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Lot 27
Chinese ‘export’ paintings
Already skilled in adapting porcelain designs for overseas markets, Cantonese artists were producing Westernised paintings on glass for Western clients by the 1740s.
By the 1780s, they had become adept in painting such ‘export pictures’ in oils on canvas. Their subjects included the ports involved in the China trade: Canton, Macau, the Western anchorage at Whampoa, and (later) Hong Kong. Garden scenes in which Chinese figures take their leisure amid terraces, lakes and flowers were also popular subjects, as were snow scenes suggestive of the imperial parks of northern China. Portraits of both Chinese and Western sitters could also be obtained. The most prominent ‘export’ portrait painter between 1825 and 1850 was known to the Westerners as Lamqua; he developed a thriving practice skilfully adopting the style of George Chinnery, the British artist resident in Macau.
Perhaps the ‘classic’ Chinese export composition is that of the Western trading bases—known as the Factories or Hongs—along the waterfront of Canton (Guangzhou). It was here that, for nearly a century, all trade between China and the West was conducted. While this sequence of buildings with western-styled façades underwent many changes over the years, at each stage they were depicted (with the latest alterations) by Canton’s export artists. The Western flags on the quayside indicate those nations involved in the ‘China trade’ at that time.
Shown here are three such paintings: one from the 1820s (before the devastating fire of 1822), one from the late 1830s, and one from the 1850s, painted shortly before the Factories’ destruction in the second ‘Opium War’. The second of these carries the name ‘Sunqua’, a name which became associated with some of the most finely detailed paintings of ports and ships. In this painting, we see Chinese officials in procession past the Factories; the Pearl River crowded with Chinese craft; chop-boats, Tanka boats, a flower-boat with its female attendants, and a crowded ferry; and the quayside populated with Chinese, Parsis and Western figures.
Patrick Conner
April 2023
Chinese ‘export’ paintings
Already skilled in adapting porcelain designs for overseas markets, Cantonese artists were producing Westernised paintings on glass for Western clients by the 1740s.
By the 1780s, they had become adept in painting such ‘export pictures’ in oils on canvas. Their subjects included the ports involved in the China trade: Canton, Macau, the Western anchorage at Whampoa, and (later) Hong Kong. Garden scenes in which Chinese figures take their leisure amid terraces, lakes and flowers were also popular subjects, as were snow scenes suggestive of the imperial parks of northern China. Portraits of both Chinese and Western sitters could also be obtained. The most prominent ‘export’ portrait painter between 1825 and 1850 was known to the Westerners as Lamqua; he developed a thriving practice skilfully adopting the style of George Chinnery, the British artist resident in Macau.
Perhaps the ‘classic’ Chinese export composition is that of the Western trading bases—known as the Factories or Hongs—along the waterfront of Canton (Guangzhou). It was here that, for nearly a century, all trade between China and the West was conducted. While this sequence of buildings with western-styled façades underwent many changes over the years, at each stage they were depicted (with the latest alterations) by Canton’s export artists. The Western flags on the quayside indicate those nations involved in the ‘China trade’ at that time.
Shown here are three such paintings: one from the 1820s (before the devastating fire of 1822), one from the late 1830s, and one from the 1850s, painted shortly before the Factories’ destruction in the second ‘Opium War’. The second of these carries the name ‘Sunqua’, a name which became associated with some of the most finely detailed paintings of ports and ships. In this painting, we see Chinese officials in procession past the Factories; the Pearl River crowded with Chinese craft; chop-boats, Tanka boats, a flower-boat with its female attendants, and a crowded ferry; and the quayside populated with Chinese, Parsis and Western figures.
Patrick Conner
April 2023
SUNQUA (FL. 1830-1870)
The Hongs of Canton, showing the French, American, British and Dutch flags
Closed25 May 2023
Price Realised
GBP 60,480
More Information
Specialist note
In the 19th century, the Canton waterfront rapidly developed and became an important trading location, leading to economic affluence. This was largely due to the introduction of the hongs in Canton - factories where western traders were allowed to trade. As a result, for nearly a century Canton was the only Chinese port at which westerners were permitted to buy and sell goods. In this painting by Sunqua, the flags of France, the United States of America, Great Britain and Holland mark their respective factories. The central cleared area was variously known as Respondentia Square, Factory Square and The Esplanade, and grew in size as land was reclaimed from the river.
This painting, from the late 1830s, depicts the hongs at their zenith, with large numbers of traders on the foreshore, as well as the busy traffic of both local and foreign ships in the foreground. Sunqua combines both traditional Chinese artistic methods, with European ideas of perspective and chiaroscuro. The use of this hybrid style echoes the narrative - representing Canton as a unique port with different cultures interacting.