William Alexander’s Image of Qing China

Abstract

William Alexander was the official draughtsman of the Macartney Embassy. His pictures of China covered a wide range of themes. Each theme represented a certain purpose. Landscapes, architectural drawings, and portraits constituted the majority of the drawings, which reveal the Embassy’s enthusiasm for obtaining visual knowledge of a variety of aspects in the society of China. The drawings of still life, costume, native species, and religious ceremony occupied the remainder, and provided the audience with a more intricate impression of China. In comparison with other European and some earlier generation artists’ works, Alexander’s pictures convey a peculiar British idea of China at the time, and hint at the potential crisis between the two countries.

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