14 September 1792 · Hand-coloured etching
The Reception of the Diplomatique and his Suite at the Court of Pekin
James Gillray; published by Hannah Humphrey
Why it matters
Published before the embassy reached China, Gillray’s scene turns Qing ritual, bodies, and architecture into instant ridicule. It exposes how quickly a decorative vocabulary of difference could become a political stereotype.
- Publication
- Political caricature anticipating the Macartney Embassy
- Holding institution
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Shelfmark
- 17.3.888-82
Gillray, James. The Reception of the Diplomatique and his Suite at the Court of Pekin, 14 September 1792. Hand-coloured etching. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 17.3.888-82.
