Chop Boat (Water Melon Boat)
1810
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1810
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Dominant colour
Chop Boat (Water Melon Boat) is a 1810 paint by Unknown, a Realism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This painting shows a small boat with a circular deck and sides, resembling a melon. The boat is called a 'chop' boat or 'water-melon boat' because of its shape. It was part of a set of 50 paintings depicting different types of boats on the Pearl River. The painting is a simple, detailed representation of a common boat, and to learn more about similar artwork, look up the technique of chiaroscuro.
The painting depicts a rectangular-format image of a boat with a semi-circular cabin enclosing most of its structure, its sail partially furled along the mast, and the stern facing the viewer. Part of a set of 50 images illustrating Pearl River vessels, it shows a "chop boat," a type named for its customs-cleared stamp and resembling a melon in shape. Produced as a souvenir, the work uses muted tones and was once bound in a folio with numbered pages.
Read the full account in the museum source.
