Painting

This painting is from a set of 24 depicting women playing different kinds of Chinese musical instruments. It shows a woman playing a stringed instrument called a pipa while her companion strikes an unidentified instrument. Artists in Canton (Guangzhou), in southern China, made such paintings for Europeans eager to find out more about China and its people. From the 18th century Canton was the principal – and later the only – trading port at which Europeans were permitted to buy Chinese goods.