Studio of Tingqua (1809-1870)
Portraits of Howqua and Mowqua, seated small full length in dragon robes, Chinese coastal landscapes beyond
both with Tingqua’s manuscript trade labels (‘Tingqua’) on the stretcher
oil on canvas
the first 13¹⁄₂ x 10¹⁄₂in. (34.3 x 26.7cm.)
the second 13¹⁄₄ x 10in. (33.7 x 25.3cm.)
'These portraits of Howqua, together with those of Mowqua and other members of the Co-hong, exist in several versions and sizes, from full-length to head and shoulders ... some in oils and others in gouache. They seem to have had their origin in a group of portraits executed by Chinnery within a few years of his arrival on the China coast: one of these, a portrait of Howqua, was probably shipped to England on January 31st 1830. Following and adapting Chinnery's prototypes, Lamqua must have done a brisk business in such portraits. In particular, the distinctive features of Howqua – domed forehead, hollow cheeks, wispy beard – gained an almost iconic status, the acceptable face, as it were, of the China trade.' (P. Conner, 'Lamqua Western and Chinese Painter', Arts of Asia, March-April 1899, p.54).
two (2)

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