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Black cargo ship
In late imperial China, there were two types of sea-going ships, the Cantonese style black cargo ship and the Fujian type white cargo ship. The black and white cargo ships cross the seas, or sail along the coast. This illustration depicts a Guangdong type large cargo ship with three masts. At the bow, we see carved and painted a red head and a large eye, like a right whale. For the large eyes presentation, C. Toogood Downing has the following description, "Among the great variety of large junks... you are able to distinguish two classes: those with an eye, and those without one. All the rivercraft need it seems no such organ; but those junks which are intended to go out to sea are all ornamented with a large eye, painted on each side of the bows. Whether it is considered that the sea-vessels are more liable to run against obstacles, which this large eye, that cannot be closed night or day, may enable them to evade, when the human one is closed in sleep, it is impossible to decide. It may be a piece of superstitions founded upon almost primitive simplicity. It is believed that this painted eye could bona fide perceive objects, discriminate between them, and avoid dangers. Previously described as "cargo junk".
Height: 250 mm
Width: 337 mm
Method of acquisition: Unknown by Unknown
19th Century
Circa
1840
-
Circa
1870
Chinese
Chinese export art
Chinese export watercolour
Watercolour
Bodycolour
White highlights
Ink
Support composed of pith paper
Drawing : Watercolour, bodycolour and ink with heightening in white on pith paper
Accession number: 4173.4
Primary reference Number: 185654
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Paintings, Drawings and Prints
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
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IIIF Manifest
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Black cargo ship" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/185654 Accessed: 2025-04-06 09:24:17
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/185654
|title=Black cargo ship
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-04-06 09:24:17|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-185654
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/pdp/pdp82/large_4173_284_29_201106_amt49_dc2.jpg"
alt="Black cargo ship"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Black cargo ship</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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