China | Collection of 50 photographs of Canton and Shanghai, circa 1880s

China—Lai Afong, William Saunders and others

Collection of 50 photographs of Canton and Shanghai, circa 1880s (but including earlier images)

50 albumen prints (average 205 x 265mm., or the reverse), individually mounted on card (mounts 328 x 460mm.), all captioned by hand in German in ink on the reverse, some with letterpress captions in English pasted on the reverse, housed in a contemporary fitted buckram box with red label on the spine titled 'China: Canton, Shanghai', some fading, spotting and stains, box stained and slightly worn

A good collection of views of Canton and Shanghai, together with portraits of Chinese officials, soldiers, modes of transport, images of everyday life, street scenes, actors, traders, etc.

PROVENANCE:

One of a series of 13 portfolios of travel photographs assembled by a collector/traveller in the 1890s, see also lots 1, 5, 12, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 23, 25, 52 and 159.