TWO CHINESE 'COTTON PRODUCTION' ALBUMS Late Qing Dynasty / early Republic Period 晚清或民國早期 方觀承《御題棉華圖》拓本兩冊prising fifteen rubbings from 'The Imperially Inscribed Illustrations of Cotton, Yuti Mianhua tu' by Fang Guancheng (1698-1768), split across two albums, each image a depiction of a stage in the production of cotton opposite an apanying poem penned by the Qianlong emperor, the albums 35cm long, 31.5cm wide (2) - c.f.pare aparable album, from the collection of Dr. David Ho (1911-1986), offered at Sotheby's London, December 13th 2021, lot 51, and another earlier album from Sotheby's London, 11th May 2022, lot 108. Note: Fang Guancheng (1698-1768), the governor-general of the Zhili Metropolitan region, created and submitted 'The Illustrations of Cotton' to the Qianlong emperor. In response, the emperorposed an apanying poem for each image, and Fang proudly had the images, poems and additional inscriptions carved as steles. The steles are now preserved in the Hebei Provincial museum. -