Image Not Available
Images may not be available due to copyright, cultural or privacy reasons, or an object has not been photographed.
Album of Peking published by S. Yamamoto, Peking, China
Object No. 2007/13/1
Increasing European tourism in China resulted in a demand for souvenirs and this album by Japanese photographer, S. Yamamoto was compiled for this purpose. S. Yamamoto was an important photographer working in Peking in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The photographs he took included portraits and scenes from daily life in Peking and were sold individually as postcards, and in high-quality books such as this example which functioned as a souvenir. The cover title of Peking and identity of each plate in English and Chinese suggests it was compiled for both English and local tourists. The inclusion in the album of ordinary street scenes among the more predictable tourist destinations makes the album an important social and economic record of Peking. The importance of this album as a historical document is strengthened by the timing of the production of the album coinciding with the drawing to an end of the Qing Dynasty, and dawn of the Republican period.
Loading...
Summary
Object Statement
Book of photographs, souvenir, 'Peking', silk-brocade / paper, published by S Yamamoto, Tokyo, Japan, 1909
Physical Description
Book of photographs, souvenir, 'Peking', silk-brocade / paper, published by S Yamamoto, Tokyo, Japan, 1909 Landscape format souvenir book of photographs. Silk-brocade over card cover, gold in colour with grey peonies design. Book is bound with gold coloured silk threads knotted and secured in two places on front of spine. Pages are interleaved with white tissue separating the one hundred black and white photographs. Each photograph is numbered from one to one hundred, and has its title printed underneath in both English and Chinese. The subjects depicted in the different photographs include 'The Ch'ien-men (Qianmen dajie) Great Street' (photo 1), 'A crowd of camels in Peking' (photo 11), 'West Corner of Peking Wall' (photo 12), 'Imperial throne in the Temple of Heaven' (photo 16), 'Ha-ta-men (Hadamen jie) Street' (photo 17), 'The Great Examination Hall' (photo 20), 'Lama Temple' (photo 23), 'The Drum Tower Street' (photo 30), 'The Temple of Five pagodas (sic) (Wu-ta-ssu / Wutasi)' (photo 37), 'Marble Bridge in Summer Palace' (photo 46), 'The Arch in Sleeping Buddha Temple' (photo 57), 'Ming Tombs' (photo 65), 'Second [life-size camel sculpture]' (photo 66), 'Third [life-size elephant sculpture]' (photo 67), 'Fourth [processional way of sculptures]' (photo 68), 'Chu-Yung-Kuan (Jayonguan Pass)' (photo 74), 'The Great Wall' (photos 76, 77, 78, 79 and 80), 'Different coiffures and costume of Chinese and Manchurian Ladies' (photo 84), 'Manchurian lady' (photo 85), 'Chinese girl' (photo 86), 'Manchurian girl' (photo 87), 'Opium smoking' (photo 88), 'Mongorian (sic) chief and his wife' (photo 98) and 'Typical Mongorian (sic) Camel' (photo 100). The book is housed in a cardboard box
PRODUCTION
Notes
The book was published by S. Yamamoto in Tokyo, Japan in 1909. Little is known about the Japanese photographer S. Yamamoto, but it is significant that he was the photographer of an important portrait of Alastair Morrison's father, George Ernest Morrison (1862-1920) and his long-standing male attendant, Sun Tianlu. S. Yamamoto worked as a photographer in Peking during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He was one of the important photographers working in Peking at that time.
HISTORY
Notes
The book of photographs by S. Yamamoto was purchased by the donor in 2005.
SOURCE
Credit Line
Gift of Alastair Morrison, 2007
Acquisition Date
24 January 2007
Copyright for the above image is held by the Powerhouse and may be subject to third-party copyright restrictions. Please submit an Image Licensing Enquiry for information regarding reproduction, copyright and fees. Text is released under Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivative licence.
Image Licensing Enquiry
Object Enquiry