Auction at Lotabeg House includes ‘rare, politically sensitive’ photos of brutal 1912 Chinese revolution

Photographs revealing the savagery of the Chinese army under Yuan Shikai, the first president of the Republic of China, have generated significant international interest in the auction of the contents of “time capsule” Lotabeg House in Cork.

Taken by Captain Jack C Hart, the brother of former Lotabeg owner Vincent Hart, in Peking during the 1912 Chinese revolution, the images depict beheadings and victims of torture as well as scenes from the daily lives of Captain Hart’s colleagues in the British Army.

“He was able to take the photographs because he was in the army,” auctioneer George Mealy jnr said.