Portraits Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
PA.010 |
Title |
Hou Qua |
Artist |
Chinnery, George, 1774-1852 |
Date |
n.d. |
Description |
Hou Qua II (1769-1843), born Wu Ping-chien, the third son of Hou Qua I, the original Chief of the Co-Hong, was probably the subject of Chinnery's portrait. During Chinnery's time in Macao there were at least three important Canton merchants using the trade name "Hou Qua", which became a sort of family business name handed down like a trademark from father to son. Wu Ping-chien became the most prosperous foreign trader in the first half of the nineteenth century, the chief Hong Merchant. This impressive man and his fellow Hong merchants were considered models of politeness, honesty, and fair dealing. The name and high reputation of Hou Qua became so well known in England and America that any shipment of goods that bore his name was considered of guaranteed excellence. (A 600 ton clipper ship, of "grand physique and record making speed' built by Brown and Bell of New York in 1844, was named after Houqua.) The name "Hou-qua" is the English form of the Chinese Hao-kuan (kuan being about the equivalent of Mr. or Sir). Hou Qua died 4 Sept 1843. Portrait. Late middle-aged adult seated male subject in Asian dress, full-length view, facing forward, left forearm resting on a small table, right hand resting on right knee; feet, slightly apart, resting on a low wooden platform. The subject has dark brown eyes, a white beard and nearly bald head. He wears a dark grey kimono trimmed in possibly white fur, a long strand of white and blue beads which reach to his knees, obi, yellow skirt, red and blue striped pants, black and white shoes. He sits on a red cushioned carved wooden couch with a silver vase at his left foot. To the left at edge of painting is a small wooden table and white ceramic bowl containing a bonzai tree; to the right, near the window, another small table holding a white and brown container. Interior room looks out through an octagonal window into a view of sky, trees and column. Window is slightly blocked by white paper lantern with red tassle. There is a scroll of writing on either side of the window. According to Shuo Wang, PhD. Student in the Department of East Asian History at the University of Freiburg, Germany, this is the only one I´ve found with full-length, on which Houqua doesn´t have a cross-leg position. (The 'cross-leg' position was regarded quite rude in Chinese tradition.) Normally Chinnery´s portraits for Chinese were very 'European'. But this one, at least according to the sitting position of Houqua, is somehow Chinese. (personal correspondence to Whitney Pape, Special Collections Librarian, 3/14/2013) |
Object Name |
Painting |
Medium |
Oil Paint |
Material |
Canvas |
Dimensions |
H-62.3 W-47 cm |
Credit line |
Bequest of Violet Gordon King (Mrs. Ian McEwen) |
Provenance |
1974, July 17 - Bequest of Violet Gordon King (Mrs. Ian McEwen) The painting was brought from China by Edward King in 1844 (Berry-Hill notes...by courtesy of Mrs. Ian McEwen[Violet Gordon King]). |
Inscription Location |
Note attached |
Inscriptions and Marks |
Houqua one of the richest and most accomplished Merchants of the Eastern World & a great friend to E King |
Collection |
Painting |
People |
King, Violet Gordon, 1897-1974 Chinnery, George, 1774-1852 Hou Qua II, 1769-1843 |
Notes |
Formerly #116. 1949 Newport, "Skippers on the Pearl, Yankee Ships in the Chinese Waters", an exhibition of objects brought to the United States by traders with China, arranged by the Society for the Care and Preservation of the Old State House in Newport, Rhode Island, Inc.; 1981 (8 Aug-13 Sept) Newport Art Museum "The Annual Harrison Morris Memorial Exhibit for 1981: In Search of the East" ; 1984 (Feb-Sept) New-York Historical Society "New York and the China Trade"; 1985 (6 March-19 May) Katonah Gallery, Katonah, New York, "Trade Winds: the Lure of the China Trade, 16th-19th Century" |
Related Publications |
1934 Journal and Letters of Edward King, 1835-1844 edited by Russell (36) ; 1963 "George Chinnery: 1774-1852, Artist of the China Coast" by Berry-Hill (pl 39); similar portrait attributed to Lam Qua in "From Brant Point to the Boca Tigris: Nantucket and the China Trade" by Michael A. Jehle owned by the Peabody & Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts, (oil on canvas, circa 1840) |