Chinese School, Mid 19th Century
Macau, from the South looking North
oil on canvas
44.4 x 77.5cm (17 1/2 x 30 1/2in).
Footnotes:
Macau is the oldest European Settlement in China, having been leased to the Portuguese in the sixteenth century as a reward in return for help with the pirates who were plaguing the South China seas. With the introduction of the Canton System in 1757 and the subsequent limiting of Chinese trade with the West until the close of the First Opium War in 1842, Macau took on an increasingly important role in the China trade. Macau was a popular subject for Chinese School artists working for a European clientele, often as part of sets of four views of the Pearl River: Macau, The Boca Tigris, Whampoa and Canton, reminding western voyagers of their journeys into the fringes of the mysterious kingdom of the Qing Emperors. The present view is taken from Penha Hill looking north along the Praia Grande, the magnificent waterfront that curves around Macau's shallow inner harbour. The Fortaleza do Monte is prominently placed on the hilltop in the centre of this painting, built by the Jesuits 1616-26 and the site of the first Portuguese Governor's Residence. Beneath the fort are two large, glistening white buildings, the Palacio and the East India Company headquarters. Further right, on the highest point of Macau, is the Guia Fortress, built around 1622-38 to give additional protection to the valuable trading settlement. This painting captures the hot and humid climate of southern China, with sunset-tinged monsoon clouds building up over the bay.

The canvas has been lined. There are faint stretcher marks around the edges. There is craquelure throughout. There is some surface dirt.

UV light reveals retouching to the stretcher marks and scattered spots of retouching and infilling to the sky. Some further retouching around the edges in the sky.