Page 16 - Bonhams Chiense Paintings New York July 21 2020

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ATTRIBUTED TO LAMQUA (ACT. 1820-1860)
Portrait of Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, 1st Bt. (1783-1859), circa 1844 In 1822, among the first of his beneficence, he paid the debts of
Oil on canvas, on a stretcher, framed and glazed. all debtors in the Bombay civil jail. He went on to finance hospitals,
19 x 26in (48.3 x 66cm) colleges, waterworks and causeways, as well as to champion the
education of women. Among the institutions that benefited from
US$70,000 - 90,000 his support were the Sir J J Hospital, the Sir J J Parsi Benevolent
Institution, the Bandra–Mahim Causeway, the Grant Medical College,
the Sir J J Poona Waterworks, and the Sir J J School of Art.
（傳）林呱 Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy男爵肖像 布面油畫 鏡框 In May 1842 he was presented the Patent of Knighthood from Queen
約一八四四年作 Victoria, the first Indian to be knighted. In December 1842 he “received
a further mark of her Majesty’s approbation of his generosity and public
Provenance
Geoffrey Benison spirit in the shape of a gold medal set in diamonds,” which bore the
image of the Queen with an inscription on the reverse: ‘Sir Jamsetjee
Martyn Gregory Gallery, London, 1986
Label on frame, “John Stone, Lot 51 21/5/97, 19/Sep/95, Property no. Jeejeebhoy, Bart., from the British Government, in honour of his
munificence and his patriotism.’”
20102791
Robert Sawers, London
Jeejeebhoy is depicted in the portrait wearing traditional Parsi garb – a
flowing jama (floor length double-breasted coat) and pichoree (waist
Published
Martyn Gregory, Canton and the China Trade, Cat. 43, Summer 1986, cloth) of linen and cotton, and wearing nokh jutti (pointed slippers), and
a tall pagdi (headgear). The original painting may have been created in
no. 101, ills. p. 70 celebration of this recognition as the medal is prominently featured in
Patrick Conner, George Chinnery 1774-1852: Artist of India and the
China Coast, Woodbridge: Antique Collectors’ Club, 1993, pp.216- the lithograph and in subsequent copies in oil on canvas. He was justly
proud of the medal and is shown wearing it in other portraits, including
217, 219, plate 90
Patrick Conner, The Hongs of Canton: Western Merchants in South one later in life that served as a source for multiple statutes and prints.

China 1700-1900, London: English Art Books, 2009, p. 119, fig. 5.5 Although he was great honored by the knighthood he then set out

來源 to secure a hereditary title and these portraits may have served
as support for those endeavors. His efforts succeeded: In 1855
Geoffrey Benison珍藏
倫敦Martyn Gregory畫廊, 1986 Jeejeebhoy was given the Freedom of the City of London, and in 1857
a hereditary baronetcy was conferred. He died in 1859 when a prize
標籤, “John Stone, 拍品編號51 21/5/97, 19/Sep/95, Property no. medal was created for the Grant Medical College (Mumbai). His portrait
20102791
Robert Sawers, 倫敦 is on the obverse and his arms on the reverse, with the appropriate
motto, “INDUSTRY AND LIBERALITY.”

出版 Jeejeebhoy had not been in Canton since 1806, but when the great
Martyn Gregory, Canton and the China Trade, 1986年夏第101期, 圖錄 China trade hong merchant Houqua (Wu Bingjian, b. 1769) died in
編號43, 70頁
Patrick Conner, George Chinnery 1774-1852: Artist of India and the 1843, Jeejeebhoy wrote to Houqua’s son thanking him for the “...
two portraits of your late respected Father.” Those portraits were
China Coast, Antique Collectors’ Club, 1993年, 圖版90，216-217,
219頁 undoubtedly painted by Lamqua and so it might be more than a
coincidence that Lamqua was commissionted to paint Jeejeebhoy’s
Patrick Conner, The Hongs of Canton: Western Merchants in South portrait at the same time.
China 1700-1900, English Art Books, 2009年, 插圖5.5, 119頁
This portrait and two similar examples are attributed to Lamqua

The Merchant Prince of Bombay, Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy (Guan Qiaochang), the best-known nineteenth century Cantonese
artist working in the Western manner. A second example was offered
(1783-1856) by Martyn Gregory Gallery (2005-6) and a third example is in the
William R. Sargent
Zoroastrian Building, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. These paintings are
after a lithograph inscribed “PAINTED IN BOMBAY BY J. SMART,”
Called the Merchant-Prince of Bombay, Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy
was the best known of the Parsi merchants trading with China drawn by Richard James Lane (1800-1872), and printed by M & N
Hanhart (active 1839-1882). The example now in the Royal Asiatic
who, alongside other Parsis and Indians, played a major role in the Society was inscribed by Jeejeebhoy, “My dear Crawford, Yours
globalization of Asian economies. Born in 1783, he turned to the sea
and international trade for a career when he was orphaned in 1799, everything Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy.” In 1839 Robert Wigram Crawford
(1813-1889) received a letter from his father William, who was in
and until 1806 made five journeys to Canton. On a voyage aboard
the East India Company ship Brunswick in 1804 he met William Bombay, looking after the interests of Jeejeebhoy.
Jardine (1784-1843) who would become a lifelong friend and business Lamqua had a studio in Canton, on New China Street in 1820, and
colleague.
later worked in Macau and Hong Kong. He worked in a style that
reflected the influence of George Chinnery (1774-1852), the English
After leaving the sea he established his own business and by 1820
was a ship owner with trading contacts throughout the East. By artist resident in India and later in Macau. Lamqua maintained a studio
where assistants helped produce large numbers of paintings, but the
1830 he and his eldest son Cursetjee were trading with Magniac finer examples may be assumed to be directly from his hand. He was
& Co., which was superseded in 1832 by Jardine, Matheson &
Co., Hong Kong, the company co-founded by William Jardine and adept at portraiture of both Chinese and Western merchants and is
known also for portraits of patients of Dr. Peter Parker, now at Yale
James Matheson (1796-1878). Jeejeebhoy’s extensive trade with
the company “dwarfed all the others” between 1827 and 1843. University and the Gordon Museum, Guy’s Hospital, London.

Jardine Matheson was responsible for over more than $2million of Lamqua was adept in his own efforts at original portraiture, but also
Jeejeebhoy’s business a year.
copied Chinnery paintings and used Western prints as sources for
paintings. Charles Toogood Downing wrote in 1838 that Lamqua
“stood at the head of his profession.” Lamqua gained recognition in
the West after having his paintings exhibited in London (1835 and
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