Chow-ta-zhin, A Quan, or Mandarin, was entrusted with the care of the British Embassy. The blue ball on his cap, from which hangs a peacock feather, i

---

Chow-ta-zhin, A Quan, or Mandarin, was entrusted with the care of the British Embassy. The blue ball on his cap, from which hangs a peacock feather, is indicative of this rank. He wears full court dress, being a gown of silk or satin, covering a undervest embroidered in silk; the square badge on his breast, which contains the figure of an imaginary bird, denotes the wearer to be a Mandarin of letters. He wears a string of beads. Image taken from The Costume of China. Illustrated in forty-eight coloured engravings. Originally published in William Miller: London, 1805.

---

Size: 3820px × 5340px
Photo credit: © BRITISH LIBRARY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: china, clothing, costume, english, forty-, historical, history, illustrated