Tanka boat off Macao

Chinnery left London in 1796. He first visited Ireland, where he left his wife and children in Dublin and then journeyed to India, where he made his name as one of the leading artists in British India. However, despite good earnings from portrait commissions, Chinnery accrued massive debts and in 1825, fearful that creditors still might find a way to ensnare him, boarded a ship for China, where he would remain for the rest of his life — predominantly in Macao, though he also spent time in Hong Kong and Canton (today’s Guangzhou) nearby. The present lot portrays a typical motif of Chinnery's, capturing the daily life of the locals.