AN EARLY CHINESE SCHOOL OIL ON TIN PAINTING ‘PAZHOU PAGODA AT WHAMPOA’Oil on tin China, 18th century This 18th century Chinese School trade painting shows a procession of people in front of the Pazhou Pagoda at Whampoa / Guangzhou. In the background is the busy bay with many sails of vessels visible and at the horizon a mountain range. The Pazhou Pagoda, also known as the Whampoa Pagoda, is an ancient Chinese pagoda on Pazhou Island in Haizhu District, Guangzhou, the capital of China's Guangdong Province. The Whampoa Pagoda initiated work in 1597 and it was completely built in 1600. The pagoda is situated on a knoll at the south bank of Pearl River. Although it was built as a Buddhist landmark, it was also a useful navigation point for merchant ships travelling to Guangzhou.Approximately fifty miles north of Macau, Western ships trading at Canton anchored at Whampoa. Payments partly based on the size of the ship were required to do business in China. At Whampoa, linguists, agents, and compradors were hired, and taxes (and bribes) were paid. Only after this were the foreign merchants allowed to unload their ship’s cargo upriver towards Canton.Shape: Rectangular horizontal shapeDimensions: 42 x 23.5 cm Condition: overall still good condition with browning and craquelure, later drilled holes at the margin which also shows some material loss, few small touch ups to paint chips Provenance: Austrian private collection 中國早期錫板油畫《琶洲塔》錫板油畫中國，十八世紀造型：矩形橫幅尺寸：42 x 23.5 厘米 品相：總體保存良好，有些變黃，裂縫。後期出現的邊緣小孔也顯示出材料損失，畫面有些小修補。來源： 奧地利私人收藏