Seascape

Fortified islands. In the background, two European sailing vessels stand out among several others, and in the foreground two junks and a sampan can be seen.
Depictions of different views of the port of Canton with its trading posts, and of the Macau peninsula (where the Portuguese began trading around 1535 and settled around 1557) or of its coastline, are just some of the themes illustrated by China Trade paintings, produced from the late 18th century to the mid-19th century by Cantonese artists.
Joana Belard da Fonseca, in the catalogue Presença Portuguesa na Ásia, Museu do Oriente, 2008, p. 391