Hand Colored Engraving by T. Allom: Entrance of the Yellow River

Flagged vessels crowd a gray river mouth, with small rowboats weaving through

This hand colored engraving is from London, England, United Kingdom, and is dated 1843. It is ink on paper. Thomas Allom, an architect and founding member of what became the Royal Institute of British Architects, illustrated books on China in the 1840s without ever making the trip there himself. Hand-tinted throughout, a harbor scene with a dense fleet of boats under tall masts and red pennants, small rowboats in the foreground, and a hazy, low shoreline behind. A pale blue sky sits above. It is 10.5 inches wide and 7.8 high.

A traffic jam of masts with extremely good manners.