Duck Boat

This painting is from a set of 50 depicting the different types of boats that cluttered the Pearl River. It shows a duck boat. Duck-raising was a very common means of livelihood for the population of the Pearl River delta. The boat was specially designed to function both as the home and transport vessel for the ducks. Paintings such as this one were mass-produced as souvenir items.

Lord George Macartney (1737-1806) was the first British ambassador to China. His description of the setting reads: 'the river of Canton is covered with boats and vessels of various sorts and sizes, all, even the very smallest, constantly and thickly inhabited'.