Painting

This painting is from a set of 11 depicting women playing different kinds of Chinese musical instruments. The seated woman is playing a three-stringed guitar, while her maid is about to pin a flower to her hair. Artists in Canton (Guangzhou), in southern China, made such paintings for Europeans eager to find out more about China and its people. In the 18th century Canton became the principal – and later the only – trading port at which Europeans were permitted to buy Chinese goods.