Lot 70: * Schonberg (Johann Nepomuk, 1844-). Whampoa

* Schonberg (Johann Nepomuk, 1844-). Whampoa River, Shanghai, 15 August 1900, pen, ink & watercolour en Grisaille, signed, dated, and titled to lower margin, 32 x 47.5cm (12.5 x 18.75ins), framed and glazed. The Austrian artist J. N. Schonberg was appointed special artist to the Illustrated London News, providing eye-witness visual records of the rebel organisation I Ho Ch"uan (Righteous Harmonious Fists), known by Europeans as the Boxers, who were responsible for riots in Peking, and the death of many Chinese Christians from the Spring of 1900 onwards. Western diplomats were for a time under siege, until relief forces crossed the Pei Ho river on 8th August and fought their way to Peking, arriving there on 14th August 1900. A group of ten similar drawings by this artist were sold at Bonhams London in 2002, with provenance directly from the family of the artist. (1)