Silk Merchant Showing Samples to the Western Buyer
1880
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1880
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Silk Merchant Showing Samples to the Western Buyer is a 1880 paint by Jun Wu, a Impressionism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
Wu Jun painted scenes from the silk industry in the 1800s. This work shows a merchant showing samples to a buyer from the West. Before the 1842 trade agreement, only ‘hong’ merchants in Canton could sell silk to Europeans. After 1842, four more cities opened to trade, so competition grew. Check out the Victoria and Albert Museum for more silk trade art.
The album cover features brocade with red, green, and blue stripes and a blue ribbon border. Inside, a rectangular painting in cool tones depicts a large building framed by two trees, where several figures converse; two figures in the foreground carry white sacks. This painting is part of an album illustrating stages of silk production, with the series numbered D.911 to 926-1901. It was purchased from Carl Langweil and accessioned in 1901 as part of the Asia Department registers.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Jun Wu’s paintings show women tending silkworms and preparing silk in the late 1800s.
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