The Snapshots in Time Collection

Row of Displayed Heads Beneath a Pavilion, China, 1930s (U.S. Navy-Associated Collection, Pre-WWII)

Row of Displayed Heads Beneath a Pavilion, China, 1930s (U.S. Navy-Associated Collection, Pre-WWII)

A somber photograph from a 1930s U.S. Navy-associated collection in China, believed to depict the public display of executed persons' heads at a gatehouse or courtyard -- a documented practice of the period intended as a warning against crime and rebellion during China's turbulent Warlord and early Republican era. Such images were occasionally captured by foreign sailors and travelers as records of the unrest they witnessed. Project: 218176