'Canton from the Heights' (Guangzhou, China) RMG PT2083

'Canton from the Heights' [Guangzhou, China]
No. 33 of 51 (PAJ2051 - PAJ2101): inscribed by the artist on the album page, as title, with the date '1/69'. This overview of Canton (Guangzhou) appears to be from the high ground to the north-east of the city, looking south towards the Pearl River with its shipping in the distance. The pagoda on the right is likely to the that of the Buddhist Temple of the Six Banyan Trees, founded in 537 AD. The Flower Pagoda, as it is called, was itself built in 1097, rebult after a fire in 1373 and restored in 1900. Butt's expansive view, with the 'repoussoir' detail of a Chinese figure also looking south over a sharply delineated tiled roof in the foreground, shows the enormous size of Canton, even in the 1860s.

Canton from the Heights