Loretta Leonard Shaw

Artist Unknown, Japanese
Two Women in Kimono
colour woodcut on Japanese paper; 37.5 x 25.3 cm
Gift of Loretta Leonard Shaw, 1923

Loretta Leonard Shaw (Saint John, N.B. 19 July 1872- 29 July 1940 Saint John) was the daughter of Arthur N. and Margaret E. Shaw. She received her Bachelor’s of Arts degree from the University of New Brunswick and graduated with Honours. After teaching in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from 1897 to 1904, she was sent to Japan as a missionary with the Church of England in Canada. Her base of activity was in Osaka where she taught at the Bishop Poole Girl’s School. From 1932 to 1938, Shaw worked in Tokyo for the Department of Christian Literature for Japan and the Far East, after which she returned to Canada due to illness. Shaw’s collection is one of the largest and most significant collections of Japanese material in the museum. Altogether she donated over 400 artefacts, including costume, accessories, ceramics, lacquer ware, models, dolls, artwork, books, photographs and postcards.