Object Details
- Local Numbers
- USNM Accession Number: 4505 USNM Catalog Number: 21249
- Variant Titles
- Punishment with strong sword blades Xing ren zhuang ren
- Collector
- Morse, Charles H.
- Place
- East Asia
- China
- Topic
- Corporal punishment
- China trade watercolor painting
- Provenance
- The album was donated to the United States National Museum by Charles H. Morse of the U. S. Pension Office in 1876. A note indicates that it was "procured from China in 1825." The album and accompanying notes were transferred from the object collections of the Department of Anthropology to the National Anthropological Archives by Chang-su Houchins in February 1985.
- Collector
- Morse, Charles H.
- Culture
- Chinese
- See more items in
- MS 7162 Book of Chinese watercolor paintings illustrating modes of punishment
- Historical Note
- Chinese export watercolors were painted in the port cities of China for sale to western customers in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Many of the watercolors were done in sets such as trades, domestic interiors and gardens, boats, birds, mandarins, and punishments.
- Extent
- 1 Volume (cloth-bound album containing 12 watercolor paintings on pith paper, 9.5 x 13.5 inches (bound volume), 8 x 11.5 inches (paintings))
- 1 Folder (2 sets of 16 pages of notes)
- Date
- before 1825
- Container
- Box 7162 / 7421 / 7508, Item 1
- Archival Repository
- National Anthropological Archives
- Identifier
- NAA.MS7162
- Type
- Collection descriptions
- Archival materials
- Graphic Materials
- Volumes
- Watercolors
- Albums
- Works of art
- Citation
- MS 7162 Book of Chinese watercolor paintings illustrating modes of punishment, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
- Processing Information
- English titles for the album and most paintings were provided by the donor. A label with an English title was added to the album cover by USNM. The archivist assigned titles in square brackets [] to untitled paintings.
- Rights
- Contact the repository for terms of use.
- Genre/Form
- Watercolors
- Albums
- Works of art
- Scope and Contents
- A cloth-bound album containing twelve (12) watercolor paintings on pith paper. The paintings depict various modes of corporal punishment. The Chinese title, Xing ren zhuang ren, or "Punishment with Strong Sword Blades" is apparently figurative, for the twelve drawings in this collection depict punishments other than those by the sword. Included with the album are two sets of explanatory notes written by the donor and/or a United States National Museum curator or clerk. The two sets of notes have slight differences. Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
- Restrictions
- The collection is open for research. Access to the collection requires an appointment.
- Record ID
- ebl-1538056214841-1538056214844-0
In the Collection
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