c. 1830

Portrait of Nathan Dunn

Merchant and philanthropist Nathan Dunn (1782–1844) founded the Chinese Museum in Philadelphia in 1838. Located at Ninth and George (now Sansom) Streets, it housed the collection of art and artifacts Dunn had amassed during visits to Canton, China, between 1818 and 1831. During its short life—Dunn moved the collection to London in 1841—some 100,000 people visited the museum and were given a glimpse of a country most would never see. In what might be viewed as a precursor to period rooms like those at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Dunn recreated Chinese shops and interiors that he peopled with life-size mannequins.