#MB45
ca. 1905
Ink drawing on thick paper ca. 16 x 26cm (6.5 x 10.5 in). Recently matted, with a minor tear of blank margin, but overall in very good condition.
This well executed ink drawing shows the main gate at Xining, China. "Xining has a history of over 2,100 years and was a chief commercial hub on the Hexi Corridor caravan route to Tibet, handling especially timber, wool and salt in ancient times. The trade along the Hexi Corridor was part of a larger trade corridor along the Northern Silk Road, whose use was intensified in the 1st century BC after efforts by the Han dynasty to control this route"(Wikipedia). This ink drawing was created by an artist under Filchner's direction after a photograph made by Filchner en route to Tibet on his 1903-5 "expedition to Tibet to carry out geomagnetic and topographical surveys on the high plateau. In addition to its scientific work the expedition carried out a significant intelligence-gathering role and was contemporaneous with similar missions by Francis Younghusband and others"(Howgego, 1850-1940 Polar Regions etc., F6).
