Nankow pass, Pechili province, China: interior wall of the Buddhist archway at Juyong Guan. Photograph by John Thomson, 1871.
- Thomson, J. (John), 1837-1921.
- Date:
- 1871
- Reference:
- 19280i
- Pictures
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View 2 imagesAbout this work
Description
Bas-relief marble sculpture representing a mythical Indian Buddhist figure, one of the four kings of the Deva. This one, "he who guards the state", protecting the East, is shown playing a stringed musical instrument (pipa) and treading on the enemies of the state. The upper surface is covered with a multitude of small images of Buddha carved in bas-relief. Also carved on the inside of the arch is an inscription in Sanskrit with translations in Tibetan, Mongol, Manchu, Uyghur and Chinese. Other ideograms, printed on posters, are stuck on the wall. Cf. Thomson's negatives number 511, 511a, 513a, 515, 516
Publication/Creation
1871
Physical description
1 photograph : glass photonegative, wet collodion ; glass approximately 20.5 x 25.5 cm (8 x 10 in.)
Contributors
Lettering
Figures on (Kiu ?) -yung-Kwai arch, Nankow Pass, China
Bears Thomson's negative number: "512"
Notes
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
References note
Nick Pearce, Photographs of Peking, China 1861-1908: an inventory and description of the Yetts collection at the University of Durham: through Peking with a camera, Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen Press, 2005, no. 56, pp. 139-141
China through the lens of John Thomson, 1868-1872, Beijing: Beijing World Art Museum, 2009, p. 75 (reproduced)
Reference
Wellcome Collection 19280i
Type/Technique
Languages
Where to find it
Location Status Access Closed storesBy appointment Manual request Note