
Karen Vickery on Chang the Chinese giant in Australia.

Death masks, post-mortem drawings and other spooky and disquieting portraits... Come and see how portraits of infamous Australians were used in the 19th century.



Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010



Purchased 2010



Purchased 2010



Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Chang Woo Gow (1840s-1893), known as Chang the Chinese Giant, made the first of his public appearances in London in the mid 1860s.
6 portraits in the collection

John David Armstrong (1857–1943) was a sideshow and vaudeville performer known as ‘The Australian Tom Thumb’.
2 portraits in the collection