Credit: © The Royal Society
Image number: RS.6188
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Great Wall of China
Date
1669
Creator
Wenceslaus Hollar (1607 - 1677, Bohemian) , Engraver
Object type
Library reference
56950
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 100mm
width (print): 165mm
width (print): 165mm
Subject
Politics & Government
> Political doctrines
> Slavery
Politics & Government
> Political doctrines
> Colonialism
> Political doctrines
> Slavery
Politics & Government
> Political doctrines
> Colonialism
Content object
Description
A section and gate of the Great Wall of China. Three figures on horseback; an elephant with two minders and a horse drinking from a stream are seen in the foreground.
Inscribed above: ‘A parcell of the long WALL of CHINA by which its whole Fabrick is expressed.’
Plate from the book An embassy from the East-India Company of the United Provinces to the Grand Tartar Cham, Emperour of China...., by John Nieuhoff (London, 1669).
John Nieuhoff (1618-1672), Dutch traveller, was appointed steward of the mission to China under Peter van Goyer and Jacob van Keyser, ambassadors of the Dutch East India Company.
The Dutch East India Copmany (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, VOC) was an amalgamation of Dutch trading companies established in 1602 to trade with India, where the majority of Europe’s cotton and silk originated from. It began operating in South Asia, and over the next century expanded its colonial operations to Mauritius and South Africa.
It is known to have made use of slave labour from early on. Laurens Real, the Governor-General in the East Indies from 1615-1619, first introduced slave labour into the nutmeg plantations on Amboina in the East Indies, and his successor, Jan Pieterzoon Coen (1619-1623 and 1627-1629) introduced it in the remaining of VOC settlements.
Inscribed above: ‘A parcell of the long WALL of CHINA by which its whole Fabrick is expressed.’
Plate from the book An embassy from the East-India Company of the United Provinces to the Grand Tartar Cham, Emperour of China...., by John Nieuhoff (London, 1669).
John Nieuhoff (1618-1672), Dutch traveller, was appointed steward of the mission to China under Peter van Goyer and Jacob van Keyser, ambassadors of the Dutch East India Company.
The Dutch East India Copmany (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, VOC) was an amalgamation of Dutch trading companies established in 1602 to trade with India, where the majority of Europe’s cotton and silk originated from. It began operating in South Asia, and over the next century expanded its colonial operations to Mauritius and South Africa.
It is known to have made use of slave labour from early on. Laurens Real, the Governor-General in the East Indies from 1615-1619, first introduced slave labour into the nutmeg plantations on Amboina in the East Indies, and his successor, Jan Pieterzoon Coen (1619-1623 and 1627-1629) introduced it in the remaining of VOC settlements.
Associated place