Gilded Age Geishas: 19th Century America’s Obsession with Japan
Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg 255 Beach Dr NE, St. Petersburg, FL, United StatesIn the late 1870s Americans were obsessed with a new style called Japonisme. Influenced by the art and culture of Japan, dishes, earrings, wallpaper and even door hinges suddenly were covered with smiling geishas, paper parasols, and folding fans. Around the country women joined the fashion frenzy, dressing in kimono and holding “Japanese tea parties”. […]