1838 Huggins View of Opium Ships, Pearl River Delta, China

Prelude to the Opium War.

This is a 1838 William John Huggins and Edward Duncan view of Chinese and Western ships engaged in the opium trade in the Pearl River Delta. It was published as opium smuggling reached unprecedented heights in the Pearl River Estuary, leading within a year to the First Opium War (1839 - 1942).

A Closer Look

The view presents foreign and Chinese ships in the Pearl River Estuary near Lintin Island (Neilingding Island 內伶仃島), situated at the mouth of the Pearl River (also known as Lingdingyang 伶仃洋). One of the foreign ships flies an American flag and another the 'Red Duster' British ensign. Chinese boatmen in canoes are parked alongside the foreign ships and Chinese junks, ferrying goods (opium, illegal at this time) from the larger ships to the smaller ones for transport up the Pearl River.

Historical Context

In the early 19th century, Chinese trade with Europeans and Americans was conducted according to the 'Canton System', which was nominally tightly regulated but in reality quite porous. Although foreign traders maintained 'factories' (warehouses) at Canton (Guangzhou), the shallow waters of the Pearl River Estuary made it difficult for large trading ships to reach Canton, forcing them to transition to smaller Chinese 'junks' designed for shallow water. Initially, tea, silks, porcelain, and lacquerware, which became popular luxury goods in the West, were exchanged for silver (then circulated within China as currency), but over time, this created a massive trade imbalance with China and was financially risky for the chartered monopolies like the British East India Company (EIC). British traders introduced addicting opium from India, from their perspective solving the trade imbalance, but in truth creating widespread addiction, economic damage, and political conflict.

The multitude of islands and labyrinthine coastal inlets around the Pearl River Estuary explain why smuggling was so prevalent in these waters for much of China's dynastic history and nearly impossible to stamp out. The Qing government periodically tried to clamp down on the opium trade, more stridently in the early 19th century, as addiction had become widespread in southern China. But vast quantities of opium were carried away on 'scrambling dragons' (palong 爬龍) or 'fast crabs' (kuaixie 快蟹) at Lintin, outside the Bocca Tigris (a narrow strait in the Pearl River Delta that separates the channels of Shiziyang 狮子洋 in the north and Lingdingyang in the south). The ships were typically armed to the teeth, crewed by fierce Tanka (蜑家) riverman; those captured by Qing authorities were designated for execution. Local Chinese officials and elites (including designated companies or hang for trading with foreigners) also often undermined efforts to control the opium trade, as they also profited from it. In 1833, the EIC lost its monopoly on the opium trade and was forced to auction its opium to private traders; this only made the opium trade even more difficult to control and caused the scale of opium smuggling to explode.

Eventually, soon after this view's publication, the Qing Court sent the incorruptible official Lin Zexu to crack down on smuggling. Lin proceeded to seize and then burn the stores of the British opium traders in Canton, wiping out their annual profits. In response, the traders (i.e., drug smugglers) used their influence in Parliament to gain backing for a punitive military expedition against China, setting off the first Opium War in 1839. Ironically, Edward Duncan, who engraved this view, would shortly afterward go on to paint a famous depiction of the First Opium War, the 1843 Destroying Chinese War Junks.

Publication History and Census

This view was originally painted by William John Huggins in 1824 and was then engraved by Huggins' frequent collaborator Edward Duncan and published by Huggins himself in 1838, on the eve of the First Opium War. This print is rare, only being held by the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, while Huggins' original painting is held by the Hong Kong Maritime Museum.

Cartographers

William John Huggins (1781 - May 19, 1845) was a British maritime painter active in the first half of the 19th century. Huggins' early life is mired in obscurity. His first recorded voyage was made between 1812 - 1814 as an ordinary seaman on the East Indiaman Perseverance to India and China. It was during this voyage that he developed as a maritime painter. Back in London, he took up residence on Leadenhall Street, near East India House. He may, at this time, have been schooled in painting by the ship decorator Thomas Duncan. Soon, he established himself as a maritime artist, where his work found an enthusiastic client base amongst returning merchants and seamen. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1817 and continued to exhibit regularly for the remainder of his life. He was awarded the position of marine-painter to George IV and, from 1830, William IV, for whom he painted three large pictures of the Battle of Trafalgar. Huggins died in London in 1845.   Further Details...

Edward Duncan (October 21, 1803 - April 11, 1882) was a British engraver and watercolorist known for his paintings of coastal and naval scenes. He was born in London and apprenticed with Robert Havell (the Elder), an aquatint engraver, in Marylebone. Havell and his son, Robert Havell, Jr., worked together to produce aquatint engravings of 240 drawings by famed naturalist John James Audubon, which became Birds of America. Havell, Sr. was also brothers with the painter William Havell, who was a founding member of the Society of Painters in Watercolours (later the Royal Watercolour Society). Duncan's close encounter with William Havell and his work sparked his lifelong interest in drawing and watercolor, though he continued to work primarily as an engraver for a time, opening his own engraving studio in the early 1820s. From 1826, he undertook a very productive partnership with William John Huggins (1781 - 1845), the official artist to both King William IV and King George IV, whose maritime paintings sparked a fascination in Ducan that would last the rest of his career. Around the year 1835, Duncan married Huggins' daughter Berthia, cementing their close professional and personal relationship. Having enjoyed the tutelage of the Havells and Huggins and having experimenting with a wide variety of methods, including oil painting, lithography, etching, and several types of engraving, Duncan was considered among the most technically gifted British artists of his day. He joined the Royal Watercolour Society, exhibited dozens of times with the Royal Academy and the Society of British Artists, and produced hundreds of works on a variety of themes. He was best known, however, for his coastal and nautical scenes (travelling annually to the Gower Peninsula in Wales to paint), as well as pastoral scenes set in southern England. His son, Walter Duncan (1847 - 1932) was also an accomplished watercolorist and one of the principal artists of the The Illustrated London News.   Further Details...

Condition

Very good. Wide margins. Some surface scratches and scuffing.

References

National Maritime Museum, Object ID: PAI0240. OCLC 36863464.