Canton (Guangzhou), Kwangtung province, China: a Cantonese bride and groom. Photograph by John Thomson, 1869.

A woman [left] and man posed in front of a plain background sheet in a makeshift studio. The woman is wearing an elaborate headdress with beaded tassels hanging down over her face. The man wears a shiny conical hat. The same couple as shown in Thomson's negative number 671

In this photograph John Thomson wanted show China's strange marriage customs – the arranged loveless marriage, the red-coloured wedding dress, as against the white bridal dresses to be seen in Europe; and the power imbalance between the groom and his future wife. This groom is dressed in a mandarin robe and looks rather unhappy. The bride wears a veil and cap, and for Thomson this was a sign that she was deprived of her privilege of having a glimpse of her future husband. This wedding portrait contrasts strongly with those made in the same period in Europe

1869

1 photograph : glass photonegative, wet collodion : stereograph

Canton, bride and bridegroom Bears Thomson's negative number: "672"

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

John Thomson, Illustrations of China and its people, London, 1873-4, vol. I, pl. XV,

China through the lens of John Thomson, 1868-1872, Beijing: Beijing World Art Museum, 2009, p. 133 (reproduced)

Wellcome Collection 19586i