ABSTRACT
The view through glass was felt to convey dispassionateness, maintaining a special autonomy for the object seen and not compromising it. Glass was unique among eighteenth-century materials. Its clear, self-abnegating qualities encouraged the belief that it was, epistemologically speaking, not even there. Glass was integral to the notion of seeing in the manner of Ran. Foremost among the pursuits of Rangaku scholars was the collection and study of exotic flora, fauna, or minerals. Perhaps the most compelling usage for the material was the glazed window. Glass isolated objects from the atmosphere of the outside. Santo Kyoden was alert to serious intellectual trends that could be bent to suit his Floating-World orientation, and in 1801 he picked up the idea of the bottled specimen, injecting into it a popular metaphorical dimension.
