Intricate and wonderfully composed engraving after a drawing by the artist William Alexander (1767-1816), prepared for the folio atlas to George Staunton's account of the Macartney Embassy to China of 1793.
The engraver, James Fittler (1758-1825) was appointed by George III to be his Marine Engraver.
Despite the serried ranks of the Chinese noblemen, attendants, and the figure of the Emperor himself occupying almost the entire engraving, it is the figure of Lord Macartney making an entrance who steals the show.
Fittler has amplified Macartney as "hero" with the dramatic use of tone.
Lord Macartney is bathed in light, a representative of the British Empire "on which the sun never sets".
The page attending Macartney is the figure of George Staunton's son, Thomas.
A dramatic evocation of the might of Empire.
William Alexander was an English painter, illustrator and engraver. The hallmarks of his work, usually executed in watercolours, were clearness and harmony of colour, simplicity and taste in composition, grace of outline, and delicacy of execution. He accompanied the Macartney Embassy to China in 1792.
