Oyster Shells Boat
1810
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1810
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Dominant colour
Oyster Shells Boat is a 1810 paint by Unknown, a Romanticism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This painting shows a small boat packed with oyster shells on a river. The shells were used to coat house walls for protection. It’s one of 50 images made to sell as souvenirs. Back then, Canton’s Pearl River was crowded with boats like this. Some carried goods, others just moved people. Look up the Victoria and Albert Museum to see more.
The painting depicts a flat-bottomed boat on the Pearl River, carrying a load of oyster shells and discarded baskets on its left side, with a tall mast and a partially raised concertina sail. It was one of fifty similar images mass-produced as souvenirs, illustrating the variety of vessels common to the river. The oyster shells were used as rough-textured protective cladding on exterior walls of homes. Lord George Macartney, the first British ambassador to China, noted the river’s dense and constant occupation by boats of all sizes.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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