The British and Dutch factories at Canton; and Canal and bridge at Honam, Canton

There is a squared drawing by Chinnery for the second subject dated 'Ju[ly] 30 1832' in the Victoria and Albert Museum, E 1765-1928 (for which see P. Conner, George Chinnery 1774-1852 Artist of India and the China Coast, Woodbridge, 1993, p.259, pl.174). The grid on the drawing matches the pencil grid still visible on the present picture, which suggests this is Chinnery's oil transferred from the drawing. A further pencil sketch of this subject, originally from a book of drawings sent back by Dr Thomas College to his sister in 1832, is in a private collection (for which see the exhibition catalogue Impressions of the East: The Art of George Chinnery, Hong Kong Museum of History and Hong Kong Museum of Art, 2005, p.97, C7). For another picture by Chinnery of the subject, of the same size as the present work, see P.Conner, op. cit., p.247, colour plate 105). A further version, of the same size, and with a companion of the British and Dutch factories at Canton (paired like the present lot), is in the collection of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (for which see G. Tillotson, Fan Kwae Pictures..., London, 1987, pp.102-3, nos 116-117, where described as 'Chinese School')

There is no extant drawing for the similarly squared Canton view, but there are copies of Chinnery's picture by Lamqua and his studio, these Chinese copies significantly of larger size (11 x 17¾in.), for which see Christie's Swire, Hong Kong, 9 Oct. 1990, lot 1326, and Martyn Gregory, catalogue 72 (1998), p.85, no. 125 (the Canton view here paired with a view of the Praya Grande, Macao).

The second subject, Honam (or Honan), lay on the southern side of the Canton river, opposite the foreign factories at Canton (Guangzhou).