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Lot 83*

Chinese School
late 19th Century
Hong Kong

26 February 2020, 13:00 GMT
London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £17,562.50 inc. premium

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Chinese School, late 19th Century

Hong Kong
oil on canvas
45.7 x 78.1cm (18 x 30 3/4in).

Footnotes

Provenance
With Paul Mason Gallery, London.
Acquired from the above at the Grosvenor House Antiques Fair, London, by the present owner in 1987.

The island of Hong Kong was ceded to the British under the Treaty of Nanking in 1842, the treaty under which the First Opium War came to an end. Following this change of rule, the initial building of Hong Kong as a trading and commercial hub was difficult due to stifling Qing policies, along with disease and piracy. The Taiping Rebellion of 1850-64 would see large numbers of Chinese refugees fleeing the mainland to settle in Hong Kong. Those fleeing included wealthy merchants and business people and it is from this point that Hong Kong would really flourish as a centre for trade in the East. The present view shows a developed Hong Kong with its elegant European architecture along with the distinctive flag mast atop Victoria Hill, this mast being placed here in 1861. The cities status as an international centre for trade can be seen by the array of shipping in the harbour, with British, French, American and Dutch ships along with the Chinese coastal trading craft.

Additional information