ORANGE, James. The Chater Collection: Pictures relating to China, Hongkong, Macao, 1655-1860. London: Thornton Butterworth, 1924.
Small folio. Photogravure portrait frontispiece of the author, folding lithograph map, numerous illustrations after paintings, photographs, drawings, etc., some in color; errata slip tipped in. Original dark green cloth, upper cover lettered in black, spine lettered in gilt, top edge.
FIRST EDITION, LIMITED ISSUE, number 20 of 750 copies. The Chater Collection, amassed by the Indian-born Armenian businessman, Sir Paul Chater (1846-1926), originally comprised over 430 items, including oil paintings, watercolors, sketches, prints, and photographs. The collection primarily featured landscape scenes of South China trading ports and British activities in China during the 18th and 19th centuries. Chater bequeathed this valuable collection to the Hong Kong government upon his death in 1926. Unfortunately, during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in World War II, a large portion of the collection was lost or destroyed. Today, only 94 pieces are known to have survived, which now form an important part of the Hong Kong Museum of Art's collection.
