Review of 'Collecting and Displaying China's “Summer Palace” in the West'

Abstract

In Room 145 of the Ceramics Galleries of the Victoria & Albert Museum, at the top of case 50, you can see an 'architectural fragment', which, according to its label, 'once ornamented a palace in Yuanmingyuan or "garden of perfect clarity"'. Made of stoneware, the item comprises a scrolling shell-like form and is covered with an exquisite turquoise-blue glaze.(1) The label tells you no more about how it came to be removed from the palace complex nor how it was acquired by the V & A. For this, you have to go to the nearby electronic catalogue. Alongside the excellent colour illustration, you learn that 'the item was purchased by C. H. Wylde in China in 1912 as a fragment from the Old Summer Palace … the palace was destroyed by British-French troops during the Second Opium War and all that remains of the splendid buildings are scattered ruins and architectural fragments such as this.' Factually this is not correct. Although British and French troops indulged in the three day frenzy of looting which preceded the destruction of the palace complex, as Louise Tythacott emphasises in the introduction to this collection of essays on 'Summer Palace' objects, French forces took no part in the destruction, which took place afterwards. On the contrary, ambassador Gros strongly protested when he learned of the order given by Lord Elgin (son of Elgin of marbles fame) which led to the two-day conflagration, generally recognised as the worst-ever act of cultural vandalism.