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[Two children wearing sailor outfits are playing with a balloon tethered to a Russian battleship, the balloon has burst revealing the head of a Russian admiral or czar and the battleship has been sunk, the Russian child, standing, pointing to the balloon, is crying, the Japanese child, sitting, is joyfully clapping] – Historic Print

[Two children wearing sailor outfits are playing with a balloon tethered to a Russian battleship, the balloon has burst revealing the head of a Russian admiral or czar and the battleship has been sunk, the Russian child, standing, pointing to the balloon, is crying, the Japanese child, sitting, is joyfully clapping], [1904] — historic print
[Two children wearing sailor outfits are playing with a balloon tethered to a Russian battleship, the balloon has burst revealing the head of a Russian admiral or czar and the battleship has been sunk, the Russian child, standing, pointing to the balloon, is crying, the Japanese child, sitting, is joyfully clapping], [1904]. Historic print from the Battleships collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

A window into the past: [Two children wearing sailor outfits are playing with a balloon tethered to a Russian battleship, the balloon has burst revealing the head of a Russian admiral or czar and the battleship has been sunk, the Russian child, standing, pointing to the balloon, is crying, the Japanese child, sitting, is joyfully clapping], preserved in this historic print. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.

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[Two children wearing sailor outfits are playing with a balloon tethered to a Russian battleship, the balloon has burst revealing the head of a Russian admiral or czar and the battleship has been sunk, the Russian child, standing, pointing to the balloon, is crying, the Japanese child, sitting, is joyfully clapping]

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A Russian battleship lies sunk beneath a balloon that has burst to reveal the head of a Russian admiral or czar, while a weeping Russian boy in a sailor suit points at it and a Japanese boy claps with glee. Dated 1904, the year Japan and Russia went to war, the print belongs to a series titled *Long live Japan: one hundred victories, one hundred laughs*. Such prints used humor to rally Japanese readers and to mock Russian leaders during a conflict that was closely followed at home. Its cartoonish exaggeration turns a naval defeat into a playful spectacle.

Created / published[1904]
Medium1 print : woodcut, color ; 36.9 x 25 cm (sheet)
GenreSatires (Visual works) Japanese 1900-1910.Woodcuts Japanese Color 1900-1910.
NotesTitle devised by Library staff. Signed on block by artist in lower right, includes chop. Includes extensive Japanese text. Descriptive information compiled by Nichibunken-sponsored Edo print specialists in 2005-06. From the series: Nihon banzai hyakusen hyakushō : Long live Japan: one hundred victories, one hundred laughs. Format: vertical Oban Nishikie. Gift; Crosby Stuart Noyes; 1906. Forms part of: Crosby Stuart Noyes collection (Library of Congress). Forms part of: Japanese prints and drawings (Library of Congress).
SubjectsRusso-Japanese War, 1904-1905--Naval operations. Military officers--Russian--1900-1910. Naval warfare--Russia--1900-1910. Naval warfare--Japan--1900-1910. Sailors--1900-1910. Balloons (Novelties)--1900-1910. Crying--1900-1910.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,035 × 1,536 px · prints to 3 × 5 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-172991

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