Nathan Dunn

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For the American painter, see Nate Dunn.
Nathan Dunn
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, U.S.
Occupation(s)Businessman, Chinese artifact collector

Nathan Dunn (November 11, 1782 – September 19, 1844) was an American businessman, philanthropist and

Canton, China
for 12 years. In 1838, he created the first systematic collection of Chinese materials exhibited publicly in the United States at the Chinese Museum in Philadelphia. The exhibit toured London in 1842 and 1851 and was auctioned off to various collectors after Dunn's death.

Biography

Dunn was born on November 11, 1783, in

Religious Society of Friends.[2]

In 1816, Dunn was disowned by Philadelphia Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends for bankruptcy. However, John Field, one of his creditors, proposed a way for Dunn to pay down debt through the creation of a joint business and a post in China.[3]

In 1818 Dunn went to Canton, China and started the Nathan Dunn & Company trading business.[4] Except for a visit to England in 1820-1821,[5] he lived and worked there for 12 years[6] buying tea and nankeen and selling specially produced British goods. Dunn designed an innovative triangular shipping pattern; American goods were shipped to Britain, profit from the sale of those good were used to purchase British goods popular in China; the British goods were shipped to Canton and exchanged for Chinese goods; the Chinese good were then shipped to America.[7]

Dunn's year-round residence in China was a strategic advantage since it allowed him to out bid competitors on silk products before the other traders arrived in China for the tea season trading.[5] He strictly abstained from the opium trade,[4] a common profitable business of the time. His compliance with the Chinese anti-opium laws was one of the things that created a good reputation for him among his Chinese partners including Houqua, Tinqua and other Hong merchants.[6] During the disastrous November 1822 fire at Canton warehouses, Tinqua sent eighty workers and multiple boats to rescue merchandise from Dunn's warehouse while competitors suffered huge losses. Before leaving China, Dunn's wealth was estimated to be $200,000.[8] He returned to Philadelphia in 1832, and brought with him a large collection of Chinese artistic and cultural objects and paid off all of his creditors.[9]

The Philadelphia Museum, created by Charles Willson Peale, appointed Dunn to its board of directors in 1836. He invested in the new museum building and as a result for a limited time he was free to use the first floor of the building for his own museum.[9]

Ten Thousand Chinese Things exhibit

In 1838, he opened the “Chinese Museum” in Philadelphia, with an accompanying 120-page catalog, Ten Thousand Chinese Things. It was the first systematic collection of Chinese material exhibited publicly in the United States.[10] 100,000 visitors saw it in Philadelphia. Despite the large number of attendees, the exhibit was not a financial success in Philadelphia[11] and in 1842 Dunn brought the exhibit to London to expand the scope of people who could observe the exhibit and to highlight Chinese culture in an attempt to thwart the opium trade.[12] The collection was displayed in a pagoda-like exhibition hall designed by John Notman[13] at Hyde Park Corner. An estimated 100,000 people viewed the exhibit in London including a young Queen Victoria.[12] 70,000 to 80,000 catalogs describing the exhibit were sold in the U.S. and England.[14]

Apart from artifacts, the museum had life-size clay figures accurately modeled after about 50 real Chinese acquaintances personally selected by Dunn, representing variety of social positions, occupations etc., standing against dioramas, and extensive annotations of the exhibits.[15]

Dunn was a supporter of several charities. In 1840 he gave a gift of over $20,000 to

Academy of Natural Sciences.[9] He was director of the Philadelphia House of Refuge and worked with other charitable institutions such as the Pennsylvania Institute for the Instruction of the Blind, the indigent Widows and Single Women's Society, African colonization societies and prison reform societies.[12]

Nathan Dunn tombstone in Laurel Hill Cemetery

Dunn died of

P.T. Barnum and displayed at this museum in New York.[20]

Citations

  1. ^ Van Dyke 2018, p. 96.
  2. ^ "Haverford College - Quaker and Special Collections - Dunn and Osborn families". Archived from the original on 2012-05-18. Retrieved 2013-04-07.
  3. ^ John Rogers Haddad. The Romance of China: U. S. Excursions... // 4. China in Miniature: Nathan Dunn’s Chinese Museum
  4. ^ a b Van Dyke 2018, p. 98.
  5. ^ a b Van Dyke 2018, p. 99.
  6. ^ a b Langdon 1842, p. vii.
  7. ^ Van Dyke 2018, pp. 99–100.
  8. ^ Van Dyke 2018, p. 100.
  9. ^ a b c d Jacobsohn, Myra. "Two Gentlemen of the China Trade". www.paheritage.wpengine.com. Pennsylvania Heritage. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  10. ISBN 978-0-8122-4190-7
    . Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  11. ^ Van Dyke 2018, p. 108.
  12. ^ a b c d "Nathan Dunn's Chinese Museum". www.search.amphilsoc.org. American Philosophical Society Library. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  13. ISBN 0-934223-13-0. Retrieved 23 July 2021.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  14. ^ "Nathan Dunn and his museum of "10,000 Chinese Things"". www.blogs.harvard.edu. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  15. ISBN 1-56639-658-1
    . Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  16. ISBN 0-7385-0908-6. Retrieved 23 July 2021.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  17. ^ Van Dyke 2018, p. 102.
  18. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
  19. ^ Smith, R.A. (1852). Smith's Illustrated Guide to and through Laurel Hill Cemetery. Philadelphia: Willis P. Hazard. p. 77. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  20. ISBN 9781611479102
    . Retrieved 23 July 2021.

Sources

External links
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