Festivals and Films

The Last Samurai

From 31 May 2011 to 17 Sep 2011

Until 18 September. The Pitt Rivers Museum presents 14 albumen prints by Jacques-Philippe Potteau, as well as a couple of engravings relating to two Japanese trade missions to Europe in 1862 and 1864.

Potteau's portrait photographs were taken in Paris and show scenes from both missions, whose members were among the last generation of the Samurai, Japan's former military nobility.

The force was subsequently abolished during the Meiji Restoration when imperial rule (or "enlightened" rule) was restored to Japan in 1868. The missions were sent to Europe by the Tokugawa Shogunate to renegotiate the terms of earlier trade agreements. During their journeys abroad, which lasted up to a year, the delegations visited several European cities.

Tues-Sun 10.00-16.30. Mon 12.00-16.30