Drawing by william alexander, draughtsman of the macartney embassy to china in 1793. The tradesman wears a sleeveless pink jacket of silk, with a collar of velvet. His stockings are of cotton quilt and his shoes are embroidered. His pipe, pouch, knife and chopsticks are suspended from a sash; in his right hand there is a basket with yàn wō (燕窝, or swallow' nests) woven from sea-weeds, a delicacy in chinese cuisine, which he carries for sale. The background is a view of han-tcheou-foo, the capital of the province of tche-kiang. Image taken from the costume of china, illustrated in forty-eight coloured engravings, published in london in 1805. Date: circa 1800.
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