The engraved portrait of the first Japanese Ambassador to the United States of America, Tomomi Iwakura (1825-1885)

Japan, circa 1872

With a handwritten note stating: ‘Portrait of His Imperial Majesty’s Vice Prime Minister, Prince Tomomi Iwakura, first Japanese Ambassador to the United States, 1872, made at the bureau of Engravings + Printing, Tokyo, Japan, presented to John Adams Lowell (of) Boston, by his son, likewise called Prince Tomomi Iwakura, Privy Councillor Imperial Household, January 1st, 1906.’

 

H. 73 x W. 55 cm

​

Tomomi Iwakura was of high nobility attached to the Imperial Court during the Edo and Meiji era. After the Meiji restoration, he became a very influential politician in the emperor’s government. John Adams Lowell (1837-1915), son of an engraver, and an engraver himself, lived and worked in Boston.