Sketches in Hong Kong. Gillman's Bazaar, Victoria, Hong-Kong. c1858

by The Illustrated London News

Antique print. "From our Special Artist and Correspondent"

A charming woodcut published in The London Illustrated News on January 9, 1858 (with later hand-colour). The 'correspondent' wrote in the accompanying text, "I send you a View of Gillman's Bazaar, which is a picturesque bit of Hong-Kong. Observe the clothes hanging to dry; and, above all, do not overlook the string of sausages festooned across the street." (They are towards the top of the scene, above the washing lines.)
There are two or three little streets in the same style here. At six p.m., the feeding hour, they are full of wood-smoke, which involuntarily makes you shed a tear. The chinese houses have no chimneys; therefore the smoke has to escape out of a window in the side of the house, made for that purpose."

The London Illustrated News was a popular periodical which was established in 1824 by 24 year-old printer and newsagent, Herbert Ingram, who had noticed that on the rare occasions newspapers included woodcuts, their sales increased, so decided it would be possible to make a good profit from a magazine that included a large number of illustrations

This woodcut measures 185 x 150mm (7 1/4 x 6 inches) and was printed within a page of text. It has been mounted between antique white conservation ragmat boards with the front matt decorated, and is covered for better presentation and protection until framed.