stereoview

Herbert Ponting’s Flute Playing Komusō Stereoview

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The Russo-Japanese War (1904–05) fueled Western demand for new images of a rapidly modernizing Japan. Among the companies meeting this demand was H. C. White, which issued boxed stereoview sets of Japan highlighting both its cultural traditions and signs of modern progress.

This photograph was taken by the seasoned stereophotographer Herbert Ponting, who had produced Japan sets for other studios, including H. C. Graves and Underwood. The scene depicts the front gate of Chion-in, the head monastery of the Pure Land sect founded by Hōnen in the 12th century.

The accompanying description reads like a guided tour of the temple grounds, lending narrative weight to the immersive “virtual reality” effect of stereophotography. It blends historical context with vivid visual detail, inviting viewers to examine the scene closely.

Compositional touches, such as the tourist seated in a pulled rickshaw, reinforce Japan’s presentation as a traveler’s paradise for Western audiences.

At the center stand komusō, “monks of nothingness,” recognizable by their basket hats and their playing of the bamboo shakuhachi during begging rounds.

In the West, shakuhachi performance is often linked to a Zen-like moment of spiritual awakening – an interpretation largely absent from Japanese historical practice. For more, see Max Deeg, “Komusō and Shakuhachi-Zen: From Historical Legitimation to the Spiritualisation” (2007).

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1893 Chinese Theater and Joss House Stereoview

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Due to the US extension of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1892, the Chinese Qing Empire withdrew from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. This created the opportunity for local Chinese Chicagoans to build a Chinese Theatre and Joss House as an amusement concession.

The concession was financed and managed by three Chinese immigrants operating as the Wah Mee Exposition Company. The second floor held “thousands of idols” from the “Buddhist stand-point” as well as depictions of the Buddhist hells “with the many different modes of punishment.”

Charles Dudley Arnold was the official photographer of the 1893 exposition, but many other studios sold photographic souvenirs of the fair grounds. While sold as a stereoview, this card by an unknown publisher reproduces the same photograph twice, creating a pseudo-stereoscopic image.

Signage notes admission to the Cantonese theater hall and temple cost 25 cents. An estimated 27 million people visited the fair in Chicago, many of whom would have walked the amusements along the Midway Plaisance where the joss house was located.

While prominent Buddhists attended the World’s Parliament of Religions in 1893, fair visitors were also exposed to Buddhism through the joss house attraction. For more on Chinese participation, see Mae Ngai’s “Transnationalism and the Transformation of the ‘Other'” (2005).

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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Benjamin Kilburn’s Buddhist Pilgrims Stereoview

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The earliest stereo photographs of Japan were taken in 1859, but it was not until the late 1890s when publishers started to take a genuine commercial interest in the country. In 1901 Benjamin Kilburn released a beautiful series of views of Japan where Buddhism played a minor role.

By 1900, Kilburn was one of the world’s largest producers and distributors of stereoviews, traveling extensively to build his portfolio. Yet, despite Kilburn’s name printed on the back of each mount, the Japanese series was not photographed by him; the photographer remains unknown.

This view is captioned, “Buddhist Priests on a Pilgrimage, Japan,” but we have no precise information regarding the location. The negative number (13978) places this image in a series taken around Mt. Fuji, thus it may be somewhere on the pilgrimage path to the sacred mountain.

The sedge hats, bags, and white clothes all signal the activity of a religious pilgrimage. Views such as this were considered educational as much as they were entertaining and thus reflected a visual tradition of anthropological photography by showing native peoples in religious attire.

For more on the religious history of mountains in Japan, see the edited volume, Defining Shugendō: Critical Studies on Japanese Mountain Religion (2020).

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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Keystone’s Kotte Temple Stereoview

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The Kotte Rajamaha Vihara was founded in the 15th century under royal patronage to house a sacred tooth relic of the Buddha. At the time, some considered this the holiest site in Sri Lanka, greater than Aśoka’s Bodhi tree in Anuradhapura and the Buddha’s footprint on Adam’s Peak.

The Cūḷavaṃsa, a Buddhist historical record, describes King Parākramabāhu’s construction of a golden reliquary for the tooth and annual festivals held in celebration. Unfortunately, Kotte temple was destroyed during the Dutch occupation of Sri Lanka, but was rebuilt in the early 19th century.

Marketed as education material, the information on the back of this stereoview offers a few generic facts about Buddhism. The unknown author also offers pointed criticism, calling the statues on the front “rigid” and chastising Buddhists for being “practically idolatrous.”

This stereophotograph was taken in 1900/01 and was incorporated into a 30-view set devoted to Ceylon. While the copyright is granted to B.L. Singley, the president of Keystone, this photo was taken by one of several unknown staff photographers scattered over the world.

According to lore, the tooth relic was removed from Kotte about a century after its enshrinement to save it from Portuguese looters. For further history on the tooth relic, see John Strong’s The Buddha’s Tooth: Western Tales of a Sri Lankan Relic (2021).

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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James Ricalton’s Priest at the Temple of the Tooth

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Just after the discovery of the Buddha’s relics at Piprahwa in 1898, James Ricalton was planning a photographic tour of the world. One of his planned stops was to visit the most famous Buddhist relic of his era, the Buddha’s tooth enshrined in the capital city of Kandy.

Ricalton’s employer, the largest stereoscope firm in the world, Underwood & Underwood, was launching several sets devoted to specific countries; Ceylon was slated to have 30 stereoview cards. Underwood’s slogan, ‘‘to see is to know,’’ drove its message that education was a main objective.

Shooting the Temple of the Tooth, Sri Dalada Maligawa, and a few stupas, this image was the only one for Ceylon showing a Buddhist monk. While it was common to depict monks on alms rounds, Ricalton shows this unnamed monk reading scripture, calling him a priest and scholar in the caption.

The monk sits holding the long, rectangular leaves of a Buddhist scripture in his lap. Views such as this were intended to give a glimpse into the “real lives” of the photographed subjects, thus allowing viewers to travel without the hassle of actually leaving home.

Selling “the world in a box,” stereoviews helped shape a vision of Buddhism for American consumers. For more on the powerful visual language of stereoviews, see Judith Babbitts’ “Stereographs and the Construction of a Visual Culture in the United States,” in History Bytes (2004).

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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Underwood’s Four Seated Buddhas of Bago Stereoview

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For nearly six centuries the four seated Buddhas of Bago have towered over the surrounding Burmese countryside. Constructed by the former Buddhist monk turned king, Dhammazedi, in 1476, the four colossal statues represent the four Buddhas of the past.

The Kyaikpun, as this site is known, also houses a relic chamber beneath the central rectangular pillar. Under Mon control, Bago served as a vital regional entrepôt and thriving hub of Theravada Buddhism with many shrines and monasteries.

This stereoview was part of the educational Underwood Stereoscopic Tour series from 1907, comprised of national sets with individual cards arranged as “a tourist might visit the actual scenes.” The Burma set was originally sold with fifty different views (this card is number 12).

The structure, which is over 90 ft. (27m) tall, was in near ruin by the 1890s, but local fundraising was able to repair the statues by the turn of the century. This stereoview, taken around 1905, still shows the remnants of rubble and scaffolding in the rear.

The Buddha facing north, representing Gautama Buddha, remained in the best condition, thus the other three statues were reputedly modeled after it during renovation. To see thirty-six views from Underwood’s Burma series held by the National Archives UK, visit tinyurl.com/3xwvkbsb.

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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Herbert Ponting’s Shwethalyaung Sleeping Buddha Stereoview

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This colossal Sleeping Buddha was lost to the jungle when the Burmese city of Bago fell to invading forces in 1757. The statue was recovered in 1881 after railroad workers began digging through a tree-covered mound looking for scrap stone.

At 55 meters (180 ft) long and 16 meters (52 ft) high at the shoulder, the Shwethalyaung Buddha is among the largest reclining Buddha statues ever constructed. Made of brick and stucco, it is believed to have been built in the late tenth century under the patronage of a local king.

This stereograph was taken by Herbert Ponting who had returned from Manchuria after photographing the Russo-Japan War for publisher H. C. White.

Ponting had an expert eye; his placement of the man in the foreground produces a strong three-dimensional depth effect when viewed stereoscopically.

An earlier photograph of the Shwethalyaung Sleeping Buddha before decoration was published in Julius Smith’s Ten Years in Burma from 1902, viewable here: tinyurl.com/5n85dsxn.

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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1904 Metropolitan Series “Japanese Pagoda” Stereoview

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This is not an AI rendered image – it’s a Ferris Wheel towering over Kyoto’s famed Temple of the Golden Pavilion, known as Kinkaku-ji. More accurately, it’s a replica of Kinkaku-ji built for the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair advertised as a Japanese imperial gardens pagoda.

The Kyoto original, dating to 1400, houses Buddhist relics while the St. Louis replica was built to serve Japanese tea. In both cases the respective buildings are surrounded by a garden and topped with a phoenix roof ornament.

The St. Louis garden was designed by the Japanese landscape architect Yukio Ichikawa 市川之雄.

Japan’s exhibitions were well attended, in part by the generally positive newspaper coverage as well as the publicity of the ongoing Russo-Japanese War. Many companies made stereoviews of the 1904 fairgrounds, with the Metropolitan Series sold through Sears catalogues.

Many attendees of the St. Louis fair expressed a sense of awe at Japan’s exhibitions. For more digitized photos of the St. Louis fair, see the offerings at the State Historical Museum of Missouri here https://tinyurl.com/5d7jcupa

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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Herbert Ponting’s Japanese Pilgrims near Lake Kawaguchi Stereoview

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After 1900, publishers of stereoviews started emphasizing their educational rather than entertainment value, oftentimes selling thematic boxed sets. The card here is part of Underwood & Underwood’s 100-view Japan set from 1904.

We know from the negative number (#3852) this stereophoto was taken by expedition photographer Herbert Ponting during his trip to Japan in 1903. The location at Lake Kawaguchi was a well-known gathering spot for pilgrims looking to ascend Mt. Fuji.

By 1904 it was increasingly common to print educational information on the reverse of the card. Here we also find additional books recommended, including Lafcadio Hearn’s Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan, from which much of the information is cobbled together.

The distinctive clothing and ritual apparatus mark the traveler as a religious pilgrim.

The Ponting-Underwood set, published on the outset of the Russo-Japanese War, became one of the more popular sets on Japan. A scan of the full collection by the Smithsonian Institute is viewable here: https://tinyurl.com/2ukzu87c

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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Keystone’s Nara Kokūzō Stereoview

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3D Kokūzō 虛空: In the early 20th century, Keystone View Company emerged as a premier publisher of stereoviews with several tens-of-thousands of images in their catalogue. Around 1901, Keystone issued its first views of Japan, including a run of 23 odd-lot stereoviews.

Among their 1901 offerings, a 1/4 were stereo-photographs of religious sites or objects; this includes two views of Buddhist statues. At this time, other companies started offering special Japan box sets and following the Russo-Japanese War Japan sets became far more popular.

The card here depicts the Daibutsu Hall of Tōdai-ji in Nara. Curiously, it does not show the main figure for which the hall is named, the Nara Daibutsu. This icon is Kokūzō Bosatsu, otherwise known as Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva (Keystone simply labelled it as a “god.”)

Part of Keystone’s commercial success was selling stereoviews to schools across the US. To view part of their early selection of Japan views, see the digitized collection at the Library of Congress, viewable here https://tinyurl.com/bdewbmva.

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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