Lot Essay
On August 21, 1860 a combined army of English and French forces stormed the Taku Forts in Peking giving rise to the Second Opium War which resulted in the opening of China to the West. The Anglo-Italian photographer Felice Beato accompanied the army led by Lord Elgin, and made a series of photographs documenting the effects of these attacks. This group includes images of the Taku Forts as well as views of the buildings and grounds of the Old Summer Palace immediately after the attack. Subjects include the Temple of Heaven; the Anting Gate; a view of the top of the wall from the Anting Gate; two images after the storming of the fort with bodies strewn in the foreground; panoramas of the abandonned fort Pei-t-ang, a view of the lake with the Summer Palace beyond, a two-part panorama of the Walls and Towers of Peking; six other architectural studies of temples, a river view and two townscapes.