The Rack, Antique Hand Colored Print of Qing Punishment, 1801
€ 440
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1801
Mapmaker / artist
J. Dadley after Pu Qua, for George Henry Mason
Publisher
W. Miller, Old Bond Street, London
Technique
Stipple Engraving
Coloring
Original hand color
Sheet size
24.9 × 34.5 cm (9.8 × 13.6 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14488-4
What the condition grades mean
Excellent
Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good
Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good
Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair
Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
Condition
Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Handling soiling along the left, right and top edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom right corner.
About this sheet
This is an original antique hand colored print of a Chinese punishment, a stipple engraving by J. Dadley for George Henry Mason's The Punishments of China. A man lies stretched along a low board with his ankles bound, one officer kneeling to drive a wedge with a mallet while another holds him and a third stands by. The figures are hand colored in blue, red and buff, the plate number is engraved in the upper corner and the Dadley and W. Miller imprint sits beneath the image.
It comes from George Henry Mason's The Punishments of China, published in London by W. Miller in 1801 with twenty two stipple engravings and a page of explanation in English and French facing each one. The drawings were bought by Mason in Canton from the artist Pu Qua and engraved for publication by J. Dadley.
Mason had served with the East India Company at Canton and published the series to inform rather than to sensationalize, though it did both. The sheet is mounted and carries its letterpress leaf, explaining the scene in English and French, on the verso, and it frames well in plain dark wood for a study, a library or a hallway.
Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Handling soiling along the left, right and top edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom right corner.
This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.
