Description:
English copperplate engraving by John Harris on medium weight laid paper, titled "A View of the Town and Castle of Macao" in a banner across the top of the print, and the inscriptions "1 The Centurion", "2 The Castle", and "3 The Manilla Ship" on the bottom. The image is taken from "An Embassy from the East-India Company of the United Provinces to the Grand Tatar Cham, Emperor of China" by Johannes Nieuhof (1618-1672), which is his account of the Dutch East India Company 1655-1657 trip to China, originally printed in Amsterdam in 1665, and first published in London in 1669 by John Macock and then translated by John Ogilby and reprinted in 1673. Harris' version, which differs slightly from Nieuhof's in transposing two ships in the harbor and changing their flags, depicts an event during 1740-1744 circumnavigation of Commodore George Anson (1697-1762); his ship, now on the left labelled "Centurion" and flying the British flag, is moored off-shore Macao on the Pearl River in November, 1742, firing a salute to the governor before sailing up the Pearl River to Canton. Acquired by the Portuguese in 1557, Macao was an important center of China trade and the base for Portuguese trading, with its location on an island at the mouth of the Pearl River. With two excellent ship harbors, it was a natural location to supply Canton-bound vessels, and soon became a refuge and residence for European traders. Western woman on the trading ships were not allowed in Canton, so were left in Macao until the end of the trading season. This community was filled with luxurious houses and baroque churches; the main features of the town were the Praya Grande, the Franciscan Fort (far right), and Penha Hill (left).
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2002.58 |
