A flower boat on the Pearl River, alongside the foreign factories.
All artisans belonged to one of seventy-two guilds that regulated output, working conditions, quality, and salary. Most craft activities were carried out in small studios and shops located on streets that were largely devoted to one trade. Porcelain manufacturing extended back to the Tang period and was extensively produced in Jiangxi Province, also associated with Foshan through its famous Shiwan kilns. It was then transported by boat to the large artist’s studios in Canton for detailed painting. Extensive sets of dinner services were commissioned in Britain by wealthy and often prominent families who wished to display their coats of arms. Personal purchases acquired by foreigners, which often included crew members of trading ships, were packed in Carpenter’s Square adjacent to Thirteen Hong Street, and all goods were then laid out in front of the factories for inspection to ensure that necessary duties were paid. What became known as “export” paintings were produced in large numbers, mainly in water colors and gouache to create an authentic record of the constant changes and adaptations of premises—particularly between 1810 and 1842. The most favored subject was the view of Canton, including the factories seen from across the Pearl River, although views also included street scenes, and the Whampoa anchorages downriver. The work of the most prominent artists such as Youqua, Lamqua, and Tinqua, all active in the mid-nineteenth century, visually documented scenes along the Pearl River with a fine degree of precision, and with a flare that indicated an accurate and exotic sense of place. The export painting studios of Lamqua and his brother Tinqua were situated in New China Street, and combined display galleries and salesrooms. Lamqua painted portraits of Western clients in the manner of George Chinnery,
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