BOOK WITH 19 DRAWINGS.
European artist; presumably George Henry Mason. Qing Dynasty. Late 18th century.

Gouache on paper; European type tome; cover with pressed gold pattern. Presumably these drawings were the templates for the copper engravings in: George Henry Mason: The
Punishments of China Illustrated by Twenty-Two Engravings; With Explanation in English and
French. London 1801. Engraver: J. Dadley. Printed for William Miller by W. Bulmer; London.
The order of the drawings does not correspond to the printed edition; some were left out; others were added; again others were interpreted in a different way. With the print version a lot of the faces were heavily sinicized. On banners and partly on the clothes or even on the faces of the delinquents the crimes and punishments are noted with Chinese ink. Apart from the engraver J. Dadley there is no other illutrator mentioned at the printed version. References in other sources are indicative that the drawings were made by Masoon himself and originated presumably ca. 1790. In their style they are similar to paintings on pith paper; which were made by Chines artists for export in the 19th century.

List of the drawings (in brackets the position in Mason):
1) Culprit chained in a cage (XV)
2) An offender is led into exile (XIX)
3) A man sitting in a tub. His cut-off queue of hair hangs over the sign (not in Mason)
4) Death sentence by hacking of the body (not in Mason)
5) One offender in front of the judge (I)
6) A culprit is forced to kneel on chains (not in Mason)
7) A culprit is chained with a collar and gyve to an iron bar (XII)
8) A man's ears are twisted (V)
9) Finger torture; is usually used on women (X)
10) Culprit receives caning (IV)
11) Act of pity; a family member cares for an offender; who is chained to a block (not im Mason)
12) A convict is led to his execution (XX)
13) An execution with the sword (XXII)
14) Punishment for a sailor: strokes with a leather swatter (VII)
15) A defendant is led to court; while the audience's attention is raised (III)
16) Convict with a wooden collar. The chair with four high posts is a relief to him (XIII)
17) Torture with the ankle crusher (IX)
18) A convict in chains is led into jail (II)
19) A convict is executed on a cross-shaped garotte (XXI).

30.3 x 36cm. On each sheet on the bottom right owner's stamp: E le Braunwald Fils; Coussances Aux Forges; Meuse. Condition B.

Provenance:
-South German private collection.
-Formerly E Le Braunwald Fils; Coussances Aux Forges; Meuse.

Literature:
-Maria Reed & Paolo Dematt?(ed.): China on Paper: European and Chinese Works from the
Late Sixteenth to Early Nineteenth Century. Los Angeles 2011.
-Lou Taylor: Establishing Dress History. Manchester 2004.Art trade; Van Ham.