Edoardo Chiossone
| Edoardo Chiossone | |
|---|---|
Edoardo Chiossone
|
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| Born |
January 21, 1833 Arenzano, Province of Genoa |
| Died | April 11, 1898 (aged 64) Tokyo, Japan |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Occupation | artist, engraver |
Edoardo Chiossone (January 21, 1833 - April 11, 1898) was an Italian engraver and painter, noted for his work as a foreign advisor to Meiji period Japan, and for his collection of Japanese art. He designed the first Japanese bank notes.
Chiossone was born in Arenzano, Province of Genoa, as the son of a printer. In 1847 he enrolled in the , where he specialized in copper-plate engraving, and graduated in 1855. In 1857 he entered the atelier of Raffaele Granara and made several engravings of famous art works. One of his works was selected for display at the Exposition Universelle (1867) in Paris.
Later in 1867 he started working for the and was sent to the Dondorf-Naumann company in Frankfurt, Germany to be trained in the making of paper money. While he was there, the company began making bank notes for the Imperial Japanese government, and in 1874 he was sent to London to learn new printing techniques. At this point he was invited to go to Japan, and accepted.
Many of the portraits by Chiossone have been lost, and others only survive in reproduction; they can all be said to have been faithful likenesses.
Chiossone arrived in Japan on January 12, 1875. The government Printing Bureau (Insatsu Kyoku) which was part of the Ministry of Finance (Okurasho) was under the directorship of Tokuno Ryosuke, who was eager to introduce modern machinery and techniques. The practical implementation of this policy was entirely the work of Chiossone, who founded printing companies such as Toppan Insatsu, trained the Japanese in printing techniques, designed official papers, paper currencies and postage stamps, taught the art of making printing ink and printing paper (with a watermark in it), and taught how to make many copies from one plate.
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