1861

Picture of a Balloon

Japanese, 1817 - 1880

This image is a close copy of an illustration from the published diary of a member of the first Japanese embassy sent to tour the United States in 1860. One of the highlights of the trip was the launch of two hot air balloons that took place in Philadelphia to celebrate the ambassadors' visit. The Japanese had never before seen hot air balloons, and descriptions of the human flying machines stirred the imagination of many Japanese artists who were making designs for prints, resulting in a proliferation of hot air balloon imagery, particularly in depictions of the United States.