Drawing by william alexander, draughtsman of the macartney embassy to china in 1793. A chinese fisherman with his family resting on his boat; the woman, surrounded by her children, is smoking a pipe. In the background, there is a sluice, or flood-gate, with a vessel passing through. One of children has a gourd fastened to his or her shoulders, intended to act as a life-preserver to prevent drowning. On the gunwale, there are three brown pelicans with white throats, known as leutze, famed fishing-birds of china. Alexander noted that these well-trained birds were seen in great numbers on the lakes and rivers of china; usually, a ring was put on their neck to prevent eating the fish; when they have taken enough fish to satisfy their masters, the ring was taken off, and they were allowed to fish for themselves. Image taken from the costume of china, illustrated in forty-eight coloured engravings, published in london in 1805. Date: circa 1800.
Loading...
