Dutch Folly Fort Anonymous, circa 1830-1845

Dutch Folly Fort
Anonymous, circa 1830-1845
Oil on board, framed, depicting the castellated Dutch Folly Fort (Haizhu) in the Pearl River Delta, with local boats navigating the river in the foreground and serried rows of masted boats moored in the distance before a mountain backdrop and sky with gathering clouds.
9 1/4 x 16 1/2in (23.5 x 42cm)
Footnotes:
十九世紀 海珠炮臺 板面油畫 木框

A closely related painting on canvas depicting the Dutch Folly Fort was sold at Bonhams Los Angeles, 21 June 2022, lot 126.

Although constructed in the first instance by Chinese builders to protect the higher reaches of the Pearl River below Guangzhou (Canton), there is little sign that the Folly Forts ever played a significant military role in the practical defense of Guangzhou; indeed, both forts finally ended up settled respectively by Dutch and French occupiers, hence the name of this example.

Sargent also records that the Dutch were given permission to set up a hospital on the island, but later were discovered to be bringing in guns. The images of the Forts never seem to suggest any significant military activity, although the lower reaches of the Pearl River were supposedly plagued by swarms of pirates concealed in easy hiding places along the winding river banks, heading downriver to the South China Seas. This may have prompted the original motivation for creating these, as observation towers to monitor threatening visitors of all kinds.

For a discussion of the Folly forts and an illustration of the Peabody Essex Museum's blue and white platter showing one, see William R. Sargent, Treasures of Chinese export ceramics from the Peabody Essex Museum, Yale University Press, 2012, pp.145-146, no. 52. See also a puce enameled plate sold at Bonhams New York, Cohen & Cohen: 50 years of Chinese Export Porcelain, 24 January 2023, lot 40.