17 replies to this topic

[Yizheng]

I think interesting in paintings like this is also that not only does it provide a visual record of life at the particular time, but it is the subjective record of a European, and it's interesting to see what he chooses to depict and how. The paintings give me the impression of a man with his head and senses filled with the 'exoticism' of China, exoticism that he seems to see most vividly at two poles of life - imperial and court life, and street life. There is a sense of a kind of exagerated exoticism. Pagodas are even taller and palaces even more ornate than in real life, and the figures of imperial life embody all that is in the European popular image of 'despotic, sumptuous, indolent, exotic' orient. But this is not necessarily conscious, maybe as a European seeing a foreign land through his own eyes, he really saw it this way.
It's not just a record of one culture and country, really its a record of interaction and mutual perception of cultures, I think.

[stevechelt]

I came across this post while researching some Allom prints and can direct you to online text digitised from the original book associated with this print here -

Allom's China digitized text

If you search for 'Proof sword rock' you should then find the original text.

Steve

I tried doing a quick search to see if there was a legend attached to this scene... but only could find that you can purchase these engravings from various places online... now I'm curious, just like TMPikachu. Was this rock a Chinese version of King Arthur's legend... pulling Excalibur out of a rock? Or was it used to test real swords (proof?)?

However, these are really beautiful engravings... merchants lived quite well at that time, didn't they? Thanks for posting them and sharing.


Kimchee

[Sayoka]

Does anyone know if the artist painted directly from the scenery or added some of his own interpretations as well. I noticed that a lot of the floors in his paintings had various checker patterns. I don't think I recall seeing checkered floors in Chinese architecture before.