A look at Lamqua's Western-style paintings of Chinese tumour patients in the 19th century
If you ever see an oil painting that looks Chinese and yet European, you might be looking at an artwork by the China trade painter Lamqua (1801-1860).
Known for his trade paintings and medical portraits, Lamqua gained international stardom as a creator of ‘Asian’ landscapes that rivalled the work of Europe’s resident ‘Asian’ artist, the English painter George Chinnery (1774-1852). Lamqua’s winning strategy was that he undersold Chinnery and effectively became the cheaper, more authentic, and better deal when it came to China Trade paintings. In fact, his bustling workshop in the Thirteen Factories area of Guangdong was a key destination for foreign and local merchants seeking Western-style portraits.
But it wasn’t all about commercial trade. Another significant group of foreigners residing in China were Christian missionaries committed to spreading their faith, and in the process they set up schools and impromptu clinics to gather local audiences. From 1836-1855, Lamqua worked with American physician Peter Parker (1804-1888) to produce before-and-after portraits of local Cantonese patients turned to Parker for the surgical removal of large tumours. Lining up with clinical notes recorded in Parker’s personal journal, these paintings provide a key visual on the Chinese civilian reception of Western medicine in Southern China at a time of geopolitical ferment.
Regardless, the two patient cases of Po Ashing (aged 23) and Lo Washun (aged 41) as documented in Parker’s notes below demonstrate a different picture to the tensions that were growing between the late Qing government and European foreign powers. There certainly was fear and suspicion surrounding Western surgerical practice – but in this case, it was because the procedures were unfamiliar, not because they were foreign.
Eighty of Lamqua’s paintings can be accessed online in the digital holdings of the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library at Yale, Parker’s alma mater, under the entry name ‘Lam Qua’s Portraits of Peter Parker’s Patients, (1834-1855)’.
The italicized text below contains material quoted from Peter Parker’s medical notebooks.
Case 1: The Amputation of Po Ashing, 23
November 3rd, 1836
Amputation of the Shoulder-Joint. Absorption of the os humeri and enlargement of the arm.
Po Ashing, aged 23, entered the hospital on the 3rd of November. Six years since, he fell from a house and broke the humerus of the left arm, half way from the elbow to the shoulder, the lower portion passing upwards and backwards. Union so far took place as to render the arm serviceable, till six months since, in a crowd, at a “sing song” it was again broken. From that time, according to the statement, the arm gradually became larger, till it had attained its present enormous size.
Portrait 31: Before
November 15th, 1836
At 11 a.m. the patient was seated in a chair supported around the waist by a sheet. The time did not exceed a minute from the application of the scalpel till the arm was laid on the floor. The best representation of the arm after amputation…is that of a large ham of bacon. It weighed 16 catties, equal to 21 1/8 pounds. All who were present pronounced the case the most remarkable they had ever seen. The patient is the first Chinese, so far as I know, who ever voluntarily submitted to the amputation of a limb.
At 5 o’clock the patient, having awoke from sleep, asked what he might eat. Congee was given…
On the 21st, the dressings were changed again, and the remaining sutures slipped, and the wound had the most healthy appearance. Patient walks his room, his general health is good, and his strength is fast restoring. His gratitude and that of his father seem deep and sincere.
Case 2: The Cheek of Lo Washun, 41
December, 1836
Sarcomatous tumor.
Lo Washun, aged 41. This interesting woman of the first society of her native village, had been twenty years afflicted with a tumor upon the left side of the face… After having attended to the general health, on the 15th December the tumor was successfully removed. The patient endured the operation with fortitude characteristic of the Chinese. The loss of blood was considerable, she vomited but did not faint. She feared lest a large eschar might disfigure her face. By making the incision rather perpendicularly, from the ear towards the trachea, sufficient facial integument was preserved to bring the wound behind and below the angle of the jaw. The wound healed… and in ten days the dressing was wholly removed. The face had nearly its natural appearance. Grateful and happy, she returned to her husband and family.