Badaling, Pechili province, China: part of the Great Wall of China. Photograph by John Thomson, 1871.
- Thomson, J. (John), 1837-1921.
- Date:
- 1871
- Reference:
- 19392i
- Pictures
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Description
A craggy landscape, with snow all around. A high pass (the Nankow Pass) between mountains, part of the Great Wall visible. According to Thomson, 'no illustrated work on China would be worthy of its name if it did not contain a picture of some portion of the Great Wall'. For him, the Great Wall was an expression of a 'national characteristic of the Chinese race': for the Chinese, their country was the centre of the world
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
The Great Wall
Bears Thomson's negative number: "571"
References note
John Thomson, Illustrations of China and its people, London, 1873-4, vol. IV, pl XXIV, "The Great Wall of China"
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. 60, pp. 145-146
China through the lens of John Thomson, 1868-1872, Beijing: Beijing World Art Museum, 2009, p. 76 (reproduced)
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
Reference
Wellcome Collection 19392i
Type/Technique
Languages
Where to find it
Location Status Access Closed storesBy appointment Manual request Note