Huggins, William John
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.
Prelude to the Opium War.
The Opium Ships at Lintin in China, 1824.
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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). (more details)