Canton, Kwangtung (Guangdong) province, China: a boatman. Photograph by John Thomson, 1869.

A boatman, wearing a short spreading woven cape and jerkin with tufted hems, and a conical hat with a brim. He leans against a stone wall with his legs crossed at the ankle. Although posed, he looks fairly relaxed. A flight of stone steps in the background to the left

According to Thomson, the boating population in southern China was extremely poor and miserable: 'Millions of these hardy sons of toil live from hand to mouth, and are only kept from starving, from piracy, and from rebellion by the cheapness of their staple food, and by the constant demand for their labour.' It was thought that because of their simple diet they had to resort to alcohol to keep themselves warm in the winter. Whenever they had a spare morsel of cash they spent it on drink

1869

1 photograph : glass photonegative, wet collodion : stereograph

Canton boatman Bears Thomson's negative number: "676"

This is one of a collection of original glass negatives made by John Thomson. The negatives, made between 1868 and 1872, were purchased from Thomson by Sir Henry Wellcome in 1921

China through the lens of John Thomson, 1868-1872, Beijing: Beijing World Art Museum, 2009, p. 132 (reproduced)

Wellcome Collection 19594i