Boat Going to Four Directions
About the painting
This painting is from a set of 50 depicting the different types of boats that cluttered the Pearl River. It shows a ferry which the Chinese called 'boat going to four directions'. Paintings such as this were mass-produced as souvenir items.
Lord George Macartney (1737-1806) was the first British ambassador to China. His description of the setting reads: 'the river of Canton is covered with boats and vessels of various sorts and sizes, all, even the very smallest, constantly and thickly inhabited'.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Particulars
- Accession number
- 8655:19
