Antique Print of the Ryukyu Islands by Hawks (1856)

Description: Antique print titled ‘Lew Chew'. Lithograph of the Ryukyu Islands, from about 1829 until the mid-20th century, the islands' English name was spelled Luchu, Loochoo, or Lewchew. The Ryukyu Islands are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni the westernmost. This print originates from 'Narrative of the expedition of an American squadron to the China seas and Japan, performed in the years 1852, 1853, and 1854, under the command of Commodore M.C. Perry (..)' by Francis L. Hawks. 

Artists and Engravers: Lithographs after W. Heine and E. Brown.