Page 77 - Bonhams, Asian Art, London, Montpilier St, May 10, 2021

193 *
ANGLO-CHINESE SCHOOL (LATE 19TH
CENTURY)
Canton
Oil on canvas, framed.
44.5cm x 77cm (17.1/2in x 30.1/4in).

£4,000 - 6,000
HK$43,000 - 64,000
CNY36,000 - 54,000
Provenance
With Paul Mason Gallery, London.
Acquired from the above at the Grosvenor
House Antiques Fair, London, by the present
owner in 1987.
193
The present painting depicts a port view
of Canton, now Guangzhou, as seen from
the Honam waterfront. Situated at the
mouth of the Pearl River, Canton had long
been a flourishing trade city. Operating
under the Canton System from 1757-1842,
Canton would be the only city authorised by
successive Chinese Emperors to trade with
the West. The Treaty of Nanking in 1842
would see a number of other Chinese ports
open to trade with the West and therefore
the diminished monopoly that Canton had
once held. The waterfront shown in this
work would once have been home to the
famous hongs of Canton, the hongs being
the factories and trading sites for the various
countries that operated out of this port. After
having been destroyed by fire at the onset
of the Second Opium War (1856-60), the
hongs were never rebuilt and the waterfront
developed as seen in this work. Chinese
godowns and the city wall can be seen along
with an array of shipping including sampans,
junks and a British paddle steamer.

194
CHINESE SCHOOL (19TH CENTURY)
Composite Album
Gouache on paper, containing fourteen
leaves, variously depicting studies of flowers,
fish and a bird, each leaf mounted.
The largest leaves 38cm (15in) long.

£1,500 - 2,000
HK$16,000 - 21,000
CNY14,000 - 18,000

194 (detail)

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue. ASIAN ART | 75