Paintings

Penang - The East Indiaman Lord Lowther leaving Prince of Wales' Island.

Chinese artists started painting commercially in oils in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. They often copied from prints that Western traders brought to their studios. A painting of Penang or Prince of Wales Island about 1830, The Lord Lowther leaving Prince of Wales Island, by an unknown Chinese artist, is a good example of this. It was copied from an aquatint by William Huggins, who was marine artist to William IV. Another similar painting to this entitled, "E.I.Co.'s Ship William Fairlie leaving Prince of Wales' Island" is in the collection of the Penang Museum. Attributed to Anonymous - Chinese Artist after W.J.Huggins. The painting was based on an aquatint produced by William Huggins.

William Fairlie was a wealthy Madras merchant who was one of the executors of Francis Light's will. The ship was named in his honour. A similar painting is in the collection of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. Their painting is by the English artist William J. Huggins and is entitled, The William Fairlie Leaving Penang. It was probably painted c.1825. The William Fairlie is described as a trim East Indiaman which was part of a fleet of ships that dominated the China Trade throughout the first three decades of the nineteenth century.

Demand for copies of oil paintings done by Chinese artists increased at this time. They were usually done for people who had an association with the ship or the place depicted. Although various prints were made of some of the scenes the paintings had the advantage of being oils on canvas. Their were two states of the same aquatint by William Huggins one entitled, "HMS William Fairlie leaving the Harbour, off Prince of Wales' Island" and the other entitled, "The Lord Lowther leaving Harbour of Prince of Wales' Island", both of which are in the Penang Museum. The original painting of the William Fairlie which is in the HSBC collection shows that it is a double decker. This single deck ship must be the Lord Lowther. Both paintings and aquatints have the same backdrop of Prince of Wales Island in the distance.

Framed