A View of the Whampoa Anchorage Qing Dynasty, Daoguang / Xianfeng Period, Circa 1850 | 清道光 / 咸豐 約1850年 黃埔風光 油彩 裝框

Robert B. Williams, who brought back the painting on the ship Tzar (according to label)
Martyn Gregory, London

A comparable view of Whampoa anchorage, also seen from Dane's Island, painted circa 1850 and attributed to Youqua, is illustrated in Carl L. Crossman, The Decorative Arts of the China Trade, Suffolk, 1991, p. 414, fig. 12. Crossman notes the inclusion of the western cemetery in the foreground, as seen in the present example, was a popular composition between 1840-55. Another example, formerly in the collection of Barbara and Arun Singh, sold in these rooms, January 25th, 2020, lot 1195.

An earlier view from French Island of Whampoa anchorage, probably painted in the 1830s is illustrated in Picturing Cathay: Maritime and Cultural Images of the China Trade, University of Hong Kong Museum and Art Gallery, Hong Kong, 2002, p.106, cat. no. 47. The author notes that the principal anchorage of foreign ships and vessels lay between Whampoa Island (now Pazhou Island) one one side and Dane's Island (Changzhou Island) with French Island (Xiaoguwei) on the other side. In 1756, the Dane's and French Islands were designated for English and French seamen and sailors to use as grounds for recreational activities, with the aim of reducing fights between the seamen of the two countries.