Hand Colored Engraving by T. Allom: View of the 'tower of Skulls', Framed

Clearly a tall pale beacon stands guard over a gray-blue shore with a single boat

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. Small in scale, a hand-colored coastal view with a tall tapering tower on a rocky point and a small dark boat in the water. Stormy sky above. It floats in a broad white mat with a narrow slip and a dark, beaded frame. It is 21.5 inches wide and 19.5 high.

Small picture, big tower, and a very solemn bit of weather.