Rare Japanese language bird’s-eye-view in the style of Saul Steinberg showing the port of San Francisco as the gateway to Pacific commerce.
PORT OF SAN FRANCISCO. WHERE THE FAR EAST BEGINS [Japanese language version]
$875
1 in stock
Description
This clever promotional bird’s-eye-view uses a twisted and foreshortened Pacific Ocean to highlight San Francisco as the easy jumping off point to East Asia and beyond. Japan is just a few ship’s-lengths beyond the Golden Gate, with Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines immediately after.
The dramatically skewed perspective is an excellent example of persuasive cartography, effectively highlighting the port of San Francisco’s connectivity to East Asia. The markets of the South China Sea, Indonesia, and even Australia and the Indian Ocean, are all shown to be within the port’s maritime sphere.
The depiction of the city of San Francisco itself is splendid, with major monuments and attractions, including: Coit Tower, the Trans America Building, a cable car on a steep hill, and Victorian houses. To further highlight the port, the artist has drawn the clock tower of the Ferry Building as among the tallest structures in the city (in reality, it is only 245 feet tall).
Cartographer(s):
The Port of San Francisco, established in 1863 and governed today by the San Francisco Port Commission, oversees 7.5 miles of waterfront along the city’s eastern shoreline, including piers, maritime terminals, and historic landmarks such as the Ferry Building. Throughout the 20th century, the Port served as a major Pacific gateway for commerce, military logistics, and passenger travel, anchoring San Francisco’s identity as a global maritime city.
WaffonerThe signature “Waffoner” appears on the present poster as the work’s designer or illustrator, but despite extensive searching, no biographical record or professional profile for an artist by this name has been identified. The style—bold gradients, playful perspective, and pseudo-script typography—suggests a commercial illustrator active in the San Francisco Bay Area during the late 1970s or 1980s, likely working for advertising agencies or corporate promotional campaigns. Many such designers operated on contract and left little archival footprint, making attribution difficult.
At present, Waffoner remains an unidentified graphic artist, known only through this rare surviving work.
Condition Description
Very good.
References
Rumsey 9007.000.
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