Head dress Canton Women

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)

Credit LineGift of the Hall Family Foundation

Object number2015.67.88

Signednone

InscribedPrinted captions on paper, attached to mount verso, in black type: "Head dress / Canton Women. / This elaborate way of dressing the / hair is peculiar to Canton and is called / the "tea-pot" style. When once the hair / is arranged as may be easily imagined / it is an object of serious solicitude to / keep it in shape--the time taken up in / arranging the coiffure being so great as / to preclude the possibility of doing it / every day--to meet this difficulty Chi- / nese women sleep on a wooden pillow, / and always lie on their sides--the pil- / low itself is hollow, and is a receptacle / for their brushes, combs, rings, jade / ornaments, &c. so that they always have / their valuables not under, but within / their pillows.

Markingsnone

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Terms

DescriptionHand colored image of woman, full lenght portrait, with elaborately sculpted hair and earrings holding umbrella in left hand.

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