Dutch Maiden Serving Tea to Japanese Visitors

This wood engraving satirizes the Dutch reception of Japanese diplomats during Japan's opening to Western trade. A Britannia-like figure of the Dutch nation pours tea for a group of visiting Japanese officials in exotic dress. The scene comments on Dutch hospitality and international relations during this period of increased contact. The print descends from the Northern European tradition of political satire—Gillray and Rowlandson's methods of lampooning through physiognomy and costume—adapted here for commentary on diplomatic encounters. Such woodcut satiricals were mass-produced commentary on current events, direct ancestors of the comic strip's sequential narrative and caricatural style.