Fan Kwae Pictures: Paintings and Drawings by George Chinnery and Other Artists in the Collection of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation

x, 158pp; numerous in-text photographs. Maroon cloth-covered boards; gilt titles on spine; red endpapers. 4to. Rubbed spine ends, water damage to bottom edges of boards. Text block edges starting to tan. Internally neat, clean, bright and tight. Dust jacket has light shelf wear and chipping to edges, mirrors book damage.

The term Fan Kwae, literally meaning Foreign Ghosts, was a terms used by the Chinese for the small number foreigners permitted to reside in  Old Canton in the early part of the 19th century.  Chinnery’s paintings, largely of the Fan Kwae and their surroundings – including landscapes and the life of the local people – aside from their artistic merit, are a valuable historic resource as he was the only western painter resident in South China between the early and mid 19th century.  Chinnery was also the basis for the artist Aristotle Quance in James Clavell’s novel, Tai-Pan.