“Thoroughly Japanese”: Charley Longfellow’s Collection

Charley Longfellow's photographic souvenirs of Japan include this image of himself dressed in a kimono and haori, adopting the guise of a "gentleman of Kioto."

Charles Appleton Longfellow Papers (1008.2/1.1-2#70)

Japan captured the imagination of world traveler Charles Longfellow like nowhere else. He arrived in June 1871 and stayed for 20 months, enjoying local culture and buying whatever caught his eye. Through timing, luck, and his famous name, Charley Longfellow had almost unprecedented access as a foreigner in Japan. He spent most of his 20 months in Yedo (Tokyo) and Yokohama, but also traveled through Ainu country in Yesso (Hokkaido), inland across Nippon (Honshū) Island, and to Kyoto, Kobe, Osaka, and Nagasaki. At every stop along the way, he collected “curios” and souvenirs.

Charley spent freely, pursuing objects he saw as authentic rather than focusing on high art. He wrote his collection contained “such lots of rubbish … but I am fond of them as being thoroughly Japanese.” In 1873 Charley warned his father, the poet Henry Longfellow, that he was sending home “eighteen large cases…. Where we shall stow them all when they arrive, I can’t imagine.” Charley’s collection left traces of Japan throughout this house, overflowing into storage rooms then and today.

His stay occurred as the Meiji government ended two centuries of Japanese isolationism. Though their policies benefited him, Charley mourned the drive to westernize Japan, writing “One sees so many splendid old things which will never be produced again… the new fashion being to have everything European.” Charley’s collecting placed him on the leading edge of the “Japan Craze” that swept the United States in the late 1800s.

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Several objects still in the museum collection can be identified in this late 1870s view of the north corner of the "Japan Room," including the Torii-gate screen, bat-shaped incense burner, a vase, two lacquered shelves, and a figure pulling a rickshaw.

LONG Buildings and Grounds Photograph Collection (3008/2.9-#3)

In 1874, Charley arranged his collection in his second-floor sitting room. The cluttered, crowded space combined Japanese decoration and western furniture, and was among the earliest American examples of a personal domestic space decorated in Japanese style. Longfellow’s collection was significant enough to attract the attention of William Sturgis Bigelow and Ernest Fenollosa, the founders of the Japanese collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, who viewed his room shortly after his death in 1893.

After Charley's death some of the collection was dispersed, but historic photographs and inventories identify many objects still in the museum collection at the Longfellow House.

Japan Room

8 Images

In 1874, Charley Longfellow arranged his collection in his second-floor sitting room. The cluttered, crowded space combined Japanese decoration and western furniture, and was among the earliest American examples of a personal domestic space decorated in Japanese style. The Japanese objects here appear in photographs and inventories of the room.

Japanese Bronzes

9 Images

Japanese bronze workers of the Edo (1615-1868) and Meiji (1868-1912) periods were craftsmen of the highest order. They produced works ranging from intricate personal incense burners to monumental religious sculptures. Charley purchased many decorative bronzes during his stay in Japan. He wrote to his sister Annie, that he “couldn’t resist the temptation” of the bronze shops in Osaka.

Japanese Ceramics

3 Images

Japanese ceramics of the Edo (1615-1868) and Meiji (1868-1912) periods reflected the incorporation of traditional styles and foreign influences.

Japanese Clothing

7 Images

During his stay in Japan, Charley Longfellow often adopted traditional Japanese dress for posed photographs. He assumed several guises in this manner including that of a samurai, an actor, and a carpenter. Charley saw donning these costumes as deep engagement with a local culture he found exotic and took photographs to show his family and friends.

Japanese Cultural Objects

10 Images

Charles Longfellow collected objects he saw as authentically Japanese, reflecting his interest in exploring Japanese theater, teahouse ceremonies, and other cultural traditions.

Explore More

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  Kimonos in the Longfellow Collection

  This virtual exhibit explores the kimonos collected by Charles Longfellow in Japan, and questions of cultural exchange and appropriation.

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  Asian Collections

  The museum collections at Longfellow House include art and artifacts collected in or imported from Japan and China.

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  Charles Longfellow's Japanese Albums

  Browse photograph albums collected by Charles Longfellow on the Longfellow House Digital Archive Portal.