
May one see it?
London, United Kingdom
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
This painting is from a set of 50 depicting the different types of boats that cluttered the Pearl River. It shows a floating grocery, where food such as pork, rice and fruit was sold alongside cooking stoves, joss sticks and paper ingots. Paintings such as this one 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