Artist: Elizabeth Keith
Medium: Original Japanese Woodblock Print
Series Title: China Series
Edition: First and only
Date: 1924
Publisher: S. Watanabe Color Print Co.
Reference No.: Uncatalogued; RARE.
Size: 12 -1/2 x 15 -1/4 " (trimmed)
Condition: Fine, with trimmed margins
Notes:
The exceedingly rare, "Day" version of the elusive print, "Hong Kong, Harbour". In this daylight version, the city lights have been eliminated, along with the reflections in the water. In their place, the artist strengthened the colors in the foreground and accentuated the expel of boiler steam and smoke from several steamships along the port of the city.
Elizabeth Keith’s most inspired period in the art of printmaking culminated in this design, dating from her final year in the Far East before her return to England. The print exists as a daylight scene in less than five known examples. Locating the variation state in any condition is likely impossible, so having the chance to own one is certainly a once in a lifetime opportunity for many high-end Keith collectors.
The thriving island of Hong Kong was for many years the one remaining jewel in the crown of British colonialism in the Far East. Hong Kong was a natural destination for the Scottish born artist Elizabeth Keith as it was the powerful Scottish trading companies which ruled supreme in Hong Kong after the island and adjacent territory had been ceded to British rule following the Opium Wars. Elizabeth Keith’s superb color woodcut image has captured the very essence of this thriving island. Hong Kong was always as much alive by night as by day and Elizabeth Keith’s image shows it at its most picturesque. In the foreground, Chinese junks mingle with the western steamships moored in Hong Kong harbour. The city rises above the bay up towards Victoria Peak. "Hong Kong Harbour" is a fascinating depiction of this prosperous city, long before the skyscrapers of glass and steel lined its waterfront – this magnificent woodcut remains one of the great depictions of Hong Kong as it once was.