Drawing by william alexander, draughtsman of the macartney embassy to china in 1793. A chinese civil magistrate sitting on a cushion, smoking a pipe, and waiting for the arrival of a
visitor, attended by a domestic. The mandarin's rank and position are denoted by the bird embroidered on the badge on his breast, and by the red ball and peacock's feather attached to his cap, as well, as the beads of pearl and coral appending from his neck. The servant holds in his hand a purse with tobacco for his master; his girdle encloses a handkerchief, and from which also hangs his tobacco pouch and pipe. On the wall, chinese characters are painted, signifying moral precepts. 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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