This is a Hard-To-Find, VINTAGE, EXCELLENT Condition, Spiral Bound "1969 Japanese Nanban Art Collection Calendar" printed in Italy by C. Olivetti & C., S.p.A. Ivrea. In EXCELLENT Condition, it is missing the month of January. Otherwise, it is in MINT Condition with NO rips, tears, marks, stains, odors, creases or other damage; it comes from a smoke-free, pet-free home. Measuring approximately 16 1/2 inches tall and approximately 9 3/4 inches wide, it is Spiral Bound; all months from February through December are tightly bound.



The Portuguese, after having established commercial entre in India in 1510 and subsequently on the Malacca peninsula and the China coast, landed at Tanegashima, one of the southern islands of Japan, in 1543. Thus, by the mid-16th century a trade route had been established linking Japan, China and India with Europe. From the contacts with Occidental sailors, traders and missionaries, a new style of Japanese Art was born. It was called "Nanban", a name at first used for southeast Asians, and then applied to Europeans who made their appearance from that area.



"Nanban" includes all the art works showing the influence of Western culture, from the time of the Europeans' first landing in Japan through the first half of the 17th century. There are two broad varieties of "Nanban" painting. One is predominantly religious in character and derives from the European art imported by the Portuguese missionaries. In the other, the local artists, continuing in the tradition of the Japanese school, painted on screens, in their accustomed manner, scenes showing the dress and ways of the foreigners. The 11 paintings reproduced here belong to this school. These pictues are the first witness of the meeting between two great civilizations previously unknown to each other. In them we see the amazement of the Japanese artists confronted by enormous ships arrving from far countries and disembarking strange goods and objects, unknown animals, and men in Renaissance dress. The phenomenon of "Nanban" came to an end with the restrictions imposed on Occidentals and their religion by the Japanese authorities toward the close of the 17th century, when Japan adopted a policy of isolation that was to last for more than two centuries.



I have photographed the cover and the the month of February which features a painting by "Giappone 1550-1620 - Kobe - Museum Of Nanban Art" - each subsequent month has a different Giappone painting.