Los 4087

Shitai, Liang
(Liang See Tay, active 1870s-1880s)Portrait of Li Hongzhang in Tientsin

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Fotografie des 19. – 21. Jahrhunderts (Katalog nur online verfügbar)
Auktionsdatum 29.11.2025

Portrait of Li Hongzhang (1823-1901) in Tientsin. 1879. Cabinet albumen print. 14,2 x 10 cm. Mounted to studio board of Byrne & Co., Richmond, annotated "Viceroy Li" in ink below the image on the mount.

An intriguing artifact of early photographic circulation, this cabinet photograph is credited to Byrne & Co. of Richmond, England. However, the image is in fact a well-known portrait by Liang Shitai (also known as See Tay), a pioneering Chinese photographer active in Hong Kong during the 1870s. Liang established one of the most prominent studios in the colony before relocating to Shanghai in 1876 and later to Tientsin (Tianjin) in 1880. He became renowned for his portraits of high-ranking Qing officials and members of the imperial court.
The sitter, Li Hongzhang, was one of the most influential statesmen of the late Qing dynasty - a general, diplomat, and reformer who played a central role in suppressing major uprisings and negotiating foreign treaties. He held numerous senior posts, including Viceroy of Zhili, Huguang, and Liangguang. The reattribution of Liang’s portrait to an English studio speaks not only to the sitter’s international prominence but also to the commercial demand for his likeness in the West. A hand-colored version of this portrait is held in the collection of the New York Public Library. – A few light pressure marks, minimal fading in edges, otherwise in very good condition.

Lit.: Terry Bennett. History of Photography in China: Chinese Photographers 1844-1879. London: Quaritch, 2013, ill. p. 261 (with different hand-coloring).
Jeffrey W. Cody and Frances Terpak, eds. Brush and Shutter: Early Photography in China. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2011, ill. p. 126, plate 6.