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Call Number:
MSS 38
Creator:
Porcher, Edwin Augustus, 1824-1878
Title(s):
21. Amoy with part of the island of Ku-Lang-Su taken from the outer anchorage of Cornwallis’ Rock. June 3rd, 1852.
Date:
1852 June 3
Classification:
Archives and Manuscripts
Series:
Series I: Drawings
Part of Collection:
Oversize 1
Provenance:
E.A. Porcher donated 16 drawings related to his Cyrene expedition to the British Museum in 1865. He left his remaining papers and watercolor works to Lieut. Col. Cecil Du Pre Penton Powney (b. 1862), his sister’s surviving son, who donated views, plans and elevations from the Cyrene expedition to the British Museum in 1894. The remaining manuscripts and drawings were inherited by Powney’s daughter, Beryl Wyndham Powney (c. 1896 -1976). Several components of the Porcher collection were sold by private dealers beginning in the 1970s (see 'Related Archival Materials Note' for Porcher holdings in other institutional collections).
Conditions Governing Access:
The materials are open for research.
Conditions Governing Use:
The collection is the physical property of the Yale Center for British Art. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts.
Scope and Content:
As Porcher notes in his diary, Amoy (today called Xiamen) was the most important harbor in the province of Fujian and was dominated by foreign trade at the turn of the 18th century. The island of Kulang Su (Gulangyu), on the western side of Xiamen’s harbor, was once occupied by British troops after the capture of the city in 1841 until it was restored to Chinese in 1845 (Nield 99). Its five British batteries are still visible in Porcher’s view. In his diary, he expounds the strategic advantages of this location: “In case of another misunderstanding with the Chinese the island of Kulang-su would be well adapted for a settlement, the channel between it and Amoy being only 672 yards wide – the ridge of hills on the island being higher than those opposite. There are two distinct ridges which might be separately defended, the highest point being 280 feet above the sea. The island is principally granite, and the soil being formed of it in a decomposed state…. Fresh water from wells are plentiful, and artificial channels conduct it to boats” (53).
Additional Notes:
B1977.14.22223
Physical Description:
1 drawing : watercolor, body color, heightened with white, on medium-thick beige paper, affixed to card mount ; sheet 23 x 36 cm, mount 36.5 x 52 cm
Genre:
Watercolors (paintings), Pictorial works, Diaries, Letters, and Ships' logs
Subject Terms:
Anglo-Burmese War, 2nd, 1852
Antiquities
Antiquities, Roman
Chron
Colonies
Description and travel
Excavations (Archaeology)
Fortification
Harbors
History, Naval
Junks
Navigation
Pagodas
Piracy
Pirates
Punic antiquities
Ships
Temples
Voyages and travels
Subject Period:
1849-1861
1850-1900
Associated Places:
Asia
Burma
Carthage (Extinct city)
China
China Sea
Cyrene (Extinct city)
East Asia
Gozo Island (Malta)
Grand Harbour (Malta)
Great Britain
Guangzhou (China)
Gulangyu Qu (Xiamen Shi, China)
Hong Kong (China)
Malta
Mellieh̳a (Malta)
Pulau Pinang (Malaysia : State)
Qrendi (Malta)
Singapore
Trincomalee (Sri Lanka)
Tunis (Tunisia)
Tunisia
Utica (Extinct city)
Valletta (Malta)
Xiamen Shi (China)
Associated People/Groups:
Boxer (Ship : 1855-1865)
Cleopatra (Ship : 1843)
Davis, N. (Nathan), 1812-1882
Great Britain. Royal Navy
Harpy (Ship : 1845-1909)
Hibernia (Ship : 1804-1902)
Kertch (Ship)
Melville, Harden Sidney, active 1837-1882
Porcher, Edwin A., 1824-1878
Porcher, Madelina
Finding Aid Title:
Edwin Augustus Porcher Collection
Archival Object:
https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/3/archival_objects/2817
Metadata Cloud URL:
https://metadata-api.library.yale.edu/metadatacloud/api/aspace/repositories/3/archival_objects/2817?mediaType=json&include-notes=1&include-all-subjects=1