Lot Essay
The acquisition and early development of Hong Kong:
Initially captured by Captain Eliott, R.N., in August 1839 during the opening phases of the so-called "Opium War", the island of Hong Kong was granted to Great Britain by the Convention of Chuanpee on 20 January 1841 and then ceded absolutely the following year under the terms of the Treaty of Nanking. From the moment Captain Belcher, R.N., took formal possession of the territory on 26 January 1841, however, it assumed an imperial role of the greatest importance, not only as the principal base for the Royal Navy's Far Eastern fleet but also as the main port of discharge for the immensely lucrative opium trade with China. With its perfect location adjacent to the Chinese mainland, the British merchants engaged in that trade realised Hong Kong's potential immediately and within a year of the first land sales in June 1841, the nucleus of the bustling city of Victoria had already been created. Stone barracks, warehouses, wharves and jetties, churches, offices, godowns, substantial residences and even a roofed-in bazaar had all been constructed by Chinese labourers using locally quarried materials whilst the Queen's Road, an impressive highway nearly four miles in length, skirted Victoria Bay to connect the various neighbourhoods of the thriving new colony. By any standards it was a remarkable achievement yet this explosive early development was merely the precursor of what was to follow. Over the ensuing one hundred and fifty years, Hong Kong's growth and prosperity would continue to astonish the world and this fascination has lasted even into our own time with this year's historic transfer of power back to China. From its earliest beginnings, geographical advantage combined with good fortune and opportunism practically guaranteed that Hong Kong's story would be a triumphant one, although back in 1840, the one catalyst that set all this success in train was opium.
Hong Kong and the Opium Trade:
European involvement in the opium trade began around 1700 and, by the early nineteenth century, the Chinese appetite for Indian opium had become insatiable. Tacitly encouraged by the Honourable East India Company, although it declined active participation, the trade spawned not only many highly colourful characters but also new types of ships generically known as "opium clippers". Specially built, usually at Calcutta, to withstand the rigours of the monsoon, these 'clippers' were frequently rigged as schooners, the sleek hulls of which combined speed with the strength necessary to beat to windward against the monsoons which plagued the route from India to China. To capitalise fully on the prodigious demand for opium, captains would often risk their ships on three round trips a year so great were the rewards, yet the whole trade was shrouded in secrecy. Movements of vessels usually went unreported in the local press and very few of the ships involved were registered with Lloyd's in London. Up until 1839, most opium cargoes went into Canton, but even before the war with China was concluded in 1842, Hong Kong had established itself as a far better discharge port. Avoiding the long and hazardous voyage up the Canton estuary proved a great boon and, once landed in Hong Kong, the opium could then be run anywhere along the entire length of the China coast either by fast junk or aboard one of the many smart little British-owned brigs and schooners which plied those routes. The huge size and scale of the opium trade meant that Hong Kong harbour was instantly transformed from a hitherto quiet anchorage into one of the busiest ports in the Orient whilst just as dramatic was the creation of an entirely new city to service this colossal enterprise. The fact that all this occurred so rapidly was even more astounding and as Basil Lubbock states in his classic work "The Opium Clippers" (pub.1933.):
"During this first year [1841-42] of Hong Kong's life, when Britain and China were at war, not only was the new free port
crowded with European and Indian shipping but also Chinese.
Junks, lorchas, tanka-boats, sampans and even Canton fast-
boats shared the anchorage with men-of-war, Indiamen, receiving
ships, country craft, opium clippers....."
Although much of the topography of both physical terrain as well as the burgeoning city of Victoria is obscured by the shipping offshore, there can be little doubt that this view is an extremely early depiction of the island colony of Hong Kong, and quite possibly the first by a European artist. Assuredly a major work, it almost mirrors Lubbock's description in the variety of craft it includes yet not only had Carmichael never visited Hong Kong but virtually no views of it had been published as early as 1843. Thus, Carmichael must have drawn upon some first-hand recollection and it has been suggested by Diana Villar [author of "John Wilson Carmichael", pub. 1995] that his inspiration may have been Captain G.A. Coulson, an officer in the Royal Navy. Coulson, a fellow Northumbrian, was Senior Lieutenant of H.M.S. Blonde during the Opium War and subsequently gave Carmichael a sketch of China when he returned home. Given that Hong Kong was adopted as a naval base whilst the War was still in progress, Coulson would almost certainly have called there and could well have been very impressed by the Colony's rapid development. It seems highly probably therefore that it was he who provided Carmichael with such detail as the artist required and it may even have been Coulson who commissioned this picture although there is no confirmatory evidence of this.
Christie's are most grateful to both Michael Naxton and Diana Villar for their assistance in cataloguing this lot.
Initially captured by Captain Eliott, R.N., in August 1839 during the opening phases of the so-called "Opium War", the island of Hong Kong was granted to Great Britain by the Convention of Chuanpee on 20 January 1841 and then ceded absolutely the following year under the terms of the Treaty of Nanking. From the moment Captain Belcher, R.N., took formal possession of the territory on 26 January 1841, however, it assumed an imperial role of the greatest importance, not only as the principal base for the Royal Navy's Far Eastern fleet but also as the main port of discharge for the immensely lucrative opium trade with China. With its perfect location adjacent to the Chinese mainland, the British merchants engaged in that trade realised Hong Kong's potential immediately and within a year of the first land sales in June 1841, the nucleus of the bustling city of Victoria had already been created. Stone barracks, warehouses, wharves and jetties, churches, offices, godowns, substantial residences and even a roofed-in bazaar had all been constructed by Chinese labourers using locally quarried materials whilst the Queen's Road, an impressive highway nearly four miles in length, skirted Victoria Bay to connect the various neighbourhoods of the thriving new colony. By any standards it was a remarkable achievement yet this explosive early development was merely the precursor of what was to follow. Over the ensuing one hundred and fifty years, Hong Kong's growth and prosperity would continue to astonish the world and this fascination has lasted even into our own time with this year's historic transfer of power back to China. From its earliest beginnings, geographical advantage combined with good fortune and opportunism practically guaranteed that Hong Kong's story would be a triumphant one, although back in 1840, the one catalyst that set all this success in train was opium.
Hong Kong and the Opium Trade:
European involvement in the opium trade began around 1700 and, by the early nineteenth century, the Chinese appetite for Indian opium had become insatiable. Tacitly encouraged by the Honourable East India Company, although it declined active participation, the trade spawned not only many highly colourful characters but also new types of ships generically known as "opium clippers". Specially built, usually at Calcutta, to withstand the rigours of the monsoon, these 'clippers' were frequently rigged as schooners, the sleek hulls of which combined speed with the strength necessary to beat to windward against the monsoons which plagued the route from India to China. To capitalise fully on the prodigious demand for opium, captains would often risk their ships on three round trips a year so great were the rewards, yet the whole trade was shrouded in secrecy. Movements of vessels usually went unreported in the local press and very few of the ships involved were registered with Lloyd's in London. Up until 1839, most opium cargoes went into Canton, but even before the war with China was concluded in 1842, Hong Kong had established itself as a far better discharge port. Avoiding the long and hazardous voyage up the Canton estuary proved a great boon and, once landed in Hong Kong, the opium could then be run anywhere along the entire length of the China coast either by fast junk or aboard one of the many smart little British-owned brigs and schooners which plied those routes. The huge size and scale of the opium trade meant that Hong Kong harbour was instantly transformed from a hitherto quiet anchorage into one of the busiest ports in the Orient whilst just as dramatic was the creation of an entirely new city to service this colossal enterprise. The fact that all this occurred so rapidly was even more astounding and as Basil Lubbock states in his classic work "The Opium Clippers" (pub.1933.):
"During this first year [1841-42] of Hong Kong's life, when Britain and China were at war, not only was the new free port
crowded with European and Indian shipping but also Chinese.
Junks, lorchas, tanka-boats, sampans and even Canton fast-
boats shared the anchorage with men-of-war, Indiamen, receiving
ships, country craft, opium clippers....."
Although much of the topography of both physical terrain as well as the burgeoning city of Victoria is obscured by the shipping offshore, there can be little doubt that this view is an extremely early depiction of the island colony of Hong Kong, and quite possibly the first by a European artist. Assuredly a major work, it almost mirrors Lubbock's description in the variety of craft it includes yet not only had Carmichael never visited Hong Kong but virtually no views of it had been published as early as 1843. Thus, Carmichael must have drawn upon some first-hand recollection and it has been suggested by Diana Villar [author of "John Wilson Carmichael", pub. 1995] that his inspiration may have been Captain G.A. Coulson, an officer in the Royal Navy. Coulson, a fellow Northumbrian, was Senior Lieutenant of H.M.S. Blonde during the Opium War and subsequently gave Carmichael a sketch of China when he returned home. Given that Hong Kong was adopted as a naval base whilst the War was still in progress, Coulson would almost certainly have called there and could well have been very impressed by the Colony's rapid development. It seems highly probably therefore that it was he who provided Carmichael with such detail as the artist required and it may even have been Coulson who commissioned this picture although there is no confirmatory evidence of this.
Christie's are most grateful to both Michael Naxton and Diana Villar for their assistance in cataloguing this lot.