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Lot Essay
The iconic 'hong' punchbowls, with their lively depictions of the Canton waterfront buzzing with the activity of Chinese and foreigners alike, must have been among the most extraordinary souvenirs available to Western visitors in the China trade period. Depictions of the hongs appear on porcelain from about 1765; at first showing the scene in two large panels. Continuous views like we see on this example seem to date from about 1780.
Kee Il Choi has written of the conundrum of the Chinese artist who needed to transfer an essentially rectangular landscape image onto a circular bowl, pointing out that one solution, as we see here, was to insert the Dutch folly fort in the water at the start and finish of the waterfront.
Compare with a 'hong' bowl of similar size and composition in the collection of Benjamin F. Edwards III, sold Christie's New York, 26 January 2010, lot 51.
Kee Il Choi has written of the conundrum of the Chinese artist who needed to transfer an essentially rectangular landscape image onto a circular bowl, pointing out that one solution, as we see here, was to insert the Dutch folly fort in the water at the start and finish of the waterfront.
Compare with a 'hong' bowl of similar size and composition in the collection of Benjamin F. Edwards III, sold Christie's New York, 26 January 2010, lot 51.