Shantou (Swatow), Guangdong (Kwangtung) province, China: a woman with prominent coiffure. Photograph by John Thomson, 1871.

A girl, wearing a white garment, with an elaborate hair-style including a butterfly and a flower

In his portrayals of different types of female coiffures in different parts of China, the photographer John Thomson occasionally characterised his subjects in a manner similar to racial-stereotyping. This type of female coiffure was peculiar to a certain clan in Shantou region, and, according to Thomson, 'the facial type in this picture is one peculiar to certain of the natives of Swatow. The nose is prominent, well-formed, and straight, the upper lip short, the teeth white and regular, and the chin well cut.'

1871

1 photograph : glass photonegative, wet collodion

Swatow Bears Thomson's negative number: "810"

China through the lens of John Thomson, 1868-1872, Beijing: Beijing World Art Museum, 2009, p. (reproduced)

This is one of a collection of original glass negatives made by John Thomson. The negatives, made between 1868 and 1872, were purchased from Thomson by Sir Henry Wellcome in 1921

Wellcome Collection 19886i