Footnotes

錢納利（1774-1852） 中國帆船 鉛筆鋼筆及水墨紙本

Provenance: Martyn Gregory, London

來源：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.

This ink sketch of a Chinese junk with sail furled beside two Tanka boats, each depicted with attendant figures on board. The Tanka people were a distinct ethnic group living along the coast of Macau, Whampoa and Hong Kong. Their name derives from their boats, which were broad rounded sampans with one or more curved roofs. The 'Tankas' occupy a special position in Chinnery's art, particularly his depictions of Tanka women, with their characteristic dress of blue nankeen, either with a hood attached or sometimes worn with a red headscarf.

See an ink study of a junk 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.35, no.44.