Sea-going ship
1810
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1810
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Sea-going ship is a 1810 paint by Unknown, a Romanticism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This painting shows a sea-going ship with three masts. It was made to show what ships looked like on the Pearl River. These paintings were made in large numbers as souvenirs. The ship is made of ironwood, which is a strong type of wood, and this detail is interesting because it tells us about the materials used to build ships at that time. You can learn more about this style of painting at the museum: Victoria and Albert Museum.
This rectangular painting depicts a sea-going ship with three masts, made of ironwood, positioned with its stern facing the viewer to reveal an ornately decorated panel. The vessel, shaped like a half-moon, features a central mast wrapped in a twisting banner, rendered in muted tones. Part of a set of 50 images, it was produced as a souvenir item and once belonged to a folio documenting boats on the Pearl River. Lord George Macartney’s account of the river describes its dense and varied traffic of constantly inhabited vessels.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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