Artist Index: China

Photographer: Lai Afong (c. 1859-1941, attributed to). Group portraits. 1880s/90s. 3 albumen prints. Each circa 21,5 x 27,5 cm. Each mounted to board.

This group includes a portrait of two richly dressed Chinese women in a studio, a fortune teller and a court scene. – Some light surface scuffing, otherwise in good condition.

Views of China. Circa 1890-1900. 11 vintage collodion paper prints. Each circa 21 x 28 cm. Some titled in negative; some annotated in ink on the verso.

The images include Canton, Fouchow and Macao. – Traces of use, some tears in edges (some backed), handling creases.

Photographer unknown. Official Chinese propaganda photographs. 1949-1970s/printed 1960s/70s. 9 ferrotyped gelatin silver press prints. Each circa 28 x 23 cm. Some annotated or stamped on the verso.

Some of the photos in this group document important turning points in 20th century Chinese history, such as Zhou Enlai with the Red Guards or the huge mourning rally on the occasion of Zhou's death in 1976 in Tiananmen Square, which was the cause of the so-called "Tiananmen Incident". Another picture shows the new party chairman Hua Guofeng during his 1977 tour of Europe in Romania or Yugoslavia, omitting the Soviet Union. Also included are two images of the modern Beijing Opera. – Some with stronger traces of use/ creases, edges curled, otherwise several in good condition.

Photographer unknown. Views of Hong Kong (4), Canton (2), Macao (5) and Shanghai (2). 1880s/90s. 13 albumen prints. Each circa 20 x 26 cm. Some mounted to board.

Some handling creases, some buckling from mounting, a few small tears, otherwise in good condition.

Photographer unknown. Staged Chinese propaganda photographs with a double of Mao Zedong. 1950s. 4 vintage ferrotyped gelatin prints. Each circa 30 x 24 cm.

These photographs do not show Mao Zedong himself, but an unknown double posing on them, making the leader of the Chinese state appear in a prestigious light. – Some light traces of use, two with pinholes in corners, otherwise in good condition.

Private souvenir album of a German officer stationed in China. Circa 1911-1913. Circa 124 vintage collodion paper prints. Each circa 11,5 x 15,5 cm and reverse. Mounted to album boards (time-stained in edges), annotated in German in ink on album boards, bound in Japanese black lacquer album (some chips, spine missing) with painted genre scene on front cover, inside fly leaves with hand-painted Japanese genre scene and handwritten dedication in ink dated 1913 and signed Retzlaff.

Highly interesting album compiled by a high ranking German officer circa 1911-1913. The images include some rare photos of monuments and temples including the famous Treaty Temple, Tsingtau train station, pagodas, opium smokers, an old mill, religious figures near the Ming tombs, Chinese beauties, harbor scenes with war ships and daily rural life. Also includes street views of Tsingtau and panoramic views of Hong Kong and Port Arthur. The album also includes a group photograph of Prince Heinrich together with other Chinese high ranking officials. Prince Heinrich of Prussia, the Emperor's brother, had participated in the stationing of German protection troops after the original occupation of Kiauchou in 1897 under the leadership of Admiral von Diederichs. In this album he is seen visiting the region a year before the outbreak of World War I and the subsequent capture of Kiautschou by the Japanese. The armored cruiser "Gneisenau", which Heinrich travelled to China on, is also shown. The dedication on front flyleaf reads: Für hervorragende Leistungen beim Preisschießen am 3.1. 1913, drei Schuß, liegend freihändig, 150 m, 24 Ringscheibe, 68 Ringe.
Tsingtau, 15. 2. 1913 Retzlaff, Hauptmann u. … [?]
– Some prints with light surface rubbing or small spots, some faded, most very strong and clear images in very good condition.

Photographer unknown. Views of Shanghai and Canton. 1890s. 3 albumen prints. Each circa 21,5 x 27,5 cm. Annotated in upper edge in ink, 2 mounted to board (time-stained in edges).

Some handling creases, otherwise in good condition.

China. Atlas de l'expédition de Chine en 1860. Rédigé au dépot de la guerre d'après les documents officiels. 1 Bl. Mit 8 (3 doppelblattgroßen und 1 gefalteten) lithographischen Karten von Erhard Schieble. 52 x 38 cm. OHalbleinen (Rücken mit Fehlstellen, Vordergelenk angeplatzt, etwas stärker angeschmutzt und fleckig). (Paris, Imp. Lemercier), 1861-1862.
Der detaillierte kartografische Bericht dokumentiert die französisch-britische Militäroperation in China im Jahre 1860. Die Schlacht und der darauffolgende Sieg der alliierten Truppen führten zum sogenannten zweiten Vertrag von Tientsin, der die Öffnung weiterer Küstenstädte für Briten festlegte. – Wohlerhalten. Die Vorsätze stark leimschattig.

View of the Jade Belt Bridge, Summer Palace, Peking, China. Circa 1900. Vintage hand-colored gelatin silver print. 55,7 x 39 cm. Distributor's Hartung Photo Shop Peking blindstamp in lower right corner, flush-mounted to board.

Slight wear in edges, otherwise delicately hand-colored and in near excellent condition.

Souvenir album of Peking. 1920s. Circa 48 vintage gelatin silver prints. Each circa 8,5 x 14 cm and reverse. Inserted in album board slits, each with typed caption label below the images on the mount, bound in canvas album.
Most photos in very good condition.

Photographer: Kung Tai (Gong Tai, active 1877-1890s). Panoramic view of the Shanghai Bund. 1880s. 8 albumen prints (each 19,5 x 27 cm., the whole panorama circa 19,5 x 218 cm.), mounted on board mounts, joined by cloth, folding concertina style into red half morocco cloth boards (edges rubbed) gilt upper cover with morocco label titled Shanghai Bund. Kung Tai. Photographer.
Terry Bennett History of Photography in China - Chinese Photographers - 1844-1879, Quaritch 2013, see pp 137-146. – The Kung Tai studio flourished from the late 1870s to 1890s. It produced important photographs and was perhaps the most popular commercial Chinese studio in Shanghai during this period, noted for its multi-part panoramas of Shanghai's Bund. – Some fading, especially in edges and along folds, some scuff marks/ surface rubbing, otherwise in good condition.

View of the Great Wall, China. Circa 1900. Vintage hand-colored gelatin silver print. 59 x 36 cm. Distributor's Hartung Photo Shop Peking blindstamp in lower right corner, flush-mounted to board.
Delicately hand-colored and in excellent condition.

Private souvenir album of China. Circa 1907. Circa 50 vintage collodion paper prints. Each circa 17 x 12 cm and reverse. Mounted to album boards, bound in half canvas album (edges rubbed, spine damaged/cracked).
Very interesting album compiled circa 1907. The images include the beginning of the famous Peking-Paris rally 1907, some rare images of monuments and temples in a ruinous state, the Peking train station, pagodas and daily rural life. – Some prints with surface rubbing/buckling, some faded, otherwise some in good condition.

Photographers: various Peking photo studios. Portraits of people of Peking. Circa 1900. 10 collodion paper prints and 1 gelatin silver print. Most circa 16,5 x 10,5 cm. Each mounted to studio board, some with photographer's name, title and date printed below the image on mount.

Most in very good condition.

Private souvenir album of a high ranking officer of the German community in China. Circa 1908. Circa 330 vintage collodion paper prints (some gelatin silver prints). Various sizes, most 12 x 16 cm, some larger/smaller. Mounted to album boards, some annotated in German in pencil on mounts, bound in half canvas album (edges slightly rubbed).

A very comprehensive album beginning with group portaits of high ranking members of the Chinese upper class, the Empress Dowager Cixi, Zaifeng, Prince Chun with entourage. Also includes views of Beijing, various Chinese landscapes, temples, palaces, gateways, monuments and artworks, monks, Mandarines, views of the Chinese Wall, military activities and European soldiers and officers as well as market scenes. Two newspaper clippings document the burial ceremony of the Guangxu Emperor of China in 1908. The album was likely compiled some years after the Boxer Uprising. – Some prints with light surface rubbing/buckling, some faded, some with oxidation mirroring in edges, otherwise many in good condition.