Painting

This painting is from a set of 24 depicting women playing different kinds of Chinese musical instruments. It shows a woman playing a trumpet, while her maid waits on her holding a long pipe. 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.