White Salt Boat
1810
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1810
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Dominant colour
White Salt Boat is a 1810 paint by Unknown, a Romanticism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This painting shows a white salt boat on the water. It's one of many boats that carried food items like rice and salt. The painting is from a set of 50, made as souvenirs, showing different boat types on the Pearl River. This set gives us a glimpse into the daily life of people living near the river. To learn more about similar artworks, look up the technique: sfumato.
The rectangular painting depicts a crescent-shaped white salt boat with two masts, one of which supports an open sail, navigating the Pearl River. It was part of a set of 50 mass-produced images illustrating the varied boats on the river, often sold as souvenirs. Rice and salt, staple food items, were commonly transported using such purpose-built vessels. Lord George Macartney, the first British ambassador to China, noted the river’s dense and continuous boat traffic in his account.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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