Painting of Whampoa Reach, China
date: label: date made
content: ca 1840
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: America began trade with China in 1784, with the Philadelphia ship the <i>Empress of China</i>. Popular trade goods were tea, porcelain and fabric. The Chinese were skeptical of foreign powers, and trading was restricted to certain ports, one of which was Canton. The Chinese government saw Canton as a major trading hub and felt that it needed to be controlled tightly to limit the influence of the foreigners.
label: Description
content: The actual port for Canton was called Whampoa Reach and it was about 12 miles down river from Canton. Western vessels had to anchor at Whompoa Reach and transfer their cargo to junks which transported the goods to the city for trading.
label: Description
content: In the painting there is a general view of the docks and warehouses, as well as hongs (foreign offices, warehouses, and residences for foreigners who did business with the Chinese government). Buildings are clustered around the edge of the river and both clipper ships and Chinese vessels are visible in the water. There are American, French, Swedish and British vessels in the harbor, but they appear separated from the smaller Chinese vessels. Several small Chinese ships also are seen close to the larger clipper ships. There is one small British vessel moving around with the Chinese vessels.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Maritime
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
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content: Cigna Maritime Collection
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content: Transportation
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content: Art
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of CIGNA Museum and Art Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2005.0279.032
label: accession number
content: 2005.0279
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0279.032
objectType: label: Object Name
content: painting
label: Object Name
content: painting, oil
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: oil on canvas (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: without frame: 12 in x 22 1/2 in; 30.48 cm x 57.15 cm
label: Measurements
content: with fame: 17 in x 26 1/4 in; 43.18 cm x 66.675 cm