Anti-Chinese caricature from the Boxer Rebellion: "Celebrating the Allied Victory"
Ca. 1900. Pen and ink caricature depicting a Chinese man held aloft by his pigtail by an Allied soldier, with the handwritten title above. The soldier, likely an American Marine, wears a uniform with jodhpurs. He grins at the much smaller and grimacing Chinese man, who hangs in the air dressed in a robe and dangling slippers.
The Boxers were Chinese displaced by natural disasters and angered by the interference of the West through their opium trade and Christian missionaries. Eventually supported by the Qing government army, they proceeded to attack foreign settlements and Chinese Christians in Northern China, including in Tientsin. An alliance of foreign troops, including Russians, Japanese, Americans, British, French, Germans and Austrians was formed to protect their countrymen. The Allies were able, after a great struggle and approximately 800 casualties, to successfully repel the much larger force of Boxers and Chinese troops at the Battle of Tientsin on July 13-14, 1900.
The pen and ink caricature is a spontaneous sketch, made by an American soldier celebrating victory and playing to anti-Chinese stereotypes consistent with those of the Yellow Peril ideology which surfaced in the west in the late 1800s. 1/2 x 10 1/4", contemporary fold. Very good overall. Item #22685
Price: $275.00