The Original Watercolours of the Costumes of China
Pasted into this leatherbound volume are the original watercolours for one of the earliest illustrated books on Chinese customs to be published in English. At the back is the author’s manuscript together with details of the publisher’s and printer’s quotes and a newspaper cutting announcing the publication.
The watercolours were purchased in Canton in 1789. They are of a type produced in workshops for sale chiefly to foreigners, for whom they functioned as records of the exotic. George Henry Mason published them under the title Costumes of China yet they equally record trade and leisure activities.
Details
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Title
The Original Watercolours of the Costumes of China
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Associated place
Guangzhou (place of creation)United Kingdom (place of creation) -
Date
1789 - 1800 -
Material and technique
ink, watercolours, with pencil on paper; bound in leather
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Material index
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Technique index
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Object type
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Dimensions
book 33.6 x 26.3 x 3.7 cm (height x width x depth)
double page 33.6 x 53 cm (height x width)
page 32.5 x 25 cm (height x width) -
No. of items
1
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Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the Art Fund, the Friends of the Ashmolean Museum, and the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund, 2003.
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Museum location
Museum department
Eastern Art
Accession no.
EA2003.4
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Further reading
Vainker, Shelagh, ‘Costumes of China’, Orientations, 34/November, (2003), passim, illus. pp. 52-55
Reference URL
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