FINE CHINA TRADE PAITNINGS FROM MARTYN GREGORY, LONDON, PART II
SPOILUM (ACTIVE 1770-1805)
Portrait of William Read of Philadelphia Oil on canvas, framed. 70cm (24in) high x 51cm (20in) wide.
史貝霖（活躍於1770-1805年）費城William Read肖像 布面油畫 有框
Provenance: Dr George Clymer (1883-1953), great-great-grandson of the sitter Mrs George Clymer (his widow) W.B. Shubrick Clymer, Harrisville, N.H. (1906-1972) (her son) Martyn Gregory, London
Published, Illustrated and Exhibited: Martyn Gregory, China Trade Pictures, catalogue 34, Hong Kong, 1983, pp.76-77, no.80 Martyn Gregory, Revealing the East: Historical pictures by Chinese and Western artists 1750-1950, catalogue 91, London, 2013/2014, pp.76-77, no.80
來源：George Clymer (1883-1953)博士，像中人物的曾曾孫 George Clymer夫人（前者遺孀） W.B. Shubrick Clymer，哈里斯維爾，美國新罕布什爾州（前者兒子） 倫敦古董商Martyn Gregory
展覽著錄： Martyn Gregory，《China Trade Pictures, catalogue 34》，香港，1983年，第76-77頁，編號80 Martyn Gregory，《Revealing the East: Historical pictures by Chinese and Western artists 1750-1950, catalogue 91》，倫敦，2013/2014，第76-77頁，編號80
Last recorded by the Frick Art Reference Library in the 1970s, this striking portrait is an outstanding example of the distinctive work of the Cantonese artist Spoilum. The sitter, William Read (1767-1846), made several voyages to China.
His father, George Read, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence; he served as President of Delaware, then U.S. Senator and finally Chief Justice of Delaware until his death in 1798.
In 1789, William Read sailed to Canton on the ship Union belonging to Mordecai Lewis & Co. In 1792 William applied to return to Canton as supercargo aboard the ship Senue. His father recommended him as being of the best disposition, strict integrity and probity (Life and Correspondence of Gauge Rad by William T. Read, Philadelphia, 1870, 550).
In 1805, William Read became a pioneer of the American opium trade with China, sailing to Canton via Batavia as supercargo on the Bingham. Imports of American opium from Smyrna to China had been initiated the year before by the ship Pennsylvania. The Historical Society of Philadelphia holds letter written by William Read in Canton in November 1605 and January 1806. These record that the Bingham was carrying opium (from Smyrna), but two opium vessels had arrived shortly before her, and others followed soon after, resulting in a something of a glut on the market for Turkey opium. The price of opium in Canton fell sharply, but Read was still able to make a profit of over $11,000 on the opium in his charge (see J.M.Downs, The Golden Ghetto, Hong Kong, 1997, pp.114-15).
In this venture William Read was in the employ of the well-established Philadelphia firm of Willings and Francis. The families of Willing, Meredith, Reed and Clymer, all linked by marriage, constituted an influential Philadelphia-based political and mercantile grouping; the present portrait was passed down by the descendants of George Clymer, another signatory to the Declaration of Independence.
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