Skip to main content
Artist/Maker
Unknown artist, Chinese
Date1850-1880
MediumSoapstone
DimensionsOverall (2023.14.1): 40 × 10 1/4 in. (101.6 × 26 cm)
Credit LineJustus Doolittle, Class of 1846, by transfer from Hamilton College Archives, Burke Library
Object number2023.14.1-2
On view
DescriptionPair of soapstone architectural models of pagodas brought to Hamilton College by Justus Doolittle (1824-1880), class of 1846. Doolittle authored a book on Chinese culture as well as an early Chinese-English dictionary. He served as a missionary in the Foochow and Tientsen regions of China. Doolittle returned to the United States in poor health and died in Clinton in 1880.
The pagodas were likely made for the souvenir market by a local workshop, as soapstone was plentiful in the region. Doolittle's diary indicates that he witnessed soapstone carving as a practice during his time in China. In terms of form, pagodas served as both religious and geographic markers, prevalent in Fujian, where Doolittle lived.
Collections
Additional Details
Alternate Titles
Pagodas (Set of Two)
Yun-Fei Ji
Date: 2015
Medium: Ink and watercolor on Xuan paper, mounted on silk
Object number: 2016.3.1
Unknown artist, Chinese
Date: 1850-1880
Medium: Soapstone
Object number: 2024.16.1-36
Fitzgerald C. Peploe
Date: 1903
Medium: Bronze
Object number: 19XX.8
Date: date unknown
Medium: Ceramic with glaze
Object number: 1991.232
Date: c. 760 B.C.E.
Medium: Gypsum
Object number: 1868.6
Date: c. 883-859 B.C.E.
Medium: Gypsum with remnants of red pigment
Object number: 1868.5
Unknown artist, Chinese
Date: c. 960-1279 C.E.
Medium: Ceramic with black glaze
Object number: 2016.6.2
Unknown artist, Chinese
Date: c. 960-1127 C.E.
Medium: Stoneware with white glaze
Object number: 2016.6.4
Yun-Fei Ji
Date: 2014
Medium: Ink and watercolor on Xuan paper, mounted on silk
Object number: 2016.3.2
Cecil Beaton
Date: 1944; published 1945
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 1982.15