Finding aid for Views and scenes of China, 1860-1900

Beth Ann Guynn


Descriptive Summary

Title: Views and scenes of China
Date (inclusive): 1860-1900
Number: 2006.R.1
Physical Description: 2 Linear Feet 1 box (22 photographic prints)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
reference@getty.edu
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: This group of 22 albumen prints of China includes nine images from Shanghai, four from Hankou, three from Tianjin, two from Guangzhou, two from Hong Kong, and one each from Anting, Ningbo, Xiamen, Beijing, and Nanjing. Included are photographs made by British military personnel and other European photographers, as well as Chinese photographers and studios. Photographers include Paul Champion, St. Julian Hugh Edwards, Lai Fong, Liang Shitai, Kung Tai, Pow Kee Studio, and Major James Crombie Watson.
Request Materials: Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the catalog record   for this collection. Click here for the access policy  .
Language: Collection material is in English .

Biographical / Historical

The collection contains photographs by several makers including Paul Champion, St. Julian Hugh Edwards, Lai Fong, Liang Shitai, Kung Tai, Pow Kee Studio, and Major James Crombie Watson.
Chemical engineer and amateur photographer Paul Champion (1838-1884), traveled through China from 1865 to 1866 under the auspices of the Société zoologique d'Acclimatation which sought flora and fauna exchange and other trade opportunities with China. Champion's stereoviews were published by Charles Gaudin, B.K. Editeur, Paris (A. Block) as the series Chine & Japon, Asiatic Views, China and Vues de Chine.
The American photographer, St. Julian Hugh Edwards (1838-1903), was based in Amoy (Xiamen) starting around 1861. He was likely the first photographer to practice in Taiwan.
Kung Tai (Gong Tai) flourished from the 1870s to 1890s in Shanghai. His studio was noted for its mulit-plate panoramas of the Shanghai Bund.
Lai Fong (ca.1839 to 1890) operated a photography in Hong Kong from at least 1870, and possibly as early as 1859, and was known for his portraiture and landscapes. Lai used 'Afong' as his commercial name, and the Afong Studio remained in business until the 1940s.
Liang Shitai (flourished 1870s and 1880s; also known as See Tay), a Cantonese photographer who began his career as a painter, specialized in portraits of Qing dynasty officials and elites. He opened a studio in Hong Kong in the early 1870s. By 1876 he had relocated to Shanghai and he then moved to Tianjin in the 1880s. Shitai's photographs incorporate the traditional styles and aesthetics of Chinese painting and his portraits are compositionally and stylistically linked to the canon of Chinese Imperial portraiture.
Pow Kee (Bao Ji zhaoxiangguan) established a studio in Hankow by at least 1884. By 1888, the studio had moved to Nanjing. It was re-established in Shanghai in the 1890s, as Pow Kee & Sons.
Major James Crombie Watson (1833, Tasmania, Australia-1908, Ningbo, China), was an officer in the Anglo-Chinese Artillery. He moved to Nigbo in 1862 where he worked for the Chinese government as the superintendent of police.
Sources consulted:
Bennett, Terry. History of Photography in China 1842–1860. London: Bernard Quaritch, 2009.
Bennett, Terry. History of Photography in China: Chinese Photographers 1844–1879 . London: Bernard Quaritch, 2013.
Bickers, Robert. Historical Photographs of China. https://www.hpcbristol.net
Bradbury, Joyce. Forgiven but Not Forgotten: Memoirs of a Teenage Girl Prisoner of the Japanese in China . New South Wales Australia: Jopyce Bradbury, 2000. http://www.weihsien-paintings.org/books/ForgivenForgotten/Book/ch2.htm
Cody, Jeffery W.; Terpak, Frances, eds. Brush & Shutter: Early Photography in China . Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2011.

Administrative Information

Publication Rights

Preferred Citation

Views and scenes of China, 1860-1900, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2006.R.1.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2006r1

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Acquired in 2006.

Processing Information

The collection was processed and cataloged by Beth Ann Guynn in 2006. She wrote the finding aid in 2021.

Digitized Material

The collection was digitized by the repository in 2021 and the images are available online:

Scope and Content of Collection

This group of 22 albumen prints of China includes nine images from Shanghai, four from Hankou, three from Tianjin, two from Guangzhou, two from Hong Kong, and one each from Anting, Ningbo, Xiamen, Beijing, and Nanjing. Included are photographs made by British military personnel and other European photographers, as well as Chinese photographers and studios. Several of the photographs capture aspects of the European presence in China in the nineteenth century.
Photographs from Shanghai include two taken by a Lieutenant Colonel E. Milsom in 1868: one is a view of the tea house near the City God temple (Cheng huang miao); the other is a view of a Shanghai-area pagoda and temple showing damage sustained in the Taiping Rebellion. A photograph of the Ting-Wong guardians of the portal, Hong Kong, is by Lai Fong. The remaining six photographs are by unidentified photographers. A studio photograph depicting a staged "demonstration" of ivory carving dates between 1860 and 1870, while one of a Shanghai street barber dates to the 1870s. From between 1890 and 1899 there are two prints (one hand-colored), of the Guangzhou guild compound in the city's International Settlement, and two views of the water tower in Kiangsu Road, the first high-rise concrete structure in China.
Three photographs taken in Hankou between 1875 and 1880 show tea being packed and shipped for export by a Western trading company. Also from the Hankou area is a view of a pailou, or commemorative arch, with a city gate in the distance, taken in the 1860s or 1870s.
A view inside Beijing's Qianmen gate by the French photographer, Paul Champion, dates to 1865.
Picturesque views include the "Lucky Rock" in Xiamen, attributed to St. Julian Hugh Edwards (ca. 1870) and a view of cows in the former village of Wong Nai Chong near Hong Kong from between 1880 and 1890. A view of a Confucian temple on the Qinhuai River, Nanjing, was taken by Pow Kee in the 1870s.
The informal (i.e. non-official) portrait of Li Hongzhang, viceroy of Zhili, was made by Liang Shitai in 1879, while two views of the viceroy's state barges, taken in 1894, are unattributed. The formal group portrait of the Anting taotai, or circuit intendent, with his mother and two wives, was made by Kung Tai in 1877 or 1878. An image of the militia under the command of Colonel Cooke, the commander of the Anglo-Chinese force at Ningbo, was taken by Major James Crombie Watson around 1870.

Arrangement

Arranged in a single series: Series I: Views and scenes of China, 1860-1900.

Indexing Terms

Subjects - Names

Li, Hongzhang, 1823-1901
Champion, Paul, 1838-after 1877
Watson, James Crombie, Major, 1833-1908
Lai, Fong, approximately 1839-1890
Liang, Shitai
Kung, Tai

Subjects - Corporate Bodies

Pow Kee Studio

Subjects - Topics

Architecture -- China -- Ming-Ch'ing Dynasties, 1368-1912
City walls -- China
Guilds -- China
Pagodas -- China
Buddhist temples -- China
Tianjin (China)--Description and travel

Subjects - Places

Guangzhou (China) -- Description and travel
Hankou (Wuhan, China) -- Description and travel
Hong Kong -- Description and travel
Nanjing Shi (China) -- Description and travel
Ningbo Shi (China) -- Description and travel
Shanghai (China) -- Description and travel
Xiamen (Xiamen Shi, China) -- Description and travel

Genres and Forms of Material

Albumen prints -- China -- 19th century
Group portraits -- China -- 19th century
Studio portraits -- China -- 19th century
Photographs, Original.


Box 1

Series I. Views and scenes of China, 1860-1900

 

2006.R.1-1 Photographer unidentified, [Street Barber, Shanghai], 1870s

Scope and Content Note

The barber and his customer are wearing summer clothing.
 

2006.R.1-2 Liang Shitai (See Tay), [Portrait of Li Hongzhang, Viceroy of Zhili], 1875

Scope and Content Note

The Chinese inscription written on the background of the photograph reads: In the fourth year of the Guangxu reign, in the Dingmao year, in late spring, in the intercalary third month, on the xiahan [___] day, photographed in our own Academy, in the off-duty parlor; respectfully signed by Liang Shitai staying [at the time] in Tianjin, at the Apricot Flower Residence. Translation and date provided by Oliver Moore.
In this portrait Li Hongzhang is wearing summer clothing.
Li Hongzhang (1823-1901) was one of the most powerful officials of the late Qing Dynasty. A key figure in China's industrial and military modernization, he served in key positions of the Imperial Court, including as the premier viceroy of Zhili.
 

2006.R.1-3 Watson, Major James Crombie, [Local Militia under Colonel Cooke, Ningbo, Zhejiang], circa 1870

Scope and Content Note

Written on mount: Artillery.
James Edward Cooke was born in Jamaica, the son of a planter. He was educated in Bristol, England, after which he joined the British Royal Navy. After leaving the navy he became master of a vessel owned by King & Co., an African Gold Coast exploration company, at the age of 22.
Cooke arrived in the trading port of Ningbo in 1861 as a mate on the British barque Alice. Shortly after the Alice's arrival, her captain was murdered by some of his crew. Acting as the ship's temporary master, Cooke delivered the vessel to Hong Kong. He next served aboard the SS Paoushun, first as a mate and then as its captain. The SS Paoushun was part of the forces of General Ward, an American mercenary soldier who was the commanding officer of the Anglo-Imperial Chinese contingent fighting the Taiping rebellion. Cooke took charge of General Ward's forces after the general was killed in action. He also fought Taiping rebels under then-Colonel Charles George Gordon.
Following the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion in 1864, Cook, now a brigadier, became the commander of the Anglo-Chinese Military Contingent in Chekiang province headquartered at Ningbo. He held this position for 16 years until he died in Ningbo in 1881.
 

2006.R.1-4 Photographer unidentified, [Water Tower, Kiangsu Road, Shanghai, with British policeman in Foreground], between 1890 and 1900

 

2006.R.1-5 Photographer unidentified, [View of Water Tower and Kiangsu Road Bridge from Hongkou, Shanghai], between 1890 and 1900

 

2006.R.1-6 Edwards, St. Julian Hugh, (attributed), Lucky Stone of Amoy, ca. 1870

Scope and Content Note

Title from caption written on mount. The site is Xiamen, Fujian.
 

2006.R.1-7 Photographer unidentified, [State Barge of Li Hongzhang, Viceroy of Zhili], 1894

Scope and Content Note

The barge is traveling from Tianjin to Baoding Fu, then capital of Zhili.
 

2006.R.1-8 Photographer unidentified, [State Barges of Li Hongzhang, Viceroy of Zhili], 1894

 

2006.R.1-9 Kung Tai, [The Anching Taotai and His Family], 1877 or 1878

Scope and Content Note

Family portrait of a taotai (local governor) with his mother and two wives. All are wearing winter clothing. Mounted on reverse of 2006.R.1-9a.
 

2006.R.1-9a Lai Fong,Ting-Wong or Guardians of the Pavilion, between 1870 and 1890

Scope and Content Note

Title from printed caption pasted below image. Numbered on caption: No. 350. Mounted on reverse of 2006.R.1-9.
 

2006.R.1-10 Photographer unidentified, [A Pailou with a City Gate in the Distance], 1860s or 1870s

Scope and Content Note

Lower Yangtze area, near Hankou (?).
 

2006.R.1-11 Photographer unidentified, [Milking Cows, Wong Nei Chong Village near Hong Kong], between 1880 and 1890

Scope and Content Note

Annotation on mount above image: Hong Kong. Chow Chow dogs in the foreground.
 

2006.R.1-12 Photographer unidentified, [Ivory Carving], between 1860 and 1870

Scope and Content Note

A man "demonstrates" ivory carving. The ivory would have been carved in Guangzhou and likely sold in a shop in Shanghai.
 

2006.R.1-13 Photographer unidentified, [Carrying Half Chests of Tea, Hankou], between 1875 and 1880

Scope and Content Note

Annotation on verso: (Shanghai). View of a side street showing method of carrying half chests of tea. Chinese policeman in foreground.
 

2006.R.1-14 Photographer unidentified, [Tea Packed for Shipping, Hankou], between 1875 and 1880

Scope and Content Note

Numbered in negative: 30. Annotation on verso: Messrs. Rodewald & Heath at work.
 

2006.R.1-15 Photographer unidentified, [Loading Tea at Hankou for Shipment over the Yangtze River], between 1875 and 1880

Scope and Content Note

Writen on verso: Shanghai. Shipping tea from the Bund.
 

2006.R.1-16 Milsom, Lieutenant Colonel E., [Tea House near the City God Temple (Cheng huang miao), Shanghai], 1868

Scope and Content Note

Annotation on mount: Tea house, tea gardens, Shanghai [___] 1868. Lt. Col. E. Milsom.
 

2006.R.1-17 Milsom, Lieutenant Colonel E., [Pagoda and Temple Damaged during the Taiping Rebellion], 1868

Scope and Content Note

Shanghai area.
 

2006.R.1-18 Champion, Paul, [Inside Qianmen Gate, Beijing], 1865

Scope and Content Note

Market and temples inside the city walls.
 

2006.R.1-19 Photographer unidentified, [Temple in the International Settlement, Shanghai], between 1890 and 1900

Scope and Content Note

Numbered in negative: 10. Image same as 2006.R.20.
 

2006.R.1-20 Photographer unidentified, [Temple in the International Settlement, Shanghai], between 1890 and 1900

Scope and Content Note

Numbered in negative: 10. Hand colored. Image same as 2006.R.19.
 

2006.R.1-21 Pow Kee, [Confucian Temple on the Qinhuai River, Nanjing], 1870s