Bo lan Zhonghua tu zhi albums, 1865-1897, undated

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Summary

Creators:
Brady, Herbert Francis, 1854-1924, Child, Thomas, 1841-1898, Fisler, L. F., Tai, Kung, Saunders, William Thomas, 1832-1892, and Moore, Charles Frederick, 1838-1916
Abstract:
The two albums titled Bo lan Zhonghua tu zhi document the lifestyle of the British foreign service community in Beijing, Tianjin (Tientsin), Hankou (Hankow), Jiujiang, and Yantai (Chefoo), and also include views of well-known monuments and sites in Beijing, Hankou, and Ningbo (Ningpo) during the late nineteenth-century.
Extent:
2.5 Linear Feet (2 albums)
Language:
The materials are in English with some Chinese.
Preferred citation:

Bo lan Zhonghua tu zhi albums, 1865-1897, udated, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2004.R.11.

http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2004r11

Background

Scope and content:

The collection comprises two photograph albums of China titled Bo lan tu zhi. Inscriptions within the albums identify them as Volume 19A and Volume 19B respectively. The albums were likely assembled by Herbert Francis Brady, who appears in several of the photographs. The albums document the lifestyle of the British Foreign Service community in Beijing, Tianjin (Tientsin), Hankou (Hankow), Jiujiang, and Yantai (Chefoo) in the late nineteenth-century. Views of well-known monuments and sites in Beijing, Hankou, and Ningbo (Ningpo) and also included in the albums.

Althought the bulk of the images are by an unknown maker(s), likely an amateur photographer from within the British Foreign Service community, photographs by Thomas Child; L. F. Fisler; Kung Tai; and William Saunders are also included in the album. Also included are two photographs from Far East Magazine.

The British Legation in Beijing and its denizens are featured in Series I. Album 19A (61 photographs). Included are exterior and interior views of legation buildings, two group photographs of its fire brigades, and another of the cast of a legation theatrical performance. Sites and monuments in and around Beijing featured in the album include Summer palace, the Temple of Heaven, the observatory, and the Ming tombs. There are also views of the city's gates, walls, and streets. There are several images of the Great Wall.

Images from Hankou and Jiujiang in Series II. Album 19B (58 photographs) include views of the British consulates and social clubs and group portraits of members of the local British communities. There are images of outings to places such as the monastery at Yichang, the Lu-shan hills near Jiujiang, and the Hankou plain, as well as race meets and fancy dress balls. The album also contains views of the Hankou harbor during tea season, the bund, guild houses, and city gates, and the Ningbo pagoda and Tian Tong temple. There are also city views of Yantai and Shanghai.

Both albums contain a group portrait of members of the Hankou Chinese Inland Mission garbed, according to the sect's custom, in traditional Chinese dress. Scattered throughout the albums are photographs of Chinese people. Included are portraits of the general-statesmen Li Hongzhang (Li Hungchang) and Zuo Zongtang (Tso Tsung-t'ang). A photograph by Thomas Child is a rare depiction of a Buddhist priest doing penance. The Chinese judicial system is represented by a court scene and a group of prisoners wearing the cangue. Also included are studio portraits of Chinese women, actors, officials, and a group portrait of bankers and merchants.

The albums have blue silk brocade covers with hand-lettered titles pasted on their upper right-hand corners. A container for the albums made of two rosewood boards attached with string has the title and maker's name engraved in Chinese characters: Bo lan tu zhi / Xiabo Lei.

Biographical / historical:

The British diplomat, Herbert Francis Brady (1854-1924), had a long career in the British foreign service. Stationed in China, he started out as a student interpreter in 1876, and went on to hold senior posts in Kiukiang (Jiujiang), Huangpu, Yichang (Ichang), and Shanghai, culminating with his appointment as Consul General in Foochow (Fuzhou), the principal Chinese port, in 1906.

Sources Consulted:

Bennett, Terry. History of Photograph in China: Western Photographers. London: Quaritch, 2010.

Carstairs, Jamie. "Charles Frederick Moore (1837-1916), a Photographer in China." https://visualisingchina.net/blog/2019/12/05/charles-frederick-moore-1837-1916-a-photographer-in-china.

———. "Charles Frederick Moore's Photographs of the"Ruins of the European-style Palaces at the Yuanmingyuan." https://visualisingchina.net/blog/2022/05/15/charles-frederick-moores-photographs-of-the-ruins-of-the-european-style-palaces-%e8%a5%bf%e6%b4%8b%e6%a5%bc-at-yuanmingyaun-%e5%9c%86%e6%98%8e%e5%9b%ad.

Acquisition information:
Acquired in 2002.
Processing information:

Processed and cataloged by Beth Ann Guynn in 2004. Beth Ann Guynn wrote the finding aid in 2016 and Beth Ann Guynn and Linda Kleiger encoded the finding aid in 2016.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in two series: Series I. Volume 19A,1876-1897, undated; and Series II. Volume 19B,1870-1897, undated.

Physical location:
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Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers.

Terms of access:

Contact Library Reproductions and Permissions.

Preferred citation:

Bo lan Zhonghua tu zhi albums, 1865-1897, udated, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2004.R.11.

http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2004r11

Location of this collection:
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, CA 90049-1688, US
Contact:
(310) 440-7390
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