Gymkhana races of the HongKong Polo Club - the Fai-Tee Stakes [caption title]

Author: [HONG KONG - ANTIQUE PRINT]
Title: Gymkhana races of the HongKong Polo Club - the Fai-Tee Stakes [caption title]
Publication: London. The Graphic, March 15, 1890

Description:

Engraving 15.1 x 22.6 cm (plus caption) on a trimmed newspaper leaf (slightly toned), the images in very good condition.

Engraving redolent of colonial Hong Kong from a sketch by an engineer of the China Squadron Charles E. Eldred (the Hong Kong Almanack for 1891 lists him as being aboard the British vessel Victor Emmanuel). The Hong Kong Polo Club also had strong military ties (as the original commentary attests below), the Secretary of the Club was a Staff Major Fletcher of the Royal Artillery.

"This meeting took place on November 28th, having been post­ poned on account of bad weather. The Chinese coolies were much interested in the bagpipes of the Argyle and Sutherland High­landers, probably because to their ears the sound bears a very close resemblance to that produced by a common Chinese instrument, something like a flageolet. Within the enclosure almost the only people not English were the Chinese chair-coolies and the mah-Joos (grooms). The chair-coolies cluster outside the Grand Stand, the balcony of which is occupied chiefly by ladies. The professional coolies were naturally highly interested in the Chair Races, which were the most amusing events in the programme. In the Fai-Tee Stakes the gentlemen amateurs appeared in regular coolie-costume. One of the riders borrowed his bagpipes from one of the Highland pipers; but they proved his destruction, for when his team came to grief just outside the winning-post, he sat on the ground playing his pipes, and deafening himself to the shouts of the judges, who were endeavouring to inform him that he had not passed the winning-post. In our picture the pipers have been accidently omitted.-Our engraving is from a sketch by Mr. Charles E. Eldred, H.M.S. Cordelia, Hong Kong." ("The Graphic" March 15, 1890)

From the Estate of the late collector and scholar Arthur Hacker.

When referring to this item please quote stockid 179430.

Seller ID: 179430

Subject: All Galleries, Ephemera and Maps



Asia Bookroom

Asia Bookroom is located in Canberra, Australia, specialising in out of print and antiquarian books of Asian interest with some quality new books. Our stock extends from new books hot off the press to rare antiquarian volumes, including a wide variety of books published in many parts of the world, some of which are rarely seen outside of Asia.

Payment

PayPal is preferred.

Shipping

All orders ship within two business days. Orders outside of Australia are shipped via Air Mail and can take 2 to 3 weeks to arrive. Very occasionally books are lost in transit. It is vital in these cases that we are informed promptly as it becomes almost impossible to trace, even an insured package, after a period. Please contact us if you are concerned that your parcel has taken too long to arrive. Our packing is of the highest standard and it is very rare for faulty packaging to be the cause.

Returns

All items are guaranteed to be as described or they may be returned within 30 days of receipt for a refund.

Guarantee

We want you to be 100% satisfied in all your dealings with us. We are experienced booksellers who appreciate the importance of condition and make every effort to carefully and fairly describe each book we handle. To ensure this happens we take great pains to accurately describe the condition of our books in cases, such as antiquarian or secondhand books, where a condition description is required. If you see no explanation of condition in a description of a book, you can safely assume that it is either a new book or is a secondhand/out of print book in excellent condition.

This listing was created by Bibliopolis.