The illuminated city-state of Venice, as it was viewed near the Esclavons Wharf by artist Felix Ziem. A “plein-air” painter 30 years before such title existed, Ziem captured the absolute splendor of a summer sunset on the Venetian Lagoon off the Adriatic Sea. The luminescent glow over the architectural majesty of the Ducal Palace, San Marco Square and the risen domes of the Church of Santa Maria della Salute across the entrance to the Grand Canal is spectacular.

Deep shadows and the complimentary light tones make this an interesting and strong work by Ziem, who has loosely chosen a moody interpretation for the day’s end with a gondola loaded with evening passengers. A sign of nobility, the first heavily cloaked figure wears a sword at his belt as he escorts a lady. Many of Ziem’s patrons were important political figures, including his first, the Russian Count Grigori Gagarin, an established artist who introduced Ziem to society connections in Nice and St. Petersburg.

Ziem often worked in the canals in a flat-bottom boat that he rented, sketching an extensive and diverse library of images from life of the people, monuments and events of Venice. Many of his finished oils of venice from these drawings were exhibited in the Paris Salons from 1849 through 1868. This quite fine large size work is among an important series of views the artist produced with this vantage point, with numerous stylistic variances.

A fine detailed view is summoned forth in this historic oil painting of Victoria and the Port of Hong Kong Island by a Chinese artist in the last quarter of the 19th Century, circa 1865. Ships, architecture and the natural wonder of the island country of the South China Sea all take a prominent role in this composition. Set under the blue sky with low rolling clouds reflecting a luminous glow, a moment is well spent just admiring the artistry before delving into the factual content.

Victoria Peak is topped with the flag tower, installed in 1861. Of note, there is an American Flag flying secondary on the array, likely signifying a visitor of some stature. Three American ships are in the harbor at anchor, with a traditional sailing clipper featured in the center. An ocean going sidewheel steamer is far aft, while a steam/sail vessel - the majority of the vessels in the scene are this type - is at anchor three ships before the clipper. Two ships of French nationality, and at least five others flying British ensigns add to the count. The British Government House and St. John’s Cathedral are showing flags as well an unidentified large building to the left amongst the numerous Western warehouses and residences. Several Chinese ships are in view, including four aligned near the channel between Victoria and Lan Tau Island.

The detail present makes this an exceptional work with international appeal, set in its original carved Chinese Chippendale frame. This and the rise of the buildings up the vertical elevation of Victoria Peak help estimate the date of the painting. This is a beautiful look at Hong Kong Island’s timeless appeal and significance in the world of international commerce.

One half of a very special pair of Chinese oil paintings in ornately carved original frames, this view of Foochow (Fuzhou) complements a Canton scene, owned since they were painted and brought home, circa 1855, by Captain Edwin Chase and his family. Chase captained the Clipper MARY GLOVER from 1853-1859, then the Clipper WILD RANGER, and was the master of BLACK PRINCE until it was lost at sea returning to Boston from the Orient in 1865. Collectors worldwide desire artworks showing the early Western presence in the Orient, and paintings which of the important Chinese harbors with Western merchants are top prizes.

This highly detailed China Trade painting centers on the edge of the city of Foochow on the north bank of the Min River, with three Western ships at anchor in the harbor, a French, American and British flag flying respectively off the mizzen masts. Buildings, some with signs in Chinese, line the shore. The nine-stage Pagoda rises to heavenly heights above the artistic foliage and rock outcropping, giving the harbor its known Pagoda Anchorage name amongst western mariners. Five Chinese transport ships and a sailing cutter also are in the shallow channel. Foochow was one of the five treaty ports opened after the Opium War of 1840-42, making it a British territory. In 1867, Foochow would be the site of the first Western-style naval base in China, in cooperation with French investments.

Fuzhou is today the capital and largest city of the Fujian Province, with a population of more than 7 million people. As one of the few early ports open to Western ships, it served an instrumental part of the earliest Western shipping trade in China, set between Hong Kong and Shanghai.

One half of a very special pair of Chinese oil paintings in ornately carved original frames, this view of Canton complements a Whampoa scene, owned since they were painted and brought home, circa 1855, by Captain Edwin Chase and his family. Chase captained the Clipper MARY GLOVER from 1853-1859, then the Clipper WILD RANGER, and was the master of BLACK PRINCE until it was lost at sea returning to Boston from the Orient in 1865. Collectors worldwide desire artworks showing the early Western presence in the Orient, and paintings of the important Chinese harbors with Western merchants are top prizes.

Showing American, British, French and Danish flags over their respective factory houses, the Pearl River traffic bustles with Chinese vessels of great variety beneath the shore of Canton city’s edge. Foreign merchants and captains had to anchor off Whampoa, down the river, and travel by junk, sampan or other transport operated by the local mariners. Several large junks wait at anchor. In rare cases, Western ships would be allowed to travel to Canton, the case here being a sleek black British sidewheel steamer on approach, holding the interested watch of the local mariners.

This oil of vivid coloration represents the an era at the height of the international tea trade, record-setting voyages and market races by the clipper ships. The shoreline shows a healthy distribution of foliage between the buildings and the river, mostly planted in the 1840s by an American funding company. A second great Canton fire in 1856 destroyed most of this area, including the church near the end of Hog’s Road, built in 1847.

This is an early dramatic depiction of the men, some of their vessels and a dog, on board one of the great Nova Scotia Schooners, from the days before such a profession held much glamour. Her working crew shown topside and in a boat on the water, and these hard working and hearty men always commanded a dose of respect, but few were envious of the effort they expended and the dangers they daily faced. One such schooner, the famous BLUENOSE came to be the nautical identity of an entire country and its people. Built in 1921 from day one to be a racing schooner that was capable of working the fishing banks of the Northern Atlantic Ocean, her owners, designers and captains always had an eye on a certain prize: The International Fishermen’s Trophy.

In what may only be classified as a large and early painting by Jack L. Gray, he has put the emphasis directly on his homage to the men working the ships, both in the labor on deck and the peril of the small boat in the open oceans. The artist has such a unique touch with his brushwork presentation that anyone who knew these men may well recognize them from this portrayal, and Gray himself later both knew and worked alongside such men. The ocean is surging and ominous, with a thick broad palette and impasto. Once the acclaim of the Racing Grand Banks Schooners was in fashion, Gray saw fit to honor their predecessors.

A serene and beautiful view of the untouched magnificence of early Hawaii, this painting by Strong featured the environmental purity of the islands more than a century ago. Rising over the scene, the universally recognized shape of Diamond Head Crater is rugged and unpopulated, only the smallest output of human buildings in view at its coastal shore, which by this time included a half-century old whaling station. Blue, clean and pristine, the Hawaiian man begins to launch his outrigger vessel into the surf.

Works of Hawaii by Western artists do not get any rarer than a scene of 1884 in Honolulu. Strong was directly commissioned to paint such works for the Spreckels Sugar and Shipping interests in part to promote the islands, and this particular work found its way to a Connecticut Estate, most likely as a family gift to one of his father’s relative back home. It was discovered in a New Haven basement when a house recently sold.

The sense of flora and open wilderness beneath soft sunshine makes this a pleasant and highly desired depiction of Hawaii as originally encountered.