Plate

The unusual central decoration is of a side-wheeler paddle steamer in the Pearl River surrounded by smaller Chinese trading craft, with a rowing boat manned by three European oarsmen in the right foreground. In the background, the tops of masts and a Chinese village appear behind distant hills.

The first recorded paddle steamer to arrive in Canton appears to have been 'Forbes', chartered from Calcutta in 1830 by Jame Matheson as part of a lottery venture. The Chinese were unimpressed, calling it an 'outside walkee' vessel. Five years later, she was followed by 'Jardine' in the hope of selling the model, but the new 'smokeship' was again banned by the local authorities, with some reason as the engine room subsequently caught fire following a picnic. However, with the arrival of the first British steam-powered warship 'Nemesis' in 1840 to devastating result during the First Opium War, it became clear that the new technology could no longer be ignored.