The Japan that arrives in Spain via Manila in the 19th century: Art from Asia in the Museo Evaristo Valle

Abstract

The present study analyzes several Japanese artistic objects preserved in the Museo Evariso Valle, located in Gijón, and investigates the circumstances of its arrival. After the examination of the pieces y documents, the study concludes in that the Japanese objects were acquired by the father of the painter Evaristo Valle, the judge Evaristo del Valle y Álvarez during his second stay in Philippines between 1879 and 1880, when he was judge in the Court of Justice of Manila. They are Japanese export objects made at the beginning of tMeiji era. The study points out clearly the arrival of Japanese objects in Spain via Manila before 1880, and reveals that the collecting of Japanese art in Spain was not only a fashion influenced by other European cities, such as Paris, but also it was a social and artistic phenomenon in which Manila played an important roll.