Sedan Chairs and Travel Photography in Turn of the Century China (1890-1910)

Sedan Chairs and Travel Photography in Turn of the Century China (1890-1910)

Within many travel accounts produced in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, the sedan chair appears as a consistent reference point to the oriental character of the Chinese world from the perspective of Western observers. Western-produced travel accounts like that of Isabella Bird Bishop ( 1831-1904) for example contain spanning accounts of travel by sedan chair, carried by exploited laborers (referred to in-text as "coolies"). This collection brings together images either collected by Western observers or depicting Western travelers using sedan chairs in China at the turn of the century between 1890 and 1910. Images included in this collection span regionally from the modern-day city of Guangzhou (Canton), the capital of the Guangdong province, to the Hunan province, and Yantai (Chefoo) in the Shandong province.

Matthew Mendez

The images used in this collection are taken primarily from those available in the public domain and collected from WikiMedia Commons.

1890-1910

Matthew Mendez

All Images are within the public domain.

English