Uniquely HK

History Matters

Pictures from the Past

Today we snap away with a digital camera and instantly forward images to friends. How did the voyager of the past share his experiences? Here we look at the pictures produced to fill that need: the China Trade Paintings.

Traders from Europe had regularly come to China from the middle of the 16^th century when the Portuguese were allowed to set up a base at Macau. Photography had not yet been invented so, if you wanted to take a picture to show what the exotic East was like, you either had to sketch it yourself or buy a picture from an artist. Western artists did visit China but few stayed for long. The Chinese style of painting was not to westerners’ tastes, but the local artists soon saw an opportunity and started to paint in the way that appealed to the prospective clientele. The business of producing paintings for the foreigners to take home quickly developed and two basic types came to dominate the market.

The first was oil on canvas in the traditional western manner. The favourite subjects were views of the trading ports – Macau, Canton (Guangzhou), Wampoa and, after 1841, Hong Kong. Ship paintings were also popular as were portraits. The latter blossomed when it was seen how popular the portraits by George Chinnery were. Chinnery had arrived in Macau having fled his creditors in India and stayed until he died. Apart from his oils he was an avid sketcher and his rough drawings command good prices.

Chinnery had an influence on local artists and some of them were said to be trained by him. In time he was bemoaning the fact that they were taking away some of his business! Portraits of Chinese officials or Mandarins were also commissioned and they provide a useful source of what they were like. Another area of subject matter was the Chinese at home. These showed Chinese gardens and interiors and they provide a view into the often hidden life of the Chinese.

The Chinese artists were often not very good at perspective. This was partly due to their old custom of painting important things larger than unimportant ones. Very often the western boats depicted as smaller than the local junks. It was those who had studied with the likes of Chinnery who performed best, but often views became rather stylised. For example the Factories at Canton usually appear much loftier than they actually were. The Factories were not places of manufacturing but gained their name as they were the residences of the “Factors” or traders doing business in China. Apart from providing accommodation they also doubled up as offices and warehouses.

The other basic type of painting was on either normal paper or pith paper. This latter material is shaved from the stems of the plant known in Chinese as tongcao although it is sometimes erroneously called rice paper. These were smaller paintings usually bound into albums. The subject matter was much broader. Popular sets were those depicting the stages in the production of the three main exports – tea, silk and porcelain. These are hard to find nowadays as collectors snap them up as soon as they appear at ever-increasing prices. There were also sets that depicted birds and flowers; all subjects to educate and intrigue the folks back home. In fact just about every aspect of Chinese life is covered. There are even pictures of what purport to be the Emperor and his wife. Of course the artist had never seen the Emperor and these are the products of an enterprising artist’s imagination.

The business of producing the paintings was quite profitable. An artist such as Ting Qua would have a number of painters working for him and the pictures of his studio give some idea of the process. The walls are lined with work and the buyer would no doubt be shown a range from which to choose. The selection could then be made up into albums, although small albums on different subjects were no doubt ready for the buyer to take away immediately. The artists maintained studios in Canton, which were near to the Factories. When Hong Kong started to flourish they also set up in the city, so that they could sell directly to the wives of traders who were generally banned from Canton.

Such was the attraction of the works that they continued to be produced long after photography became common. After all a colour painting was much more attractive than a black-and white-photograph. China Trade paintings are now very collectable and good examples are becoming hard to find. Some of the descendants of those early artists are now showing their entrepreneurial heritage by producing reproductions, so beware of fakes. Nevertheless the paintings can still give an impression of the mystery of the East in days gone by.

Richard Garrett has lived in Hong Kong for more than forty years and is the author of numerous articles on people and places in Hong Kong, Macau and China. See www.richardjgarrett.com