The Chinese in New York – Scene in a Baxter Street Club-House (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. XVIII) 1874

Winslow Homer's engraving from 1874, published in Harper's Weekly, presents a snapshot of a Chinese club-house in New York. Dominating the scene are symbolic elements of Chinese cultural identity: lanterns casting a dim light, and ancestral tablets suggesting reverence for lineage. Consider the recurring motif of the lamp, here in lantern form. Since antiquity, lamps have appeared in countless contexts, from domestic settings to sacred spaces, embodying knowledge, enlightenment, or the divine spark. In some cultures, lamps are lit to guide and protect the souls of the deceased, revealing a cyclical and transformative process. Here, the lanterns cast light on a scene of recreation and introspection, highlighting the complex relationship between tradition and the immigrant experience. The emotional depth of this image resides in the interplay between the familiar and the foreign. This image reflects a recurring pattern of humanity – the search for meaning in shared rituals.