Painting

This painting is from a set of 11 depicting women playing different kinds of Chinese musical instruments. Here a maid holds an incense burner while her seated mistress is playing the zither. The instrument is called 'qin' and has a flat base, seven strings and is placed horizontally.

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.