Vividly painted along the exterior with a continuous scene of the Hongs (foreign trade warehouses or “factories”) that were situated outside the city walls of Canton by the Pearl River. The varying national flags of these factories are shown flying including those of France, Imperial Austria, Sweden, Britain, Holland, and Denmark. The walkways outside these factories are filled with numerous European and Chinese figures engaged in various commercial activities.
Diameter 14 ⅛ inches (36 cm.)
Provenance:
Cottier & Co., New York, 9 December 1909
Collection of Mrs. Charles B. Manning (1882-1965)
Bernard Karr, Hyde Park Antiques: 1997- 2023
Important Private American Collection: 2023- present
Exhibited: Harvard Art Museums, Objects of Addiction: Opium, Empire, and the Chinese Art Trade, September 15, 2023-January 14, 2024
Phoenix Art Museum, Exchanges East and West, September 6, 2024- August 24, 2025
Note: There are numerous variations of Hong Bowls. The earliest example was made in 1765 and is illustrated in Bredo L. Grandjean, Dansk Ostindisk Porcelæn, Copenhagen, 1965, fig. 113-114, cat. no. 107. It is now in the collection of M/S Maritime Museum of Denmark.
The subject of the Hongs is one of the most iconic and important in the China Trade, representing this remarkable moment in time and commerce between East and West. The scenes give us a glimpse into that fascinating world.