Unauthorized copies of these portraits were distributed through the years. One of the possible sources of these copies shown here is Baron Raimund von Stillfried und Ratenitz (1839-1911). Born in Bohemia, Stillfried was a painter who settled in Japan following his service as a military officer and diplomat. After opening his first photography studio in 1872, he later acquired the renowned studio of former photojournalist Felice Beato (1825-1903). His own acquaintance with the emperor began with a commission for the royal palace. Kimbei Kusakabe was one of Stillfried's, and Beato's, finest protégés, and heir to Stillfried's studio upon his retirement in 1883.

See Anne Wilkes Tucker, et al, The History of Japanese Photography, 2003. Ms. Tucker graciously provided explanation on the circumstances of copying these royal portraits for this exhibit. Terry Bennett offers a concise account of the difficulties in attribution of photographs from this era, with the frequent copying and studio exchanges taking place (Early Japanese Images, 1996). For additional information on Stillfried, see Chantal Edel's, introduction in Once Upon A Time: Visions of Old Japan / photographs by Felice Beato and Baron Raimund von Stillfried, and the words of Pierre Loti (1986). Clark Worswick wrote, “There is a direct causal link between the work of Beato, Stillfried, and Kusakabe which is the culmination of a cross-cultural view of Japan during this period” (Japan: Photographs 1854–1945, 1979, p. 106).

Hyde began making woodcut prints in 1900, when she became acquainted with the artist Emil Orlik (1870-1932), a native of Prague who had recently moved to Tokyo. Recognizing the virtues of the Japanese division of labor, she employed an established wood carver and printer to help execute her designs. While in Japan, Hyde produced seventy-one color woodcut prints, and adopted the HH monogram and red clover chop mark that became her trademark signature.