[ 1898]. · Omaha
by [Trans-Mississippi Exposition]: [China]
Omaha, [ 1898].. Broadside, approximately 10 1/2 x 7 3/4 inches. Previously folded, some separations along old fold lines. Tanned, corners slightly chipped. Good. A curious survival from the 1898 Trans- Mississippi Exposition held in Omaha, promoting the sale of Mongolian jade carvings at a booth in the International Hall of the fair. The advertisement emphasizes the obscurity of the region of origin ("the Chinese population could not understand their Mongolian brothers except through writing") and the convoluted journey of the artwork to America ("carried in wicker baskets suspended on a pole resting on the shoulders of two men"). "Were it not for the fact that the workers receive but a small daily wage, hundreds of dollars would be represented in many of the pieces; as it is, it is possible to dispose of them at moderate prices. An opportunity is thus offered to lovers of the curious and the beautiful to secure something entirely new in the art world, something too, of great artistic merit." (Inventory #: WRCAM52771)