MS 7421 Chinese watercolor paintings illustrating the rice industry
odd: label: Local Numbers
content: NAA INV 10000081
label: Variant title
content: Illustrations of the rice industry
name: label: Creator
content: Unknown
place: label: Place
content: East Asia
label: Place
content: China
topic: label: Topic
content: China trade watercolor painting
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Received by the United States National Museum from Foster Jennings through exchange, August 20, 1893.  Transferred from the object collections of the Department of Anthropology to the National Anthropological Archives by Chang-su Houchins, August 1986.
creator: label: Creator
content: Unknown
culture: label: Culture
content: Chinese
bioghist: label: Historical Note
content: Chinese export watercolors were painted in the port cities of China for sale to western customers in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Many of the watercolors were done in sets such as trades, domestic interiors and gardens, boats, birds, mandarins, and punishments.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 10 Paintings (visual works) (watercolor on pith paper, 13 x 9 inches)
unitdate: label: Date
content: undated
container: label: Container
content: Box 7162 / 7421 / 7508, Item 2
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.MS7421
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Graphic Materials
label: Type
content: Paintings (visual works)
label: Type
content: Watercolors
label: Type
content: Works of art
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Watercolors
label: Genre/Form
content: Works of art
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: A set of ten (10) watercolor paintings on pith paper.

The following are descriptions of the pictures that are copied from an accompanying sheet: 

(1) harvesting rice--the cycles in the farmers' hands are made of iron and palm wood

(2) carrying sheaves of rice to be thrashed

(3) threshing rice--the flail used is made of palm wood and bamboo

(4) sweeping the rice grain together in order to have it sifted

(5) sifting the rice--the woman represented uses a wooden dipper in 
order to put a small amount of rice in a hulling mill at a time

(6) bolting the rice flour

(7) showing samples to customer

(8) selling rice shoots to commission merchant

(9) a rice merchant and his attendant

(10) carrying rice to be weighed


Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.