Thomas Child
Wedding Couple
1870s
Albumen print
22 cm x 29 cm
23 September 2016 – 23 September 2016 – Sidney Mishkin Gallery, Baruch College, New York
The first exhibition in America of rare 19th-century photographs of Beijing by Thomas Child from the Loewentheil China Photography Collection. The famous bride and groom in Child’s wedding photograph, Zeng ji Fen and Nie ji Gui, were only recently identified, and then discovered by their great grandson Raymond Watt living in New York City. Child’s noble wedding portrait is of great significance to the history of China.
Rare early photographs of Peking (Beijing), by Thomas Child from the Stephan Loewentheil Historical Photography of China Collection will be exhibited for the first time in New York at the Mishkin Gallery at Baruch College. Qing Dynasty Peking: Thomas Child’s Photographs curated by Stacey Lambrow features a selection of over 40 original nineteenth-century albumen silver prints by Thomas Child. September 23 – October 25, 2016
These views of Peking (Beijing), made in the 1870s and 1880s, are from the earliest comprehensive photographic survey of the ancient city. During his nearly two decades as a resident of Peking, Child produced the most extensive photographic documentation of the city and its surroundings. The images depict the architecture, monuments, people, and culture of Peking (Beijing) during the early years of photography in late imperial China. Child’s photographs offer a unique glimpse into the country’s rich cultural past.