From the Archives: Encompassing the Globe, early Portuguese trade in Asia

Portugal was the first European nation to build an extensive commercial empire reaching eastward to Africa and Brazil and westward, through the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean, to India, China, Southeast Asia and Japan. Contact with these regions, which had been virtually unknown to Europeans, led to the creation of highly original works of art, some intended for export and others for domestic enjoyment. During the 16th century, their commercial dominance expanded and this naval empire connected civilisations from all the known continents, transforming commerce and initiating unprecedented cultural exchange and linked continents and cultures as never before.

Southern Barbarians in Japan, pair of six-panel folding screens, Edo period, 17th century, ink colour and gold on paper, each 153 x 331 cm

Charles Lang Freer Endowment, Freer Gallery of Art