oil on canvas, precisely painted depicting the American, French, British and Danish factories as seen from the Pearl River, to the foreground of the British factory the newly constructed Italianate church, and  prominently features  near the center, the two-storied Club extending out over the water, a steamship, junks and sampans moored along the river

N. R. Omell, London, 1994.

The painting has been cleaned and relined. There is the expected craquelure to the surface which has been consolidated and in-painted in areas. There has been minor retouching to small losses. Please note that this painting was not examined out of its frame.
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Following the evolution of the building along Canton waterfront it is possible to be quite precise in dating a particular view. The present painting features the distinctive angular outline of a church built on land that was purchased by Jardine Matheson in May 1847. More significantly, the elegant two-storied  building built over the water, known as the Club, which housed the Canton Library, Masonic Lodge and Billiard Rooms was not built until around 1850.  A fire destroyed the club, the hongs and surrounding building in 1856 forcing relocation. The timeline therefore indicates that the present painting was done sometime between 1850 and 1856.