Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

James Riley Sever Lantern Slide Collection

Summary

Collection ID:
FSA.A1998.01
Creators:
Sever, James Riley
Child, Thomas
Dates:
1875-1877
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
84 Lantern slides
black and white and color
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
Stereopticons 1875-1877; undated mostly black and white and a few hand-colored, some captioned and numbered, assembled by an unknown source to depict views of Chine, including images of the imperial Summer Palace, in particular the ruins of the Yuanmingyuan taken in 1877 by amateur photographer Thomas Child; the environs of Peking (Beijing), including the Great Wall, Ming Tombs, the observatory, pagodas, the Temple of Heaven and others; a monastery near Foochow (Fuzhou); views of Formosa (Taiwan); a Canton street scene; villages; Chinese workers in various activities; a portion of an English-Chinese lexicon; and works of art depicting Prince Kung, Sir Harry Smith Parkes (1828-1885), "Ward of Salem" [likely William Hayes Ward (1835-1916)], and Christopher Columbus.

Arrangement

Arrangement
Organized in 2 boxes (.5 linear ft.) by slide number and topic.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
William Hayes Ward (1835-1916) was a Congregationalist minister, Orientalist, and editor of the "The Independent", a weekly religious newspaper. Sir Harry Smith Parkes (1828-1885) was a British diplomat who worked mainly in China and Japan.

Administration

Custodial History
Donated by James Riley Sever, 1998. Slides were obtained by Sever from Mrs. Barker, a neighbor of his sister's in Fairlington (Alexandria, Virginia) while she was moving in the summer of 1962. The slides were to be discarded as garbage. Then, stored in closet for 35 years while Sever was employed by as a Foreign Service Office of the United States Information Agency.

Digital Content


Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Preferred Citation
James Riley Sever Lantern Slide Collection. FSA.A1998.01. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

More Information

Local Numbers

Local Numbers
FSA A1998.01


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
China Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Canton (China) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Beijing (China) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Taiwan Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lantern slides Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
China -- Description and Travel Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Parkes, Harry, Sir, 1828-1885 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ward, William Hayes, 1835-1916 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Columbus, Christopher Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
National Museum of Asian Art Archives
Washington, D.C. 20013
Business Number: 202-633-0533
AVRreference@si.edu