Tinted lithograph print showing the view from a hill overlooking part of Tokyo Bay with Mount Fuji in the background. Six men in Japanese garments are seated on logs on the hill. On the shore below, three boats are landing, and more men are making their way up the hill. On the water, several ships can be seen. Inscribed: ‘View from Webster Isld. Yedo Bay / From nature by Heine / Lith. Of SARONY & Co New York’.

The print names the location depicted as “Webster Island”, which was the name given to the site by the Americans. This was a small island near Yokosuka in Tokyo Bay (described in the print as “Yedo Bay”, an anglicisation of Edo, the historic name for Tokyo).

The print is based on a drawing by Peter Bernhard Wilhelm Heine, better known as William Heine (1827–1885). A German-American world traveller, writer and artist, Heine was the official artist on Commodore Matthew Perry’s expedition to Japan in 1852. This print was published as an illustration in the official voyage publication, Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan (Washington: Beverley Tucker, 1856), opposite page 353.

Perry’s expedition embarked for Japan in 1852 with the intention of securing a trade treaty through threats and displays of US naval power. Perry and the Japanese disagreed on the site for negotiations. Perry insisted on Edo (Tokyo), while the Japanese offered various other locations. They compromised on Yokohama, a port city in Tokyo Bay. Perry landed on 8 March 1854 to commence negotiations. US Marine Robert William, a member of the expedition, had died of a head injury two days previously, and Perry proposed burying the body on “Webster Island” until the Japanese allowed the burial to take place in Yokohama.

On 31 March, the Convention of Kanagawa was signed under threat of force, with Japan reluctantly agreeing to protect stranded seamen and open two ports for refuelling of American ships. It was not a trade agreement but did contain a most-favoured-nation clause, which provided an opening for a future trade contract between Japan and the United States.