The Loewentheil Photography of China Collection, begun more than thirty years ago by American antiquarian Stephan Loewentheil, stands today as the world's largest private collection dedicated to 19th-century Chinese photography. This remarkable archive contains approximately 14,000 images that transport viewers into imperial China, spanning from the first paper prints of the 1850s to the final decades of the Qing Dynasty in the early 20th century.
The collection chronicles China's entry into the photographic era and documents a world undergoing profound transformation through the lenses of both anonymous photographers and some of the greatest masters of the period. Notable photographers represented in the collection include John Thomson, Thomas Child, Liang Shitai, William Saunders, and Ernst Boerschmann, each contributing their unique perspective on this pivotal period in Chinese history.
With more than four hundred photographs, Stephan Loewentheil holds the most significant collection of images by Lai Fong (1839-1890), a major figure in 19th-century Chinese photography. Lai Fong's studio welcomed Chinese and international dignitaries of the Qing Dynasty, and numerous photographers received their training under his supervision, making his work central to understanding the development of photography in China.
Among the collection's masterpieces is a rare album by Italian-British pioneer Felice Beato, which contains the first known photographic views of Beijing along with spectacular panoramas of the city. This album represents some of the earliest visual documentation of China's capital through the photographic medium.
The collection also includes a rare copy of "Foochow and the River Min" (1873), another monument of 19th-century photography. This album by Scottish photographer John Thomson, who spent five years traveling throughout China, presents a portrait of Fuzhou (formerly spelled Foochow), which was the largest tea export center of the era in Fujian Province in southeastern China. The album documents Thomson's journey along the Min River, which he navigated by boat upstream to Nanping, covering a distance of approximately 260 kilometers. Composed of exceptionally high-quality carbon prints, this album was published in only 46 copies, making it an extraordinarily rare photographic document.
Beyond their aesthetic value, these photographs constitute a precious anthropological tool. They offer insights into the life and cultures of China during this transformative period, capturing street scenes and commercial activities, portraits of notable figures, artisans at work, magnificent landscapes, monumental architecture, rituals, and traditional costumes. The images bridge rural and urban worlds, and through each photograph, the portrait of a country on the brink of radical transformation emerges.
Together, these photographs form a unique visual archive of 19th-century China that is essential for understanding the cultural and social foundations of modern China. The collection serves not only as an artistic treasure but also as an invaluable historical record that preserves moments of a civilization during a critical period of change and modernization.
