CHINESE TEA CULTURE.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Photographs of the famous Willow Pattern Tea House, Shanghai. A collection of scarce photographs of Shanghai's renowned Willow Pattern Tea House in the late Qing and early republican eras. These images capture the bustling atmosphere of sociability, consumption, and conversation in this quintessential Chinese urban institution, and show how tea houses acted as barometers of socio-cultural change during China's transition to modernity.The Willow Pattern Tea House (Chinese: Huxinting or Woo Sing Ding), thought to be one of the oldest tea houses in China, is a Shanghai landmark named in English after its similarity to the design of blue and white willow pattern crockery. Built in the 16th century near the Yu Gardens as a scholar's retreat, it was restored and converted into a tea house in 1855 during the Xianfeng dynasty. Among its most distinctive features is the zigzagging Nine Curve Bridge used by visitors to cross the surrounding lake. A draw for many dignitaries, Willow Pattern was visited by Queen Elizabeth II during her 1986 state visit and by Bill Clinton in 1998.In addition to the early 1930s panorama, this collection includes four stereograph cards from leading publishers:a. "Where Shanghai's Wealthy Natives Pass the Time - Chinese Tea House, China". Underwood & Underwood. Albumen print, photograph taken c.1900 by the traveller James Ricalton (1844-1929). We have traced copies in the Library of Congress, Museum of New Zealand, and UC Riverside.b. "A Pretty Little Tea H

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