Compradore
Attributed to
John Thomson
(Scottish, 1837 - 1921)
Dateca. 1870
MediumAlbumen print
DimensionsImage and sheet: 3 7/16 × 2 1/8 inches (8.69 × 5.41 cm)
Mount: 4 1/8 × 2 7/16 inches (10.49 × 6.15 cm)
Mount: 4 1/8 × 2 7/16 inches (10.49 × 6.15 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Hall Family Foundation
Object number2015.67.79
Signednone
InscribedPrinted captions on paper, attached to mount verso, in black type: "Compradore. / The Chinese Compradore may be / looked upon as a the embodiment of the / term "squeeze"--he is employed as a go / between, or middleman by all Mercantile / houses, and in the purchase of produce / squeezes the seller exorbitantly, and / the buyer also--he is also head do- / mestic in private houses--engages all / the servants and squeezes them--makes / all household purchases and squeezes on / every article--will not permit any trades / man to come near his master's house / except his own peculiar friends who pay / him a squeeze.--Compradores are em- / ployed in Banks and squeeze by con- / stantly circulating bad coin--or refusing / to take good without a squeeze, and are / as a rule wealthy, often able to buy and / sell their employers, and are yet obse- / quious--A class in fact which is an open, / acknowledge and necessary evil--but / if looked upon in the proper light, is / neither more nor less than paid dishon- / esty personified. ";
Handwritten on paper, attached to mount verso, top, in black pen: "My Cook"
Markingsnone
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionHand colored image of a Compradore seated next to table and chair and holding pipe.
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