All things old China - books, anecdotes, stories, podcasts, factoids & ramblings from the author Paul French

Anonymous Sketches from Canton and Macao 1840s

Posted: July 13th, 2025 | No Comments »

These sketches recently came up for auction – very interesting indeed. Clearly the artist was in Macao and possibly near Canton, in or around the time of the First Opium War (1839-1842) – certainly, as Captain John Spencer Churchill died at Macao in 1840 these sketches are slightly later. The sketch of the attack on Canton in 1840 suggests the artist was with the Navy in China – perhaps HMS Volage or HMS Hyacinth. Sadly though they remain unattributed.

Macao and the St Francis Fort and Barracks, 1841

The Protestant Graveyard, Macao, c.1840

The grave of John Spencer Churchill, who was a Royal Navy captain and a great-great-granduncle of Winston Churchill – died in Macao 1840
Attack of the heights above Canton, dated May 2,1840

Leave a Reply