'Tombs at Shanghai (Ming Dynasty)' [China]

No. 38 of 51 (PAJ2051 - PAJ2101): inscribed by the artist on the album page, as title and signed and dated on the drawing, lower left, 'JHB / 12/67. There is also a '/ 68' date on the album page above the longer inscription.

Chinese tombs are often associated with guardian figures, which is what is presumably shown here in the form of two stone sages. The pair of horses behind are probably also monuments. The Ming Dynasty ruled from 1368 to 1644, its greatest funerary monuments being those of the Imperial mausoleum near Beijing. While Butt clearly shows a historic necropolis of some sort, it is also one which at the time was neglected and being used for agriculture (as the strip cultivation behind the stone figures indicates). The Chinese figure in black included for scale appears to be an official and/or perhaps his guide to the site.

Object Details

ID: PAJ2088
Type: Drawing
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Butt, James Henry
Places: Shanghai
Date made: Dec 1867
People: Butt, James Henry
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Measurements: Sheet: 170 x 245 mm
Parts: Album of topographical views, mainly on the coasts of Japan, China and Formosa (Taiwan) (Album)