G.bigot Japanese Sketch

Folio album (462mm x 315mm), sewn in the Japanese style, 29 etchings on Japanese paper (signed on the plate) and 2 covers. Georges Bigot settled in Japan in 1882, where he taught drawing and French, and learned Japanese. He lived in a Japanese quarter of Tokyo and sketched scenes of daily life; his engravings preserve the memory of the customs of the Meiji era (1868-1912), of which few records remain. He married a Japanese woman, Sano Masu, and they had a son, Maurice. He published his Japanese sketches in various magazines and newspapers. His drawings, deemed too realistic and depicting an overly traditional and rural Japan, sometimes bordering on caricature, led to his being "invited" by the authorities to leave Japan in 1899, which he did, accompanied by his son. Copy in very good condition: no foxing, tears or coloring, cover with patina from use.