Colonial Marine Painting Outbound Junk Sailing Ship on the Pearl River Hong Kong c1914

Colonial Marine Painting Outbound Junk Sailing Ship on the Pearl River, Hong Kong, 1914 Attributed to the Ah Hee Studio / Circle of Ah Hee
(Hong Kong School, c.1895–1925)

(Please note: we also have the companion painting Inbound Junk available as a separate listing. If you wish to purchase both together, please do get in touch)

🎨 Subject & Medium
A superb Hong Kong School gouache showing a three-masted southern Chinese trading junk outward bound from the Pearl River Delta towards the open waters of the South China Sea. The vessel heels away to starboard across a lively blue-green swell, her sails drawing as she leaves the low coastline astern beneath a humid early-morning sky.

Medium: Gouache on paper, dated 1914.

🖌️ Composition & Technique
The artist concentrates on a classic Pearl River Delta junk at the very moment of departure: broad-beamed, high-sterned and heavily laden for the sea passage ahead. Her distinctive battened lug sails are shown fully unfurled, each panel carefully modelled to convey the pull of wind and canvas as she gathers speed. The long projecting bow, stepped masts and high poop deck are all characteristic of the southern coastal trading type, built to carry substantial cargo yet remain agile in monsoon-driven waters.

Crew figures can be seen attending to sheets and rigging at bow and stern, underscoring the junk as a busy working vessel rather than a generic “Chinese junk” stereotype. The choppy blue-green sea is enlivened with brisk, opaque strokes of white, convincingly suggesting spray, movement and the energy of an outbound tide.

To the left, a faint, receding coastline marks the sheltered waters of Hong Kong and Canton slipping behind, while the clearer, more luminous expanse ahead implies the South China Sea and the voyage to come. The subtly graded sky – from pearly tones along the horizon to brighter light above – captures the humid clarity of an early summer morning and echoes traditional symbolism of hope, good fortune and safe passage.

As with other works associated with the Ah Hee Studio, the technique marries Chinese linear discipline and calligraphic treatment of sea and sky with Western maritime draughtsmanship, creating a ship portrait that is both accurate and atmospheric.

✒️ Signed
Along the lower edge the work is fully inscribed in English:

• “A. Hean” at lower left

• “Mouth of the Pearl River” at the centre

• “Hong Kong” at lower right

These inscriptions give the painting its precise location and follow the familiar format seen on comparable Hong Kong School ship portraits of the period, firmly tying it to the Pearl River Delta and Hong Kong in 1914.

👤 About the Artist & Attribution
The painting is attributed to the Ah Hee Studio / Circle of Ah Hee, active in Hong Kong from around 1895 to 1925 and recognised as one of the last important successors to the great Canton ateliers of Tingqua and Sunqua. Ah Hee and his associates specialised in finely detailed gouache harbour views and ship portraits, painted for Western merchants, naval officers and travellers wishing to commemorate the vessels and ports of their Far Eastern service.

The present work, signed “A. Hean”, displays all the hallmarks of that atelier: meticulous rendering of rigging, a confident and accurate depiction of the junk’s distinctive hull and sail plan, and the characteristic English titling along the lower margin. Dated to 9 July 1914, just weeks before the outbreak of the First World War, it belongs to the final phase of the China Trade painting tradition, when steamships dominated long-distance routes but traditional junks still carried passengers and cargo throughout the Pearl River Delta.

🖼️ About the Frame
The painting is housed in its original Hong Kong faux-bamboo gilt-wood frame with an ochre-gold bevelled mount – a classic and highly desirable export presentation. Finished to imitate bamboo, the frame reflects a fashionable style favoured by leading Queen’s Road Central shops between about 1905 and 1915, catering to expatriate and visiting clients.

The gold mount is formed from gilded card with a pressed bronze-powder surface that has mellowed attractively over time. On the reverse, a photographic record of the original backing card has been retained, preserving the framer’s graphite workshop note. Parts of this inscription remain legible, including instructions such as:

“2/6 each cut mounts / Oak and a slip / 9 Jul 1914 / 14 + 11 in / To be sent before 6 o’clock.”

Beneath these trade details the backing also carries a lightly written address to a Mrs [name indistinct], “11 Glencoe Rd…”, almost certainly the original customer.

This charming combination of job notation and address ties the framing securely to Hong Kong on 9 July 1914, recording the exact day the work was completed and prepared for export – probably by a major house such as Lane Crawford & Co. or A.S. Watson & Co. For modern conservation, the picture has been discreetly re-glazed with AR70 museum-grade UV-filtering glass, preserving the historic frame and mount while providing excellent protection and clarity.

📏 Dimensions Framed
42 cm wide × 35.5 cm high × 2 cm deep

A beautifully proportioned, manageable size that hangs perfectly in a study, library or on a maritime collector’s wall.

📜 Provenance
Painted and inscribed in Hong Kong in July 1914 by a member of the Ah Hee Studio, the work was mounted and framed there on 9 July 1914, as confirmed by the framer’s graphite note and address on the original backing card. It was almost certainly acquired by a British expatriate or naval officer and brought back to the United Kingdom shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, remaining thereafter in a private U.K. collection by family descent.

In the 21st century it has been curated by Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD and selected for exhibition in:

“Sailing Through Time – Maritime Art of the East”
Famous Lord Hill Museum, Autumn 2025.

❤️ Why You’ll Love It
✅ A striking depiction of a southern Chinese junk on her outbound voyage, capturing the moment she leaves the shelter of the Pearl River for the open South China Sea.
✅ A signed, titled and precisely dated Hong Kong School gouache, tied to 9 July 1914 – a wonderfully specific snapshot of maritime life at the very end of the age of sail in South China.
✅ A rare, characterful survival of colonial Hong Kong taste.
✅ A fine work from the influential Ah Hee Studio, firmly within the China Trade painting tradition and highly desirable to collectors of maritime, China Trade and Hong Kong art.
✅ A ready-to-hang piece that unites Chinese craftsmanship, Western patronage and the romance of traditional junk voyages in a single, compact and highly decorative work – especially appealing as a companion to an “inbound” view.

🔍 Condition Report
For a painting executed in 1914, the condition is good. The gouache surface is stable and well preserved, with strong, clear colour and no disfiguring losses to the pigment layers, with some foxing visible on close inspection. The gold mount shows gentle, even toning, entirely consistent with age.

The faux-bamboo gilt-wood frame is structurally sound, with an attractive, honest patina. Recent AR70 museum-grade glazing provides excellent clarity and effective UV protection. Overall, this is a clean, well-preserved, historically intact example, ready to hang.