“Sugar-Water Stall" by Mortimer Menpes, R. I., from “Japan, A Record in Colour” by Dorothy Menpes

Sugar-Water Stall

Mortimer Menpes

1901

Watercolour

Source: Japan, A Record in Colour, facing p. 138

This is exactly the kind of stall that children would gather round at the shrine during a festival. In such basic ways, children are children everywhere. But the costumes are all gorgeous here, each expressive, according to the comments in this chapter on Japanese children, of the mother's feeling about her individual child's own character — and also of some aspect of the Japanese spirit. [Commentary continues below.] — Jacqueline Banerjee

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"Thus, when watching a group of children, maybe on a fête day, one instinctively compares them with a gallery of pictures, each of which is a masterpiece, painted by an artist whose individuality is clearly expressed therein. Each little picture in this gallery of children is perfect in itself; yet on closer study it will be found that the children are more than mere pictures. They tell us of the truths of Japan.

One child, in the clearness and freshness of its dress, seems to embody an expression of that unselfish cheerfulness so characteristic of the Japanese, among whose children you can go for days without seeing one cry. Another, in the graceful dignity and rich yet severe colouring of its costume, tells of that faithful spirit of loyalty and pride that has always marked the lives of the Japanese. One tiny baby, in the dainty sombreness of colour and quiet arrangement of the folds of its little kimono, suggests the thoughtful consideration and sweet seriousness of the women of Japan; and another child, dressed in a wonderful combination of red and bronze relieved by glimpses of white, expresses in its rich glowing colour, and the purity of the white within, the fire of Japanese patriotism" (137-38).

Bibliography

Menpes, Dorothy. Japan: A Record in Colour. London: Adam & Charles Black, 1901. Internet Archive version of a copy in the University of California Libraries. Web. 4 July 2019.

Created 4 July 2019