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19th Century Chinese school
Macao

Circa 1860

$42,000
£31,987.56
€36,870.33
CA$58,757.72
A$66,039.79
CHF 34,391.78
MX$803,207.16
NOK 440,084.95
SEK 417,330.23
DKK 275,175.89
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About the Item

The oldest European buildings in China are along the once curved crescent shore of the Praya Grande, where the Portuguese explorers established and fortified their trading foothold with an entire continent. When they arrived in 1553, this small fishing village overlooked by a temple to an ocean goddess immediately became an important cultural center of the world and the stage for initial interactions between the East and West. Ever since, this port has played a role in the cosmopolitan course of world trade. (The harbor is extensively filled in and built upon today.) In this view, more than 300 years after the Dutch established contact in the early 17th Century and western ships first sailed in the harbor, a British Sidewheel Steamer is in the port of Macao, surrounded by more than 20 Chinese vessels. The artist's perspective, looking northwest towards the Praya Grande's center, brings Praha Hill and its stone stairway in view, with the church on top. The inlaid stone walkway of the port city is full of human figures, one wearing a special red jacket while the rest wear blue or white. One westerner in a top hat at the stern post of the closest Chinese ship directs its crew outward bound. As a natural harbor and a point of first contact, many sailors were required to remain at Macao, while some ships would anchor and others would push on to Whampoa. Only the merchants and captains directly involved in the negotiations of buying and selling were allowed access up the river beyond Whampoa to Canton. Travel would be via local craft only. From the Chinese artists who produced port and ship paintings directly for their nautical visitors, paintings of Macao are substantially rarer than other views. Housed in a period Chinese Chippendale frame. Titled "Macao" at the bottom center of the work Sight Size: 17 ¼ x 30 Inches
  • Creator:
    19th Century Chinese school (1775 - 1900, Chinese)
  • Creation Year:
    Circa 1860
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 23.25 in (59.06 cm)Width: 36 in (91.44 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Costa Mesa, CA
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU2139211541252

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