Foochow, Fukien province, China: a woman carrying buckets of night-soil. Photograph, 1981, from a negative by John Thomson, 1869.

  • Thomson, J. (John), 1837-1921.
Date:
1981
Reference:
19725i
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About this work

Description

A woman holding panniers suspended from a yoke on her shoulders, standing outside by the wall of a house. This photograph was taken near to a tea plantation on terraced hills just outside of Fuzhou. Terraced fields were common in the Fujian countryside. To fertilize them the native women had to transport human manure from the city of Fuzhou. They did not bind their feet, and they carried the same burdens as the men did. Hard work rendered these women strong and healthy. According to Thomson, 'their olive cheeks are warmed with a glow of colour'

Publication/Creation

1981

Physical description

1 photograph : photoprint : stereograph

Lettering

Amoy field woman, Foochow field woman Bears Thomson's negative number: "733"

Notes

This is one of a collection of same-size contact prints made, in 1981, from John Thomson's original negatives. The glass negatives, made between 1868 and 1872, were purchased from Thomson by Sir Henry Wellcome in 1921 and are now in the Wellcome Institute Library

Reference

Wellcome Collection 19725i

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