Punch Bowl decorated with European and American Trading Centers in Canton

Punch Bowl decorated with European and American Trading Centers in Canton

This punch bowl is decorated with a panoramic view of the European and American trading centers, or hongs, in the Chinese port city of Canton, now known as Guangzhou. They are identified by their national flags. Few Westerners would have seen any more of China than the small plot of land depicted on this bowl, as from 1757 until the 1840s the Chinese restricted foreign traders to this one port. According to Samuel Shaw, the first American merchant to go to China, “Europeans, after a dozen years’ residence, have not seen more than what the first month presented to view.”

Gift of Euchlin and Louise Herreshoff Reeves

about 1800

Porcelain

Made in China