Attributed to LAMQUA, SECOND QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

PORTRAIT OF A SHIP'S CAPTAIN

Details

Attributed to LAMQUA, SECOND QUARTER 19TH CENTURY
PORTRAIT OF A SHIP'S CAPTAIN
Oil on canvas, shown seated small three-quarter length, a sealed letter in his hand and a drapery behind him pulled aside, revealing a view of the harbor with a large Chinese ship at sail
15¾ x 13 7/8in. (40 x 35.3cm.), the dimensions framed

Provenance

Formerly in the collection of J. Welles Henderson, founder of the Philadelphia Maritime Museum

Lot Essay

Lamqua was already well-established in Canton when the English artist George Chinnery arrived in 1825. Moving from India to Macao to escape his debts, Chinnery brought with him an English manner of portraiture that leading Chinese artists were quick to adopt. Lamqua and Chinnery were at least acquaintances, if not friends, within the small China coast community, both specializing in portraits of Western and Chinese trade merchants and neither signing many works. One signed Lamqua bears striking similarities to the present picture, including possibly the same chair: a small three-quarter length portrait probably of James Calder Stewart now in a private collection (see P.Conner, "Lamqua, Western and Chinese Painter", Arts of Asia magazine, March-April 1999, p. 52)

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