ALEXANDER, William (1767-1816) - photo 1
ALEXANDER, William (1767-1816) - photo 2
ALEXANDER, William (1767-1816) - photo 3

ALEXANDER, William (1767-1816)

Lot 138
13.07.2023 10:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 8 190
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 992903
Lot 138 | ALEXANDER, William (1767-1816)
Estimate value
£ 7 000 – 10 000
ALEXANDER, William (1767-1816)

The costume of China illustrated with forty-eight coloured engravings. London: William Miller, letterpress by W. Bulmer and Co., 1805.

Unique extra-illustrated large-paper copy, with the plates printed on folio sheets and the text extended to match. The extra-illustration is an engraved portrait of the emperor Tchien Loong is 'based on a picture from a Chinese hanging scroll of the Qianlong emperor, which must have been brought back by the Macartney embassy. It was published on 15 January 1795, just four months after their return' (British Museum collection, Mm, 1.61). ‘William Alexander (1767-1816), student of the Royal Academy, studied art under Pars, and subsequently Ibbetson ... From 1792 to 1794 he accompanied Lord George Macartney's official embassy on behalf of the British government to Beijing, where he documented the visit and made drawings of the Chinese court... The plates depict various mandarins, tradesmen, royalty and all phases of Chinese society, fashion and costume’ (Western Travellers in China). Abbey, Travel 534; Bobins III, 1101; Löwendahl 727; Western Travellers in China 51.



Large folio (583 x 416mm). Extra-illustrated with an engraved portrait frontispiece of the Emperor Tchien Loong coloured by a contemporary hand, engraved and published by Mariano Bovi, London, January 15, 1795, sepia aquatint dedication to the Earl of Macartney, and 47 aquatint plates all coloured by a contemporary hand on large-paper with tissue guards some of which with printed captions, on various papers by Russell & Co., and E&P, dated 1798 and J. Whatman 1801, quarto text inlaid with margins extended to match the size of the plates, list of plates at end (without half-title, as often, or list of subscribers). Modern red straight-grained half morocco gilt, red square morocco gilt cornerpieces, spine in eight compartments with raised bands gilt, 19th-century red papered boards. Provenance: Baroness Burdett Coutts (pencil note 'from the Burdett Coutts library'; sale Sotheby’s 15-17 May, 1922, lot 6).





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Place of origin:Asia
Auction house category:Printed books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
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13.07.2023
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