.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The titled mounts on the Canton and Shanghai views have been transposed.
The four views show the treaty port of Canton, the first western trading post in China, Macao, settled by the Portuguese in the 16th century and latterly a Dutch and then British outpost. It was the headquarters of the British East India Company from the late 18th century and the dormitory town for traders visiting Canton. Hong Kong, ceded to Britain by the Treaty of Nanking in 1842 after the first Anglo-Chinese Opium War of 1839-42, took over as headquarters for the traders, due to its superior harbour and secure footing following its cession ('in perpetuity') to Britain in 1842. Shanghai, 750 miles north of Canton and well placed for trade with the interior, on the Yangtze delta, was one of five treaty ports opened to trade with Britain by the Treaty of Nanking, with Canton (Guangzhou), Amoy (Xiamen), Foochow (Fuzhou) and Ningpo (Ningbo). The Bund on the Whangpoo grew rapidly and Shanghai replaced Hong Kong as the centre of British trade with China in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The four views show the treaty port of Canton, the first western trading post in China, Macao, settled by the Portuguese in the 16th century and latterly a Dutch and then British outpost. It was the headquarters of the British East India Company from the late 18th century and the dormitory town for traders visiting Canton. Hong Kong, ceded to Britain by the Treaty of Nanking in 1842 after the first Anglo-Chinese Opium War of 1839-42, took over as headquarters for the traders, due to its superior harbour and secure footing following its cession ('in perpetuity') to Britain in 1842. Shanghai, 750 miles north of Canton and well placed for trade with the interior, on the Yangtze delta, was one of five treaty ports opened to trade with Britain by the Treaty of Nanking, with Canton (Guangzhou), Amoy (Xiamen), Foochow (Fuzhou) and Ningpo (Ningbo). The Bund on the Whangpoo grew rapidly and Shanghai replaced Hong Kong as the centre of British trade with China in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.