A raree show

Alexander, William (1767-1816)

Item type:

drawing

Date of creation:

1792-1793

Height:

19.4 cm  (7 5/8 in.)

Width:

15.8 cm  (6 1/4 in.)

Technique / Medium:

watercolor and pen and black ink over graphite on moderately thick, slightly textured, beige wove paper

Place of creation:

Zhongguo [China] (中国 )

Description

Scene presents an adult Chinese male smoking a long pipe and gesturing to the three marionette puppets that he is controlling with strings held in his left hand. The puppets are dancing and playing (or holding) musical instruments; a small monkey (also a puppet?) is at their feet. The box that serves as a stage for the performance is emblazoned with Chinese calligraphy. Alexander accompanied the Macartney Embassy to China in 1792 and made drawings of many people and scenes.

Iconclass

48C8551
puppet
48C855
puppet and marionette show
43C94
dancing
48C7
music
48C734
percussion instruments
25F22
monkeys, apes
49L4
calligraphy
32B3311
Chinese

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Frame drum [2598]
Percussion instruments [2370]
Beater [6071]

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

Notes

Inscribed in black ink, upper center: "25."

RIdIM record id

6309