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Lot Essay
A fine photographic record of the Shanghai Bund in the 1880s or 1890s, the panorama extending from the Native City, Old City or Nanshi (Southern City) on the extreme left, to the Dock Company and wharves on the extreme right, to the north of Suzhou Creek. The view centres on the British Settlement, flanked by the French Concession to the south and the American zone to the north, the latter consolidated with the British Settlement in 1863 and subsequently known as the International Settlement.
Although undated, the Time Ball on the Bund gives a terminus post quem of 1884 -- the date the signal and time station (the latter a mast with a big ball that rose to half- and top-mast and back to mark noon each day) was erected. A similar panoramic view of the Bund by Tuck Tai in Cambridge University Library is dated in manuscript 30 October 1898.
Although undated, the Time Ball on the Bund gives a terminus post quem of 1884 -- the date the signal and time station (the latter a mast with a big ball that rose to half- and top-mast and back to mark noon each day) was erected. A similar panoramic view of the Bund by Tuck Tai in Cambridge University Library is dated in manuscript 30 October 1898.