Lacquer nesting table with image of Canton, China 1830-1840

Lacquer nesting table with image of Canton, China 1830-1840

"This is one of a set of four lacquer nesting tables depicting Canton, Macau, Bocca Tigris, and Whampoa, ca. 1830 to 1845. The American garden with its large fence is in the center. Like porcelain, the production of high-quality lacquer was a technology first developed in China, Japan, and Korea, and exported to the rest of the world. Europeans tried to copy it, but could not match the elegant aesthetic qualities of Asian designs. Traditional Chinese landscapes were common subjects of lacquerware, but scenes of the foreign residences attracted many buyers."

Perdue, Peter. "Rise and Fall of the Canton Trade System." MIT Visualizing Cultures. Accessed December 18, 2017. https://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/rise_fall_canton_03/cw_essay01.html.