REF No. R11
sold: chinese export topographical paper fan
Tongzhi period circa 1870
Portuguese Market
Box: 15 x 4½ x 3¼ inches; 38 x 11.5 x 8.5cm
A rare topographical Chinese export paper fan with lacquered spokes, one side painted with a harbour scene, the other with scenes in a Chinese street; in its original lacquer and painted box.
The harbour scene shows a view across the Harbour of the Portuguese colony of Macau, seen from Penha Hill - a view engraved in the 19th century by J Heine. The fortress on Guia Hill, built in the 17th Century, is visible in the distance, with the lighthouse built about 1865.
The reverse has a view of European style buildings in gardens which appears to show a street scene in Macao close to the canal, with a fort on the hillside above. The street lamp-posts in Macao were first installed around 1870.
References: Arapova et al, 2003, p131, Cat 146, a similar paper fan in its box, but with ivory spindles, dated to 1860; Howard & Ayers 1978,p657, two painted fans, one with a view of the Hongs of Canton and p653, fig 678a a watercolour of the same view of Macau harbour.
