A tanka boat girl; and a Chinese pedlar, Macao

Chinnery spent the last twenty-seven years of his life in China, arriving in Macao in September 1825. He found an endless source of inspiration for this work and amongst his most popular subjects were the Tanka boatwomen of Macao, who Chinnery recorded in numerous works. The boatwomen guided the foreign ships up the narrow and shallow channels around the coast and ferried the merchants and foreigners around the region. They were a distinct ethnic group, whose lives were carefully controlled by the Chinese authorities. They were discouraged from intermarrying with mainland Chinese and made to live on their sampan boats, along the coast of Macao, Whampoa and Hong Kong.