Title: 1912 China Shanghai The Bund Chinese Custom House Tower Huangpu River Colourised Postcard

Front Description:

A colourised photographic postcard depicting a wide panoramic view of the famous Shanghai Bund waterfront as seen from across the Huangpu River, looking toward the western bank. The caption is printed in dark red capital letters along the upper left of the image reading: Shanghai. The Bund with Chinese Custom House and Tower. The skyline shows a low, tree-lined waterfront of colonial-era buildings stretching across the full width of the card. The most prominent landmark visible is the original Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs House building, a red brick Victorian-Gothic style structure with a prominent square clock tower rising above the roofline, situated left of centre. To its right a church spire is visible, and further along the Bund a continuous row of European-style colonial commercial buildings, consulates, and trading houses extends into the right distance. The foreground is dominated by the broad grey-blue expanse of the Huangpu River. Several vessels are depicted on the water including a traditional Chinese junk with a dark rust-coloured sail on the left, a white steam launch or river ferry in the centre, and various flat-bottomed river barges and cargo vessels moored along the Bund waterfront. In the lower right corner, a partially visible wooden river ferry or sampan bow is depicted. In the upper right corner of the card, a colourised version of the Qing Dynasty Imperial Yellow Dragon flag — the yellow field bearing the azure dragon with a red flaming pearl — is illustrated flying from a flagpole, confirming this view predates the 1912 fall of the Qing dynasty. The sky is rendered in a soft gradient of blue, pink, and white with billowing cumulus clouds. A small catalogue number 84 is printed in the lower right corner of the image.

Back Description:

The back is a divided-back style with POST CARD printed in large decorative green Art Nouveau lettering across the upper centre. A vertical green printed dividing line separates the message area left from the address area right. FOR ADDRESS ONLY is printed in small green capitals at the lower right of the address column. The catalogue and description block is printed in small green typeface in the upper left, reading: 84. THE BUDD WITH CHINESE CUSTOM HOUSE AND TOWER, SHANGHAI, CHINA. — Shanghai is one of the principal seaports of China. The Chinese city proper is enclosed within walls 24 feet high, the streets being narrow and dirty and the buildings low and crowded. In 1843 it was opened as one of the five treaty ports and an important foreign settlement is now established with a separate government. The subjects and citizens of each nationality are under the protection of their respective consuls. The Chinese authorities retain complete control over all customs. A US one cent green postage stamp bearing a left-facing portrait (Benjamin Franklin issue) is affixed to the upper right, cancelled with a black wavy line machine postmark and a circular datestamp reading: ST. JOSEPH MO. JAN 8 1912, confirming the posting date as January 8, 1912. A handwritten message in pencil cursive fills the entire left message area and reads: Received your letter was glad to hear from you, will answer in a few days. Yes I will hemstitch the corners for you I don't know how neat a job I'll do, tell you later about that. Dolly Stucker was up here this night and all day Sat. Say we are sure having a united time. How is your water pipes these days. Ours froze up and such a time first time they ever froze up in this house but of course 16 + 18 degrees below pro morning doing up old breeze will tell more next time. Pearl. The address written in pencil reads: Mrs. Chas. Wilson, Harvard, Nebraska.

Estimated Era: Late Qing Dynasty to early Republican China period, the card image dating to approximately 1905–1911 based on the presence of the Qing Imperial Dragon flag and the original Customs House building, posted January 8, 1912 from St. Joseph, Missouri to Harvard, Nebraska, USA — making this a precisely dated example mailed just weeks after the proclamation of the Republic of China on January 1, 1912.