Enfilade

From Eventbrite:

Engraving China’s Last Golden Age: Qianlong Emperor’s Copper Plates
John Rylands Library, Manchester, 16 May 2019

The recent discovery of a complete set of 圆明园西洋楼铜版画 (engravings of European Palaces in Yuan Ming Yuan) at the John Rylands Library, University of Manchester, and the presence of a complete set of 乾隆西征铜版画 (engravings of The Qianlong Emperor’s Western Campaigns) at the Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow, makes Britain home to two of the most unusual and rare sets of engravings ever made. This is a most significant find, not just for Britain but also—and more importantly—for the study of 18th-century China, its engagement with Europe, and Anglo-Chinese relations in the 19th century and in the future. This discovery also presents challenges, as the two sets need considerable conservation and research.

This public event will digitally showcase some of the known complete sets, and—conservation work permitting—will also physically display the Manchester set, which uniquely contains a hand coloured plate.

Keynote: Marcia Reed (Chief Curator at the Getty Research Institute), followed by a Q&A discussion hosted by Professor Yangwen Zheng (University of Manchester). Thursday, 16 May 2019, 11:45am.