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Xie (Alexandra) Kitchin as Chinese Tea Merchant

Photograph
c. 1876 (photographed)
Artist/Maker
Carroll, Lewis (photographer)
Dodgson, Charles L.
Place of origin
Oxford (photographed)

Lewis Carroll is best known as the author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, but he was also an accomplished amateur photographer. Approximately half of his photographs are portraits of children, sometimes wearing foreign costumes or acting out scenes. Here, Alexandra ‘Xie’ Kitchin, his most frequent child sitter, poses in Chinese dress on a stack of tea chests.

Object details

Categories
Photographs
The Royal Photographic Society
Portraits
Object type
Photograph
TitleXie (Alexandra) Kitchin as Chinese Tea Merchant (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Albumen print from wet collodion glass-plate negative.
Photographic Paper
Albumen Process
Photography
Brief description
Photograph by Lewis Carroll, Xie (Alexandra) Kitchin as Chinese Tea Merchant, albumen print, c. 1876.
Dimensions
  • Height: 15cm
  • Width: 10.4cm
Gallery label
Making It Up: Photographic Fictions (2018)
Marta Weiss

Dodgson made more photographs of Alexandra ‘Xie’ Kitchin than of any of his other child friends. She posed on multiple occasions both as herself and play-acting various roles. Dodgson photographed her in other exotic-seeming costumes, including Greek and Danish, but by adding props and pairing the two variants of Xie in Chinese costume he introduced a sense of narrative.
Photography Centre 2018-20:

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (also known as Lewis Carroll, 1832–98)
Tea Merchant (On Duty) and Tea Merchant (Off Duty)
1873

Lewis Carroll is best known as the author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, but he was also an accomplished amateur photographer. Approximately half of his photographs are portraits of children, sometimes wearing foreign costumes or acting out scenes. Here, Alexandra ‘Xie’ Kitchin, his most frequent child sitter, poses in Chinese dress on a stack of tea chests.

Albumen print
Museum no. RPS.2247-2017

The Royal Photographic Society Collection at the V&A, acquired with the generous assistance of the Heritage Lottery Fund and Art Fund
Credit line
The Royal Photographic Society Collection at the V&A, acquired with the generous assistance of the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Art Fund.
Summary
Lewis Carroll is best known as the author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, but he was also an accomplished amateur photographer. Approximately half of his photographs are portraits of children, sometimes wearing foreign costumes or acting out scenes. Here, Alexandra ‘Xie’ Kitchin, his most frequent child sitter, poses in Chinese dress on a stack of tea chests.
Associated object
PROV.2487-2017 (RPS Group record)
Other numbers
  • XRP1479 - RPS collection - V&A identifier
  • 2003-5001/2/21769 - Science Museum Group accession number
Collection
Department of Photography
Accession number
RPS.2248-2017

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Record createdAugust 21, 2017
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1410362/xie-alexandra-kitchin-as-chinese-photograph-carroll-lewis/
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