You've donated a Qing dynasty ivory-and-paper painted fan to the Hong Kong Maritime Museum. How did it come into your possession and why is it unique?
London-based dealer in oriental art Ben Janssens:
'The fan has been part of my private collection for more than 15 years and was acquired from a small specialised fan auction in London. It must have come from another private collection and was in England for a long time because it was made in China for a western clientele.
'The fan dated between 1815 and 1821 from architectural details of the foreign factories in the painting. Painted in a naive, early China trade style, the fan shows foreign factories in Guangzhou [Canton] - those of the Danish, Spanish, French, American, Swedish, British and Dutch. The buildings and arrangements appear as they were before the disastrous fire of 1821-22 and the subsequent extensive rebuilding.
'Such fans were made as souvenirs for westerners visiting Guangzhou, which was famous for shops selling such items. One count of the shops in the 1820s - run by merchants permitted to trade with foreigners - identified more than 2,000 of them.'
