Footnotes

1838年 錢納利（1774-1852） 澳門玫瑰聖母堂兩景 鏡心

Provenance: A private collection, Glasgow
Martyn Gregory, London

來源：私人收藏，（英國）格拉斯哥
倫敦古董商Martyn Gregory

George Chinnery (1774–1852) was born in London, the son of a writing master and shorthand instructor. He exhibited miniature portraits at the Royal Academy from 1791 and later enrolled at the Royal Academy Schools in 1792. After relocating to Dublin in 1796, he expanded his repertoire to include oil portraits and landscapes. Following the abolition of the Irish Parliament, which led to the departure of many potential patrons, he returned to London in 1801. The next year, he sailed to Madras, where his brother worked for the East India Company, and later settled in Calcutta by 1812, establishing himself as the leading Western artist in British India.

Though successful and much in demand for portraits, Chinnery accumulated significant debt for reasons that remain unclear. After a brief stay in the Danish settlement of Serampore to evade British civil law, he sailed to Macao in 1825, seeking refuge from his creditors. There, he joined a vibrant community of European and American merchants who operated between Canton and Macao. He made the Portuguese enclave his home until his death in 1852, apart from excursions to Canton and Hong Kong.

In Macao, Chinnery became the only British artist living on the China coast, and his studio became a cultural hub for visiting Western artists, many of whom were influenced by his distinctive style. He depicted a wide range of subjects, from Western merchants and Chinese hong merchants to local Tanka boatwomen. During this period, drawing became his primary focus, and he often annotated his sketches using the Gurney shorthand system likely learned from his father. It was said he began each day searching for new compositions to sketch before breakfast.

Despite his artistic productivity, Chinnery never escaped financial hardship and relied on his landlord's charity in his later years. Nevertheless, he was admired for his wit, longevity, and exceptional draftsmanship, which left a lasting impact on both Western and Chinese artists, including Lamqua, who may have trained under him. His work remains a valuable record of life in South China during the early 19th century and reflects a unique fusion of European and Asian artistic traditions.

Compare to a pen and brown ink study of food stalls by S. Domingos, illustrated in Fan Kwae pictures: paintings and drawings by George Chinnery and other artists in the collection of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, London, 1987, p.30, no.36.

A Chinnery pencil and ink sketch of the front of S. Domingos, was sold by Christie's London, 15 July 2005, lot 258.