CHINESE EARLY 19th CENTURY Views of Canton... - Lot 107 - Osenat

Lot 107
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Estimation :
10000 - 15000 EUR
CHINESE EARLY 19th CENTURY Views of Canton... - Lot 107 - Osenat
CHINESE EARLY 19th CENTURY Views of Canton Two gouaches Height 32.5 cm - Width 57.5 cm , Height 34.5 cm - Width 47 cm Such works were at the time of their execution intended for Westerners, often merchants and shipowners frequenting Boca Tigris, this great port of the Middle Kingdom, on the Pearl River, about one hundred kilometers from its mouth. The first Europeans to settle there were the Portuguese, in 1514, who fifty years later were allowed to settle on the Macao peninsula. Then came the Spanish and the Dutch, followed in the 18th century by the French, the British and the Americans. Silks, porcelain, precious woods, tea (of which Great Britain was the leading importer), rhubarb and other products used in the pharmacopoeia were prized by the Europeans, while China had a great need for silver, the precious white metal that abounded in the mines of Potosi, in Bolivia. In the middle of the 18th century, an imperial edict closed all ports to foreigners, except for Canton. Contacts between the Chinese and Europeans were forbidden, and only the Cohong guild (between eight and twelve people) had the privilege of dealing with them. For the British, who were adept at free trade, such constraints were difficult to bear... Offices were set up, factories located near junks and flat-bottomed barges, as the ships did not have the necessary draught to go up to the port.
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