Group of twenty uncaptioned gelatin-silver stereographs of China, on grey card mounts, likely taken by a Western traveller or resident in the early 20th century. The images center on Beijing and its surroundings, mixing major imperial monuments with street life, markets, and processions. The work is clearly non-commercial: views do not match the standard published series, and the perspectives feel closer and more informal than the usual tourist trade sets.

Several of the strongest views record major imperial sites. One pair looks across tiled palace roofs toward a large lake with an arched causeway in the distance, almost certainly the Summer Palace above Kunming Lake. Another shows a high arched bridge spanning reedy water, with trees framing the scene, consistent with the famous stone bridges of the imperial parks. A striking ruined European-style marble façade, with toppled columns and baroque arches, appears to be the remains of the Yuanmingyuan (Old Summer Palace), a subject rarely seen in private stereoscopic work. Two views show axial approaches to ceremonial halls and gates, with broad stone walks flanked by lawns and subsidiary buildings, and another records lines of stone stelae among old trees, suggesting the avenue and precincts of the Ming tombs outside the city.

Urban scenes and everyday life are equally well represented. Several cards show large city gates and walls with rickshaws, carts, and pedestrians moving through crowded streets just beyond the arches, probably at one of the main gates of Beijing. A pair of fine street views records a camel caravan resting outside low shopfronts, with bales and saddles piled around the animals. Other images concentrate on people: groups of officials or notables in long robes gathered in open squares, processional scenes with drummers and banner carriers moving along a road, and a dense crowd lining the route of what appears to be a formal parade or religious festival. One stereo shows a lakeshore with a long narrow boat fitted with awnings and oars, with passengers seated amid reeds at the water’s edge.

The remaining views continue the mix of architecture and human presence: wooden pavilions and courtyards reflected in still water, spirit gates and memorial arches set among pines, and market areas with tents and low stalls, all populated by figures in late-Qing and early Republican dress. Taken together, the group offers a coherent visual tour of Beijing and nearby imperial sites in the years just after the Boxer Uprising, when foreign access to these spaces expanded but before large-scale modernization altered many of the streetscapes.

Gelatin-silver prints are generally sharp with good tonal range, showing only light handling marks, occasional small spots, and minor soiling to a few mounts from age and use; mounts remain sound and present well overall. A scarce, tightly focused personal set of China stereoviews, with uncommon coverage of the Forbidden City area, Summer Palace, Ming tombs, Great Wall country, and camel caravans at the city gates.