This view from the Pearl River shows the Danish, French, Spanish, Swedish, British and Dutch factories. The drawing on which this print was based may have been executed in 1785, when Thomas and William Daniell visited Canton en route to India, rather than on their return journey in 1793-1794 as the American flag is absent. This view was published as an aquatint print by Daniell on 1 June 1805.

William Daniell (1769-1837) and his uncle Thomas Daniel (1749-1840) were important artist-explorers of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. They travelled throughout the East, above all in India, and published an influential series of illustrated volumes of ‘Oriental Scenery’. Among other things, they were known for illustrating classical scenes of European factories and Chinese junks on the Pearl River Delta.