Canton. (Two gouaches).

Two so-called export paintings of the Thirteen Factories at Canton (Guangzhou). The flags of Denmark, France, the U.S., Sweden, Britain, and the Netherland are visible on one of the gouaches, the flags of Spain, France, the U.S., and the Netherland are visible on the other one.

In the 16th century, at a time when most of China was closed to foreigners, Canton, a bustling port on the Pearl River north west of Hong Kong became one of the world’s great trading centers.
Western merchants flocked there and trading routes were established quickly between Asia and Europe. Canton enjoyed a golden age of prosperity with cargoes of silk, tea and porcelain flooding out of the port.

Such commercialism needed accommodation for merchants, ship owners and the inevitable officials and so buildings sprung up along the waterfront, known as hongs.
They provided offices, warehouses and even sleeping and eating facilities and were a hive of activity. However, by the middle of the 19th century, trade had moved to Hong Kong and the merchants gradually moved with it.

At the time skill full artists in the port cities of China produced paintings which became popular souvenirs sold to western travelers and merchants. They represent the images of Chinese culture taken back to the West in an age that pre-dated photography.

During the eighteenth and early nineteenth century no visit to Canton was complete without purchasing some artwork from one of the painting studios in New China Street.
Water colors had an added attraction because they were of a convenient size, were relatively inexpensive, and could be bound into albums and books for ease of storage and display. The artists worked in both transparent and opaque color on a surface of European or Chinese paper, as well as silk, ivory and pith.