China Trade Paintings - Selections from the Kelton Collection - is the first substantial collection of paintings in this category to come to auction for a generation. The sale provides an illustrated history of the great maritime endeavour that was the China Trade, as Western merchants bought and shipped the staples of the trade - tea, silk and porcelain - from Canton to Europe and the eastern seaboard of the United States in the heyday of the trade between 1750 and 1850. The sale presents a large collection of works by Chinese export artists, including Spoilum, Lamqua and Tingqua, depicting China, its places, peoples and produce.