pp. 45-47).

Thus the name of the store must have been in large part due to Boer's fondness for Japan; that is what he wanted to name it; and also most importantly, an indication, decades before japonisme would become the rage of Europe, that ‘Japan’ was already something considered by the public, or at least the well-to-do public of The Hague, as alluring, attractive, and a successful brand for marketing.   Boer expanded and renamed his Japanese shop around 1835 to ‘Japansch Magazijn', that is, 'Japanese Warehouse', and it continued under that name for eight years. 

A key factor in Boer's success was his ability to win the patronage of celebrity clients, namely Prince William (the future King William II, 1792 -1849), who came regularly to Boer's store from the early 1830’s.  Numerous receipts testify to the frequent visits of the prince.  He bought one day in May 1835, luxury goods such as a lacquered table, flower vases and a parasol; on other days his purchases included a “mother-of-pearl box”, a “bronze group”, and an “ivory booklet”, for example, and it seems his total annual purchases amounted to the equivalent of a not insignificant fortune.  Others members of the court and royal family also patronized the store.  Between May 1840 and August 1841, Princess Sophie (1824–1897), William II's daughter, spent more than 3,700 guilders in the Japansch Magazijn.  According to Keblusek, from 1845 onwards, the royal bill at the Bazar rose to thousands of guilders per year, which was usually paid in installments.  As to how many of the items were actually from Japan is uncertain, as the descriptions in the surviving receipts are quite vague.  Merchandise is noted as a "bronze rider" or an "ivory fan" and only occasionally does the specification 'Japanese' appear, such as when in 1841, Princess Sophie bought a large "Japanese vase", two "Japanese terrines" and a "Japanese table service".  There is no doubt however, that royal patronage attracted other customers to what was known as a Japanese Shop and then a Japanese Warehouse, and that such an association only seemed to enhance the prestige of the store well-known to all its prominent residents.  The Japansch Magazijn's reputation was sterling, and by 1837, Boer’s wish to be allowed to "carry the Arms of Your Majesty as a Purveyor to the Court" was granted. 

Boer's Japanese and Chinese Panorama and Cabinet of Curiosities 

A Precursor to Disney-style Amusement Parks and Attractions 

Boer claimed his 'Japanese and Chinese Panorama' was something that “has never been shown in Europe”.  It was around 1833 that he began planning this grand project to place his merchandise in an educational and ethnographic context, and it was only in 1838 he was finally able to open the doors of his Panorama to the public.  It was something that had taken a great amount of preparation and planning, saying, "for four years of care, with the caressing pleasure of something to be able to offer the Fatherland, which, because of its rarity, will not only provide an entertaining, but also very useful, recreation." It was an act of patriotism and a labor of love, and an idea which sounds much like that 20th century American entrepreneur Disney, who wanted to build something more than a mindless, run of the mill amusement park, but something unique and with educational value.  In his catalog Boer stated: “my efforts will be repaid twice over if I have also contributed something to the general knowledge of the said kingdoms [Japan and China]”.  

With the creation of his Panorama, it has been claimed that Boer was following a trend that had begun in England at the end of the 18th century.  But what Boer made was something different from all that had come before him in terms of content, combination of elements, commitment, and longevity.  For instance, Boer provided a guidebook of the Panorama exhibits, which, as Keblusek notes, not only described what was to be seen in great detail, but also placed the performance in a social, cultural or historical context, using the works of Kaempfer, Titsingh, and Fisscher for ideas and explanations.  As Keblusek notes, this gave the booklet the added value of a reference work.  Perhaps more so than modern museum guidebooks, it had extensive descriptions, so that one could recall the paintings later and delve into the background at their leisure. 

Boer’s Panorama, otherwise known as a type of ‘cosmorama’, was in a wooden structure of 18 x 5 meters, part of his shopping complex. This may not sound so impressive in comparison to attractions at mammoth amusement parks of today, but considering this was a permanent exhibition space in a privately owned establishment in the early 19th century, it was quite astonishing.  It consisted of several large scenes, mostly landscapes or cityscapes, hung behind a wall in which a magnifying glass was mounted for each scene.  Both the paintings and the magnifying glasses were bent into semicircles, which not only provided the viewer with a sharp, detailed image, but also increased the effect of distance and three-dimensionality.  It was combined with lighting by 40 tin 'shield lamps' and a copper hanging lamp with two arms.  This was in other words, essentially the same idea, that is an enlarged version of the Japanese ‘perspective cabinets’ that Dirk Boer himself had sold to the Royal Cabinet of Rarities more than a decade earlier, though incorporating European technology into them. 

There were a total of 30 scenes in this hall.  Twenty-two oil paintings on canvas "after Original Japanese and Chinese drawings", each with an area of 3 m², and eight pastel painted "tableaus by European masters", all with captions on tin plaques.  It is not known what images Boer took as models, but he have been used works by Kawahara Keiga in the Blomhoff or Fisscher collections at the Royal Cabinet of Rarities.  First came 'different epochs of human life in Japan' which included scenes from the birth and naming of the child, the early years of childhood, on to the wedding ceremony, and finally the funeral.  Boer wished to display how differently from Europe the Japanese conducted such ceremonies and their cultural meaning.  Next came various land and sea views, processions, a view of Mount Fuji, the Dutch official trip to visit the Shogun at Edo, a Japanese landlord with his followers in a country house, Dutch ships in the bay of Nagasaki with Deshima in the background; a marketplace in Osaka with theater and shops; the home of the governor of Nagasaki during a festival in honor of the god Suwa; and the earthquake of the volcano 'Asama-gadaki' in 1783.  Six performances from the ‘Chinese school’ concluded the exhibits, but were deemed of lesser quality, it seems by Boer himself, who devoted only one page to them in his exhibition manual; and all attention seems to have focused upon the Japanese series.    

Boer's 1st (1838) and 2nd (1841) Cabinet of Rarities, and the Japanese Family 'Diorama'

Along with the Japanese and Chinese Panorama, Boer also created a Cabinet of Rarities around 1838, similar in concept and methodology to the nearby Royal Cabinet of Rarities, but also including some unique items.  There were 72 Japanese and Chinese drawings and watercolors, including “21 Japanese pictures in lacquered frames behind glass, 2 Japanese paintings on silk, and 12 Chinese drawings on rice paper”, a painting of a concert at the court of the Chinese emperor, a book which the visitor could leaf through with drawings of Japanese ‘light cages', and a series of thirty, almost life-size, Japanese and Chinese 'gentlemen and ladies'. 

As in modern ethnological museums, Boer also had a large number of 3-dimensional objects that illustrated various aspects of daily life in Japan with samples of Japanese wood and tobacco, cooking pots and sake-kettles, lacquered food bowls, men and women’s clothing, Japanese parasols, a tea set, a picnic set, a broom, temple lanterns, lacquered table lamps and an ivory chess set.  Models and miniatures allowed visitors to experience a more vicarious impression of life in Japan.  One could admire a Japanese country house, with three dolls placed on the balcony.  There were three Japanese miniature temples, and that of the court of the emperor.  It seems there was a scene depicting the Bay of Nagasaki which had movable ships, and where a performance of a gun salute was enacted.  In his view, exotic objects could only be understood by the public if they were visualized in their functional context, as Fisscher had believed.  

The main attraction of the Cabinet however, seems to have been the life-like ‘Japanese Family’, which closely followed the Blomhoff collection version of the same name displayed at the Cabinet of Rarities since 1827.  This mini 'diorama' consisted of several life-size dolls placed in front of a byobu folding screen in Japanese clothing, which included a man, woman, boy, girl, and a baby.  The dolls were surrounded or equipped with various objects such as swords, fans, musical instruments, lanterns, and toiletries.  As an aside, this sort of re-enactment of Japanese daily life, originated by the Dutch, would become popular in the latter 19th century at European and American expositions, culminating in the astonishing 'Japanese Village' of Fred, Harry, and Walter Deakin in Boston half a century later, in 1886 (Mighels, Ella Sterling and the Japanese Village Company,  A Veritable Japanese Village... Boston: J.B. Rose & Co., 1886).  Such would be the japonisme boom that a Japanese community was recreated with a colony of Japanese men, women, and children in native costume, who went about demonstrating the arts of Japan.  It was highly praised even by Oliver Wendell Holmes, in his letter to the Boston Herald (in Hinayama, 2009, p. 207); something hard to imagine now, and a telling reminder of how easy it is to forget and reshape history. 

In 1841 Boer opened a new 'Cabinet of Japanese, Chinese and Oriental Rarities’ on the Keizerstraat in Scheveningen, incorporating the first cabinet into it, and adding numerous new exhibits, in a larger space and on two floors.  Besides objects from the Far East, items such as weapons from Java and the Ottoman Empire for instance, were also added.  Six cabinets were devoted to Japanese items, among which were: "drawings, coins, perfume bottles, lacquerware, fans, toys, porcelain tableware, clothing and weapons".  An educated Dutchman in 1842 initially scoffed going to Boer's Cabinet because “the various museums in our country [have] a rich stock of everything we know about the industry of the Japanese or Chinese.”   But when he finally did visit Boer's shop he reversed his opinion completely; the design of Boer's museum was so tasteful and neat that he noticed "the smallest things with pleasure and more ease than elsewhere" (Keblusek, pp. 38-39). 

Boer also produced a catalog of a more general nature, to introduce readers to Japan, to explain the cultural background of his merchandise.  It included sections on Japanese history, religion, arts, crafts, commerce, household goods and the kitchen, clothing, weapons, celebrations, and entertainment.  He wished his customers “could form a more correct understanding of a country that is entirely deviant from ours in the manners and customs, but who can nevertheless compete with enlightened Europe and whose greatest value consists in guaranteeing and maintaining the peaceful happiness of its subjects”---similar to what Fisscher wrote, whom Boer often echoed in his catalogues and guidebooks. 

As Keblusek rightly concludes, that was Dirk Boer's great achievement: he made Japanese history and culture accessible to everyone. In his cosmorama and museum, open daily and free of charge, he offered anyone a glimpse into Japan over the course of at least twelve years.  For people who were unlikely to visit the Royal Cabinet of Rarities, its doors were wide open for anyone to drop by.  As Keblusek remarks, idle city folk "on a rainy afternoon came in large numbers to the museum on Keizerstraat."

From Warehouse to 'Grand Bazar Royal': The Pinnacle of Popularity, Prestige, and Fame  

His success allowed him to afford a major expansion, and in 1843, moved his 'Japansch Magazijn' to Zeestraat in the Hague, opening the doors of what he now called his 'Grand Bazar'.  The new store was located on a large site owned by King William II,  a complex of "two houses, a hall, extensive gardens, barns, a coach house, domes and a golf course".  Situated near the Scheveningen bridge, with extensive premises, it was to become one of the forerunners to the modern 'shopping mall' combined with a Disneyland-style amusement park in one.  The garden complex was a focal point of Boer's vision, for he was shrewd and ahead of his time to realize the indirect marketing benefits of providing unique complimentary services to lure customers.  He expanded the English landscape garden with a Chinese flower garden in 1846, and a Turkish garden in 1848.  These had ponds, offered tea, were scattered with domes and greenhouses, including a winter garden filled with exotic plants.  

To further enhance the allure of what might be now called his 'Boer-Land', Dirk Boer (who had as purveyor to the Crown displayed the royal coat of arms above his entrance since 1837), now successfully petitioned William II in 1849 to be allowed to add the title 'Royal' to the name of his shopping complex/amusement park, thus becoming from that point on the 'Grand Bazar Royal'.  And also in that year he was able to obtain the adjacent land near the royal greenhouses to his complex; and a few years later he also bought a strip of land behind the Bazar from the Queen Mother, Anna Paulowna.    

Though the Bazar no longer referred directly to the Far East in name, such items remained lucrative and popular goods, upon which the company prospered.  Certainly records do remain of specific Japanese items purchased, such as in April 1852, when King William III (1817-1890), son of William II, bought a "Japanese bedspread for 75 guilders, two Japanese duvets (futons) and later a briefcase (46 guilders) and a snuff box followed (fl. 15), both of Japanese make."  Or in January 1863, William III spent some 750 guilders for a "Japanese Coupe on a richly gilded base" (Keblusek, p. 42).  Thus the store was now patronized by succeeding generations of the royal family, and Dirk Boer was a steadfast purveyor to the Netherlands Crown.  Business was so good that Boer was able to have three new halls added to the Bazar in 1853, becoming the owner, lock, stock and barrel, of the complex by purchasing the land from the heirs of William II in 1850.  Thus in the space of a little more than two decades he had transformed himself into perhaps the most successful and well-known merchandiser, and a major landowner, of The Hague. 

A Main Tourist Attraction in The Hague

The Royal Bazar was unbeatable in terms of location and convenience, on the main road to Scheveningen.  Not only locals, but tourists made time to visit the shop during their stay at the seaside, even if only to stroll the gardens.  In most travel guides of The Hague, Boer's Bazar was mentioned as a tourist attraction, according to Keblusek.  For example, one guidebook referred travelers to the ‘Grand Bazar Japonais' in the palaces and monuments section.  A guidebook from 1861 emphasized the enormous variety of Japanese and Chinese objects, considered more impressive than that at the famous world fairs of London and Paris.