Nankow pass, Pechili province, China. Photograph by John Thomson, 1871.

  • Thomson, J. (John), 1837-1921.
Date:
1871
Reference:
19274i
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About this work

Description

A river running through a pass between mountains, with a man and a donkey standing in the foreground. Nankou Pass, or the southern entry, is situated in Changping county in a suburb of Beijing. Sandwiched between two high mountains, it has been of strategic importance throughout history. From here one can see the first spur of the Great Wall. The Pass is very rocky and rough, and for centuries donkeys were the beasts of burden used by traders for transporting goods through and beyond the Pass

Publication/Creation

1871

Physical description

1 photograph : glass photonegative, wet collodion ; glass approximately 20.5 x 25.5 cm (8 x 10 in.)

Lettering

Nankow pass, North China, leading to the Great Wall Bears Thomson's negative number: "509"

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

References note

John Thomson, Illustrations of China and its people, London, 1873-4, vol. IV, pl. XXIII, fig. 55 "The Nankow Pass"
China through the lens of John Thomson, 1868-1872, Beijing: Beijing World Art Museum, 2009, p. 73 (reproduced)

Reference

Wellcome Collection 19274i

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