Woman from Fengyang

This painting is part of a group depicting different costumes worn by Chinese men and women in the early 19th century. It shows a woman holding a flute. Attached to the painting is a small strip of paper with three Chinese characters – 'feng yang po'. The English translation reads 'a native of Fong-yong who resorl [sic] to begging alms'. The miswriting of 'resorts' as 'resorl' indicates that the writer had limited knowledge of the English language.

Europeans were fascinated by Chinese dresses and hairstyles, which were markedly different from their own, and paintings such as this were mass-produced as souvenir items. It was made in Canton (Guangzhou) in southern China. In the 18th century the city became the principal, and later the only, trading port at which Europeans were permitted to buy Chinese goods.