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Whampoa, near Canton the anchorage for European shipping
Whampoa, near Canton the anchorage for European shipping

Whampoa, near Canton the anchorage for European shipping

Artist
Publisher
Date1847
Object number00003061
NameLithograph
MediumLithograph on paper.
DimensionsOverall: 153 x 233 mm, 0.023 kg
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineANMM Collection Purchased with USA Bicentennial Gift funds
DescriptionThe Port of Whampoa, near Canton China is depicted in this black and white lithograph. It features three large masted schooners all with their sails furled. Whampoa was one of five ports that were opened for foreign trade after the the First Opium War and the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842.HistoryWhampoa, or Huangpu district, is an industrial waterfront district in the Guangdong province of China. It became an international trading port following the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842. The Treaty of Nanjing, which ended hostilities, opened Whampoa as one of five Chinese treaty ports at the end of the War. Previously, British merchants had only been allowed to trade at Guangzhou (Canton), however this Treaty allowed them access to trade at 5 new ports. Lithography, a printing process, began in Germany in the 1790s and then spread to Europe and America. Initially printers used black and white ink, however this changed to coloured ink as the process become more widely used. A nearly insatiable Western market for views of the Pearl River such as this lithograph was fuelled by the entrepreneurs who conducted business there, as well as their business partners and families, many of whom had never travelled to China but heard marvellous tales about the land and its culture.SignificanceBefore photography, paintings and drawings of Macao, Canton and Hong Kong were the only illustrations of these exotic ports. These works depict unusual landscapes, walled cities and spectacular architecture, which helped to establish the Western vision of China as a land of silk, porcelain and tea.