Page 75 - Christie's London China Trade Paintings Kelton Collection

The artist and miniaturist known as Tingqua was Guan Lianchang, now thought to be the fourth son of Spoilum and a younger
brother of Lamqua. He specialised in works on paper, unlike his father and brother who worked in oils. His studio fourished from
the 1820s through to the 1860s. Tingqua's own work is distinguished by its very fne quality, and works are attributed to him, or to
his studio artists, on that basis. The album here is, like all Tingqua albums, a product of both the master and his assistants. All of
the subjects are repeated elsewhere; for the celebrated view of his studio see, for example, the version with Martyn Gregory in 1986
(Tingqua's China, no.1) now in the Hardy Collection, which has the studio title in Chinese characters: 'This composition has been
known traditionally as 'Tingqua's studio', since several versions of it have the name 'Tingqua' inscribed on a blue background at the
top of the picture. However at least one other version (otherwise almost identical) has the name 'Lamqua' in the same place [see P.
Conner, 'Lamqua Western and Chinese Artist' in Arts of Asia, March-April 1999, illustrated on the cover], so that we should probably
regard this lively scene as a generic export artist's studio rather than a particular likeness of a single one. ... From this picture we
may infer that a variety of 'stock' export paintings (as distinct from specially commissioned work) could be bought directly from
the studio – port and marine scenes, Chinese fgures and portraits, contained in gilt or lacquered frames which would have been
made locally.' (P. Conner, Paintings from the China Trade: The Sze Yuan Tang Collection of Historic Paintings, Hong Kong, 2013, p.160,
no.146). For other versions of the studio in bodycolour, see Christie's Swire, Hong Kong, 9 Oct. 1990, lot 1366, and the variant from
the Augustine Heard Collection in the Peabody Essex Museum (without the studio title) (M.V. and D. Brewington, Marine Paintings
and Drawings in the Peabody Museum, Salem, 19, pp.56-8, no.246 ('Shop of Tinqua, the Painter Canton' M3870-56)). For another
rare bound album by Tingqua, including 85 subjects, see Christie's, Paris, 10 Dec. 2014, lot 70.