Inside the Temple of Jugangu at Peking, Hand-Colored Plate, circa 1747

An original hand-colored antique engraving of the interior of a Chinese temple, lettered "Inside of the Temple Jugangu in the Province of PEKING." The hall is carried on many columns that recede in ranks toward a gilded seated figure on a high altar at the right, with offerings and attendants before it. At the left the engraver has opened the wall to show a tall multi-story pagoda rising outside, each stage with its own eaves. Crowds of worshippers, officials and travelers fill the floor, some kneeling, some in conversation, and the scale of the architecture is set by their smallness within it. The plate is lettered "Vol. 2. page 940." at the upper right. The hand coloring is strong, with red in the columns and gold in the figure.

The engraving comes from John Harris's "Navigantium atque Itinerantium Bibliotheca, or a Complete Collection of Voyages and Travels", in the revised and enlarged edition prepared by John Campbell and published in London between 1744 and 1748; the plate is lettered for volume two, page 940. It is an original copper engraving with hand coloring, from the suite engraved by Emanuel Bowen, the London engraver and mapmaker. A companion plate from the same suite is offered by an established United Kingdom dealer.

English readers of the 1740s had almost no reliable images of the inside of a Chinese temple, and plates like this one, engraved by Emanuel Bowen for the enlarged Harris collection, did the work of forming an idea of China for a whole generation. The spelling "Jugangu" is Harris's own and has not been matched with certainty to a modern name, which is part of the plate's period character. Chinese subjects of this date in good hand color are much scarcer than the European plates from the same volumes. The architectural perspective and the gilded figure give the sheet real warmth under glass, and it suits a dining room or a hall where chinoiserie furniture or ceramics are already in play.

Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Marked handling soiling along the left, right and top edges. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom right and top left corners.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.