When you begin a clause with the word "Although", it set's up a contrast with whatever the following clause is. The sentence means that the images from the Beijing opera do not show particular performers or performances. The ukiyo-e images, however, usually did contain particular performers or performances. Your second interpretation was the correct one. If you wanted the sentence to mean something different, you would need to change out the word "Although" for something like "Just like". Example: *Just like* the images *which* were clearly derived from Beijing opera, there was no effort to capture a specific performer or a particular performance, as was *also* commonly done earlier in Japan with ukiyo-e images of kabuki". (I put ** around word that I added/changed. ) This new sentence means that neither the Beijing Opera, nor the ykiyo-e kabuki images captured specific performers or particular performances. Hope this helps :)