Lot 80
CHINESE SCHOOL, PORTRAIT OF A TANKA BOATWOMAN
QING DYNASTY, 19TH CENTURY
Auction: 15 May 2026 from 10:00 BST
Description
清 蜑家女畫像 布本油畫 木框
oil on canvas, depicting a lady on the shore dressed in blue, wearing a blue headscarf, holding a conical hat, framed
Dimensions
39cm x 31.6cm without frame
Provenance
Private Scottish collection, Fife; inherited from the current owner's great-grandfather, William Bowie Buyers (1844-1935), who was a marine engineer and shipbuilder in Shanghai.
蘇格蘭私人收藏，法夫郡；現任藏家繼承自其曾祖父威廉・鮑伊・拜爾斯（1844–1935），其曾於上海任職海事工程師與造船商。
Footnote
The Tanka people were a distinct ethnic group living along the coast of Macau, Whampoa and Hong Kong. Their name derives from their boats, which were broad rounded sampans with one or more curved roofs. On the shore at Macau, they raised their boats up on stones or wooden stilts to create makeshift dwellings.
Compare to two related portraits of Tanka boatwoman by Youqua, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 26 May 2021, lot 178. Also see two depictions of Tanka boatwoman by George Chinnery (1774-1852), similarly depicting the boat lady wearing a red headscarf, one sold at Bonhams London, 20 Sep 2022, lot 35, the other sold at Christie's London, 25 May 2023, lot 14.