Northeast Auctions

SPOILUM (CHINESE, ACT. 1765-1805). IMPORTANT PAIR OF PORTRAITS OF CAPTAIN JAMES CARY OF NANTUCKET AND THE HONG MERCHANT CHUNG QUA OF CANTON, CIRCA 1802.Each oil on canvas, 24 x 18 1/2 inches. On original strainers, behind original glass and in their original frames. Cary`s portrait with note inscribed "James Cary portrait, taken in Canton, February 10, 1802, Aged 24 yrs., 11 months, 10... More

SPOILUM (CHINESE, ACT. 1765-1805). IMPORTANT PAIR OF PORTRAITS OF CAPTAIN JAMES CARY OF NANTUCKET AND THE HONG MERCHANT CHUNG QUA OF CANTON, CIRCA 1802.

Each oil on canvas, 24 x 18 1/2 inches. On original strainers, behind original glass and in their original frames. Cary`s portrait with note inscribed "James Cary portrait, taken in Canton, February 10, 1802, Aged 24 yrs., 11 months, 10 days," remnants of label "Betsey Cary -- 1825" and additonal note "Nantucket, Mass./ August 26, 1911/ I have this day given this portrait of my grandfather, James Cary, to James Hussey Cary. Love Bucknam." Chung Qua`s portrait with label on the reverse inscribed "Betsey Cary Junior 1825" and note "Nantucket, Mass./ August 26, 1911/ I have this day given this picture of Chung Qua, a Chinese Mandarin, to James Hussey Cary. Love Bucknam." Family tradition holds that Cary commissioned Spoilum to paint his portrait as a gift for Chung Qua, his trading liason in Canton. As a token of their esteem, the two merchants exchanged portraits, but Cary, impressed by Spoilum`s likeness, sat for a duplicate portrait which he brought home to Nantucket, along with the portrait of Chung Qua.The friendship that developed between Cary and Chung Qua resulted in a visit to Nantucket by the Hong merchant and his manservant, who stayed in the Cary home at 117 Main St. during the winter of 1807. Chung Qua returned for a second visit in 1809. Provenance: Descended in the family of Capt. James Cary to his daughter, Betsey Cary Baxter; to her daughter, Love Baxter Bucknam; to her cousin, James Hussey Cary, 1911; and further to Alice Cary Tobie Congdon, thence to her daughter, Jane Congdon Quinby.Literature and Exhibitions: "From Brant Point to the Boca Tigris: Nantucket and the China Trade," Nantucket Historical Association, July 9, 1994 - October 15, 1995. The pair illustrated on the exhibition catalog`s covers, as well as pp. 28-29, color pls. XX-XXI and p. 85, figs. 51-52; the Cary family discussed, pp. 75-86. See also, Carl L. Crossman, "The Decorative Arts of the China Trade" pp. 49-52.

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