'Japanese moosmes'

No. 49 of 51 (PAJ2051 - PAJ2101): inscribed by the artist on the album page, as title. 'Moosme', is an anglicization of the Japanese 'musume' meaning girl or daughter. The Oxford English Dictionary cites uses between 1861 and 1921, in various spellings, and covering the meanings of 'Japanese girl or young (esp. unmarried) woman; a Japanese waitress, maid, or mistress'. These two may be geishas in a tea house, with a bronze bowl possibly holding hot charcoal and a pair of incense sticks upright at the edge.

Object Details

ID: PAJ2099
Type: Drawing
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Butt, James Henry
Date made: circa 1868
People: Butt, James Henry
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Measurements: Sheet: 119 x 119 mm
Parts: Album of topographical views, mainly on the coasts of Japan, China and Formosa (Taiwan) (Album)