06-05-200506-05-2005
Skinner Auctions
Skinner AuctionsBoston MA
2295Boston
June 5, 2005 11:00 AMCalender
87

Sunqua (Chinese, ac. 1830-1870) Historically Important Depiction of the Paddle Steamer Forbes

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$127,000$110,000
Auction: American Furniture & Decorative Arts - 2295Location: BostonDate / Time: June 05, 2005 11:00AM

Description:

Sunqua (Chinese, ac. 1830-1870)

Historically Important Depiction of the Paddle Steamer Forbes off Linton c.1830.

Signed "SUNQUA" in block letters l.r. Oil on panel. the Forbes was the first foreign steamer to arrive in China. (See report of the events below). Foreign merchants used the waters off Linton as the base of operation for the opium trade. This area was beyond the jurisdiction of the Chinese port authorities. From here opium was stored and sold on the famous "opium clippers." Depicted off the bow of the Forbes is a British clipper ship. The smaller secondary vessel is a "fast crab" or "scrambling dragon" used by the Tanka boatmen to transport the opium from the ships to Canton where it had been previously purchased. 9 1/4 x 12 1/4 in., unframed. Condition: Minor panel cracks u.r. and u.l., craquelure.

Literature: Edward Kenneth Haviland writes in his book American Steam Navigation in China, American Neptune Inc., Salem, Massachusetts: "The first steamer to operate in Chinese waters is generally thought to have been Forbes, a small paddle steamer of 161 tons, constructed in 1829 by the Howrah Dock Co. of Calcutta. The same year she was chartered by James Matheson, of the well-known British house of Jardine, Matheson and Co. to tow the sailing vessel Jamesina to China. According to the account of Captain Henderson, commander of Forbes, the two ships left Sandheads, below Calcutta, on March 14 1830. On 13 April, fourteen days after leaving Singapore, the weather turned bad and as Forbes was beginning to run short of coal, she dropped her tow and the two ships proceeded separately. Forbes arrived off Macao on 18 April, and E.C. Bridgeman, the pioneer of missions in China, is quoted as describing his arrival at Macao on 19 April in 'the steamer Forbes, the first ship of the kind to have visited these shores,' a characterization confirmed in the account of her arrival in the Canton Register of May 1 1830. When the Chinese pilot came aboard the steamer off Macao, so the story goes, he showed no surprise at what he saw. The captain, annoyed at his indifference asked the Chinaman if he did not think the fire-eating iron boat remarkable, to which the pilot replied, 'Before time have got plenty ship inside walkee fare boat...Just now velly expense---no can do.' Evidently Forbes returned for Jamesina, as the records of the East India Company show that the latter vessel, in tow of the former, arrived at Linton on 26 April 1830. The experiment was not repeated, as it was found impossible to procure coal in Canton of a quality good enough to raise steam, and Forbes, burning wood instead of coal, returned to Calcutta.
Estimate $6,000-8,000

Keywords

Forbes, China, Calcutta, James Matheson, Henderson, Edward Kenneth Haviland, Howrah Dock, American Neptune Inc., Salem, Massachusetts, Howrah Dock Co., Matheson and Co., sailing, commander , Singapore, the Canton Register, East India Company