POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Brick from the Great Wall of China

Object No. 2007/18/1

This brick was most likely used in the construction of the Great Wall of China. It is typical of fired clay bricks made late in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and compares in both its appearance and dimensions to other standard-size bricks used in the Great Wall, as seen in the 2007-2008 'Great Wall of China: dynasties, dragons and warriors' exhibition held at the Powerhouse Museum. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many tourists removed bricks from the Great Wall as souvenirs of their visits, perhaps to provide trophies for display in their homes upon return. This brick and its display frame is a record of this practice, indicating both the fascination which the Great Wall had for Western visitors to China and a belief, held in common with many explorers and archaeologists, in their entitlement to remove artefacts from important heritage sites in China to take home with them. During the Ming dynasty, sections of the Great Wall in the mountains north of the capital were constructed with stone block footings and brickwork outer faces enclosing a core of rammed earth and rubble. The brickwork courses consisted of fired clay bricks of standard dimensions held with mortar made from lime and ground rice. The courses of weathered grey bricks and off-white mortar give sections of the Great Wall a distinctive appearance, which was recorded and widely reproduced in various photographic media in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and often used to promote tourism at the Wall to local and foreign tourists.