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Hou Qua (Wu Bingjian)
Unidentified artist, Chinese
After: George Chinnery (British (active in India and Canton), 1774–1852)
After: George Chinnery (British (active in India and Canton), 1774–1852)
about 1830-43
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
74.9 x 55.9 cm (29 1/2 x 22 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Thomas Motley, Mrs. William Jason Mixter, Mrs. George B. Dabney, Henry H. Fay, Frederick L. Dabney, and Thomas N. Dabney in memory of Daniel N. and Elizabeth E. Spooner
Accession Number50.3792
ClassificationsPaintings
ProvenanceBetween about 1839 and 1843, acquired in China, possibly from the sitter, by Daniel Nicholson Spooner (b. 1819 - d. 1869) and Elizabeth Elliot Spooner (b. 1825 - d. 1907), Canton and Boston [see note]; by descent within the family; 1950, given by their granddaughter, Margaret Fay (Mrs. Thomas) Motley (b. 1882), Milton, MA, and family members Mrs. William Jason Mixter, Mrs. George B. Dabney, Henry H. Fay, Frederick L. Dabney, and Thomas N. Dabney, to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 14, 1950)
NOTE: Daniel Nicholson Spooner of Massachusetts was a clerk in the American trading house Russell and Co., Canton, China, from about 1838/9 until 1845. When the painting was given to the MFA in 1950, the donor, Mrs. Motley, wrote that it "was painted for my grandfather and given him by Houqua," who died in 1843.
NOTE: Daniel Nicholson Spooner of Massachusetts was a clerk in the American trading house Russell and Co., Canton, China, from about 1838/9 until 1845. When the painting was given to the MFA in 1950, the donor, Mrs. Motley, wrote that it "was painted for my grandfather and given him by Houqua," who died in 1843.