George Chinnery RHA (Tipperary 1774-1852 Macau)
A Tanka boat dwelling with Tanka boatwomen and pigs, Macau
oil on canvas
19 x 23.1cm (7 1/2 x 9 1/8in).
Footnotes:
Provenance
With Spink & Son, Ltd., London.
Private collection, UK (purchased from the above, 10 July 1969)
Private collection, US (bequeathed from the above).

The Tanka people were a distinct ethnic group living along the coast of Macau, Whampoa and Hong Kong. Their name derives from their boats, which were broad rounded sampans with one or more curved roofs. On the shore at Macau they raised their boats up on stones or wooden stilts to create makeshift dwellings. Chinnery made many studies of the Tanka people and their converted boats, often showing women and children with clothes hanging out to dry, as depicted in the present work. The 'Tankas' occupy a special position in Chinnery's art, particularly his depictions of Tanka women, with their characteristic dress of blue nankeen, either with a hood attached or sometimes worn with a red headscarf.
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