The image shows a decaying adobe structure viewed from ground level. The horizon is not clearly visible due to the dominant wall running horizontally across the image. The wall tilts slightly backward as it extends into the distance. The top of the wall is uneven, with some areas crumbling and supported by wooden ladders. Spiky wooden stakes are placed in the ground, forming a line in the lower part of the image. The color palette is monochromatic with varying shades of sepia, giving the scene a vintage quality. The background sky is a pale tone, contrasting with the rugged texture of the wall and ground in the foreground.
Read the visual description

The image shows a decaying adobe structure viewed from ground level. The horizon is not clearly visible due to the dominant wall running horizontally across the image. The wall tilts slightly backward as it extends into the distance. The top of the wall is uneven, with some areas crumbling and supported by wooden ladders. Spiky wooden stakes are placed in the ground, forming a line in the lower part of the image. The color palette is monochromatic with varying shades of sepia, giving the scene a vintage quality. The background sky is a pale tone, contrasting with the rugged texture of the wall and ground in the foreground.

National Gallery of Art · Photograph

Angle of North Taku Fort at Which the French Entered, August 21, 1860

Felice Beato

Date
1860
Medium
albumen silver print
Dimensions
image: 24.3 × 29.2 cm (9 9/16 × 11 1/2 in.) mount: 25 × 31.4 cm (9 13/16 × 12 3/8 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Accession number
2012.137.1.8
Credit line
Gift of Michael and Jane Wilson
Time span
1851 to 1875
Department
CPH

Portfolio and series

Volume
The Second Opium War

Subjects and terms

  • British
  • albumen silver print
  • War
  • China
  • Fort
  • Second Opium War
  • military
Provenance

(sale, Christie's, South Kensington, 05 May 2000, lot 302, as The Second Opium War China, 1860); Michael and Jane Wilson, Wilson Centre for Photography, London, acquired 2000; gift to NGA, 2012.

Inscription

on verso of mount, by unknown hand, along top in black ink on paper label: Angle of North Fort at Which the French entered. / 21st Augt 1860.; bottom right in graphite: 00:6693

NGA object ID 163371. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.