Canal Boats

Attributed to John Thomson (Scottish, 1837 - 1921)

Dateca. 1870

MediumAlbumen print

DimensionsImage and sheet: 2 1/8 × 3 7/16 inches (5.41 × 8.69 cm)
Mount: 2 7/16 × 4 1/8 inches (6.15 × 10.49 cm)

Credit LineGift of the Hall Family Foundation

Object number2015.67.69

Signednone

InscribedPrinted captions on paper, attached to mount verso, in black type: "Canal Boats. / These boats, of rather primitive con- / struction, and which one would think / would have done for dingies for Noah's / Ark, are in common use among the / small canals which interlace the flat / country in China--they are much used / for Agricultural assistants in carrying / liquid manure, produce, &c., from place / to place--and are managed by men, / women, and even children with / facility. From earliest childhood the / Chinese are familiarized with these boats, / and babies may be seen squatting un- / concernedly while being sculled along, --/ and though not "cradled on the deep" / they don't seem to mind being rocked / in a sampan."

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DescriptionHand colored image of two people standing on primitive wooden canal boat along shoreline. One holds a long narrow oar across his body while the others holds a shorter oar attached to a rope out the back of the boat.

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