RARE photographs of China during the 1860s and 1870s will form part of the Russell-Cotes Arts Gallery and Museum's autumn exhibition.

This exhibition, opening on November 2, features work from legendary photographer John Thompson.

Thompson, who is regarded as one of the most influential photographers of his generation, spent four years photographing the regions of China.

Visitors to the Bournemouth museum's 'China through the lens of John Thompson' exhibit will see iconic photographs of China reproduced on a large, sometimes life-sized, scale, accompanied by objects collected by Merton and Annie Russell-Cotes on their visit to China a decade later.

Exhibition curator Betty Yao said: "It is very exciting that John Thompson's wonderful photographs will soon be seen in Bournemouth, and in the context of the beautiful Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and its historic Chinese collection.

"It will offer an extraordinary insight into 19th century China and into the views, perceptions and interests of British travellers such as Thompson and the Russell-Cotes, who were among the first tourists and travellers."

Edinburgh-born Thompson travelled to China just 20 years after photography was invented.

He travelled with a large number of cumbersome crates, glass plates and bottles of highly flammable and poisonous chemicals.

His collection of 700 glass plates travelled back to Britain and since 1921 have been housed at the Wellcome Library, London.

The photographs are reproduced from the original glass plates.

A Russell Cotes spokesman explained: "Museum founders, Merton and Annie Russell-Cotes, who were contemporaries of Thomson, visited China in 1885, little more than ten years after Thomson himself and would therefore have recognised Thomson’s views.

"They too were interested by China and its culture and brought back souvenirs and decorative arts as well as collecting further items in Britain.

"The collections now include ‘Lotus’ shoes for bound feet, mandarin sceptres, ceramics, hair ornaments, opium pipes and musical instruments. The exhibition offers an opportunity to see objects from the Russell-Cotes Chinese collections alongside photographs of them in use in their original context."