Cultural Exchange

From the earliest voyages across the Pacific, American seafarers began to interact with foreign communities. As well as successfully negotiating treaties of peace and trade, these encounters also had a much wider significance and marked the coming together of two very different cultures. The wide variety of material in China, America and the Pacific offers poignant examples of these relationships being constructed. The many logbooks document the moments that American seafarers came into contact with foreign communities, for example on board the Peacock, where the crew observed a group of Siamese men “playing shuttle-cock with the feet” (see A Voyage Round the World; Including an Embassy to Muscat and Siam in 1835, 1836, and 1837), or during the voyage of the Catawba, where the passengers were carried ashore by a group of natives (see Harriet Swain Journal).

Album of Chinese Costumes n.d. Painting
Album of Chinese Costumes, c. 1850 - c. 1860 c.1850-1860 Painting
Album of Chinese Furniture, [c. 1840 - c. 1860] c.1840-1860 Painting
Album of Ships and Fishing Boats, c. 1840 - c. 1860 c.1840-1860 Painting
Album of Silk Production, 1849 1849 Painting, Photograph
Augustus W Loomis Letter: San Francisco, California, to Henry Wm Moulton, 30 Mar 1870 30 Mar 1870 Correspondence, Manuscript Loomis, Augustus Ward
Catalogue... Vantine's the Oriental Store 1920 Catalogue
Chinese Box c. 1700 Object
Chinese Cinnabar Carved Lacquer Box c. 1700 Object
Chinese Export Cabinet n.d. Object
Chinese Export Dressing Table Top c. 1780 Object
Chinese Gilt Hall Stand c. 1850 Object
The Chinese in America 1877 Printed Book Gibson, Otis
The Chinese in California c.1870 Manuscript Cary, Thomas G
Chinese Lacquer Box c. 1700 Object
Chinese Paintings of Macao and Canton, c. 1820-1840 c.1820-1840 Painting
Chinese Paintings of Punishments of Criminals, c. 1800-1900 c.1800-1900 Painting
Chinese Plate, Tea Bowl, Coffee Cup and Saucer n.d. Object
Chinese Porcelain Bowl c. 1770 Object
Comfortable Summer Furniture...Vantine's the Oriental Store 1912 Catalogue
Cruise of the United States Frigate Potomac Round the World: During the Years 1831-34. Embracing the Attack on Quallah-Battoo with Notices of Scenes, Manners etc., in different parts of Asia, South America, and the Islands of the Pacific 1835 Printed Book Warriner, Francis
Deed Poll by the Governor and Company of Hudson's Bay with Respect to their Chief Factors and Chief Traders for Conducting their Trade in Rupert's Land and North America… 1834 Printed Book
Drawings 67-74, People in Costume n.d. Painting
Drawings 75-82, People in Costume, Interior and Terrace n.d. Painting
Dust and Foam: or, Three Oceans and Two Continents; being Ten Years' Wanderings in Mexico, South America, Sandwich Islands, the East and West Indies, China, Philippines, Australia and Polynesia 1859 Printed Book, Journal Warren, Thomas Robinson
Ethiopian Concert. United States Flag Ship Mississippi, Simoda, Japan, June 16th, 1854. Before the Imperial Commissioners of the Court of Yedo, on the Occasion of an Entertainment given by Commodore M C Perry, Special Ambassador from the United States to Japan 16 Jun 1854 Ephemera
Fankwei; or, The San Jacinto in the Seas of India, China, and Japan 1859 Printed Book Wood, William Maxwell
The Flag Ship, or, A Voyage Around the World in the United States Frigate Columbia ; Attended by her Consort the Sloop of War John Adams, and Bearing the Broad Pennant of Commodore George C Read. Volume II 1840 Printed Book Taylor, Fitch Waterman
The Flag Ship, or, A Voyage Around the World in the United States Frigate Columbia; Attended by her Consort the Sloop of War John Adams, and Bearing the Broad Pennant of Commodore George C Read. Volume I 1840 Printed Book Taylor, Fitch Waterman
Fort Chipewyan Photo Archives from Louise Rourke and Hudson's Bay Company Fur Trading Journal from Douglas Rourke n.d. Journal
History of a Voyage to the China Sea 1823 Printed Book White, John
Honolulu in 1817 and 1818 1909 Printed Book Hunnewell, James Frothingham
Journal of the Commission, Consisting of Capt. Samuel F Du Pont U.S Navy and his Associates, Commander Sidney Smith Lee U.S. Navy and Lieutenant David D Porter U.S. Navy in Charge of the Japanese Embassy to the United States, May 1860 May 1860 Journal, Correspondence, Manuscript
Journal of a Voyage Between China and the North-Western Coast of America, made in 1804 1935 Printed Book Shaler, William
Kathay: a Cruise in the China Seas 1852 Printed Book Macaulay, W Hastings
Letter From James Bancker in China to His Sister Anne E Bancker 6 Apr 1843 Manuscript, Correspondence
Letter From James Bancker to His Mother Sarah Upshur Teackle 24 Dec 1842 Manuscript, Correspondence
Letters from Robert Bennet Forbes to Rose Smith Forbes, Robert Bennet Forbes Junior, and John Murray Forbes 1849 Correspondence, Journal, Manuscript
Memoir of Henry Obookiah, a Native of the Sandwich Islands, Who Died at Cornwall, Connecticut, February 17, 1818, aged 26 c1845 Printed Book Dwight, Edwin Welles
A Narrative of the Adventures and Sufferings, of John R. Jewitt; Only Survivor of the Crew of the Ship Boston, during a Captivity of Nearly Three Years among the Savages of Nootka Sound: with an Account of the Manners, Mode of Living, and Religious Opinions of the Natives / Embellished with a Plate, Representing the Ship in Possession of the Savages 1815 Printed Book Jewitt, John Rodgers
Narrative of a Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America in the Years 1811, 1812, 1813, and 1814, or the First American Settlement on the Pacific 1854 Printed Book, Journal Franchère, Gabriel. Translated and edited by J V Huntington.
Oriental Manuscripts Associated With William Bentley Fowle c.1799-c.1830 Ephemera
Oriental Manuscripts Associated With William Jenks c.1799-c.1830 Ephemera
Oriental Trade Methods… 1923 Printed Book Eldridge, Frank R
Partial Tea Service c. 1800 Object
A Peep at China in Mr. Dunn's Chinese Collection; with Miscellaneous Notices Relating to the Institutions and Customs of the Chinese, and our Commercial Intercourse with them 1839 Printed Book Wines, Enoch Cobb
Porcelain Vase c. 1736-1795 Object
Portrait of a Chinese Man in a Suit 1915 Photograph Jue, Frank
The Rationale of the China Question. By an American. Part Second n.d. Pamphlet
Report of a Committee of Boston Merchants on Commodore Perry's Expedition to Japan n.d. Manuscript
Report on China Written by Robert Bennet Forbes for Secretary of State William L Marcy 1854 Correspondence, Manuscript
The Russians in California 1933 Printed Book
A Short and Truthful History of the Taking of California and Oregon by the Chinese in the Year A.D. 1899 1882 Printed Book Woltor, Robert
A Translation of the Hymn "While shepherds Watched their Flocks by Night" Made by He Ding, a Pupil of the Episcopal Mission School, Shanghai, China 1857-1858 Ephemera
Tureen Cover and Stand 1736-1795 Object
Urn with a Pair of Fo Dog Candlesticks c. 1804-1810 Object
The Voyage of the New Hazard to the Northwest Coast, Hawaii and China, 1810-1813 1938 Printed Book, Journal Reynolds, Stephen
A Voyage Round the World; Including an Embassy to Muscat and Siam in 1835, 1836, and 1837 1838 Printed Book, Journal Ruschenberger, W S W; Waithman, William Samuel
Voyages in the Northern Pacific. Narrative of Several Trading Voyages from 1813 to 1818, Between the Northwest Coast of America, the Hawaiian Islands and China, with a Description of the Russian Establishments on the Northwest Coast. Interesting Early Account of Kamehameha's Realm; Manners and Customs of the People, etc. and Sketch of a Cruise in the Service of the Independents of South America in 1819 1896 Printed Book, Journal Corney, Peter
Voyages in the Northern Pacific. Narrative of Several Trading Voyages from 1813 to 1818, between the Northwest Coast of America, the Hawaiian Islands and China, with a Description of the Russian Establishments on the Northwest Coast. Interesting Early Account of Kamehameha's Realm; Manners and Customs of the People, etc. And Sketch of a Cruise in the Service of the Independents of South America in 1819... / With Preface and Appendix of Valuable Confirmatory Letters Prepared by Prof. W. D. Alexander 1896 Printed Book Corney, Peter