GEORGE CHINNERY (1774-1852)

This painting and Lot 16 are amongst the finest of Chinnery’s landscapes depicting the rural environs of Macau. In contrast to his more tonal, closely cropped street scenes peopled by locals working or playing games, his landscapes are vibrant in colour and give a very different and beautifully atmospheric impression of the peninsula and its broad, rolling hills and mountains.

Although Chinnery often took certain liberties with the topography of these scenes, several motifs reoccur: for example herdsmen leading cattle, or at rest while their animals water nearby. Cows were a significant import to Macau from Britain and North America; Chinese cows were smaller and not as accustomed to milking as their western counterparts, and were unable to supply the demand from the large expatriate community, many of whom had been raised on a western diet rich in dairy. Angular white buildings often feature in the far distance, and occasionally a fire, with the artist’s characteristic touches of vivid red vermillion.