It was that leap of faith that emboldened traders to set sail on the Empress of China from New York Harbor in 1784 bound for Canton (known today as Guangzhou), the only port in China that was open to Western trade at that time. While China had a profusion of goods that appealed to America, for the most part, it was a relatively self-sufficient country with a variety of natural resources that made it complicated for colonial traders to find resources with which to trade.

Silver coins – specifically, Spanish coins – being the favored commodity, were not easy for these traders to deliver, so they opted for more attainable goods, such as ginseng, furs and skins from sea otters, beaver and seal. Eventually, opium would make its way to China via Western merchants, a practice that later produced disastrous results.

This exceptional hong bowl (punch bowl) is decorated with scenes of the Canton waterfront depicting foreign factories or hongs of Western merchants along the Pearl River in Canton.

The story of these conquests is played out in the exhibitionvia more than 120 objects from Historic Deerfield’s Asian artcollection. On display are trade goods once owned by ConnecticutRiver Valley residents. Included is a set of Chinese Exportporcelain cups and saucers owned by John Russell (1731-1775) andHannah Sheldon Russell (1738-1814) of Deerfield; a polychromeenameled punch bowl owned by Charles Phelps Jr (1744-1814) andElizabeth Porter Phelps (1747-1817) of Hadley, Mass.; and aminiature carved ivory “whatnot” stand with wine glasses andcandlesticks brought back by Caroline Hyde Butler (1804-1892) ofNorthampton, Mass.

Butler traveled with her husband to China in 1837; however, since women were not allowed in Canton, she was offloaded at the Portuguese colony of Macau at the mouth of the Pearl River, about 120 miles before Canton. Her diaries and letters relating to this trip are part of the collection and offer illuminating details of this historic time period.

A variety of Chinese silks are also on display, taken out of storage from Deerfield’s permanent collection for this exhibit. A man’s yellow silk banyan (dressing gown), as well as a lady’s gown made out of painted Chinese silk are on view. “They don’t get displayed for long periods of time, so we are really pleased to have these things out; they are amazingly beautiful objects,” says Lange.

With all of the remarkable goods that traders brought back from China, the definitive product was tea; this was more precious to America than even the most delicate of porcelain cups. “China, as a nation, had a lot of things that the West was interested in and, for Americans, tea was the most imperative,” says Lange. “It was the number one commodity that they were going to China for because tea couldn’t be found in any other country. They just weren’t cultivating it anywhere else until probably 1850 when the tea business started to take place in India. The Chinese were under no colonial control at this time, so they really had a monopoly on the tea trade.”

Those ships that were able to safely make the trek to Canton and back – barring mishaps due to often unrepentant seas or avaricious pirates – returned with a veritable cornucopia of gifts. From this bounty numerous treasures exist today, including an album of 24 hand painted images of the tea production process – from harvesting the leaves to packing them in boxes. Dating from 1790, this golden egg of the Deerfield collection is displayed in all its Oriental magnificence. “Instead of leaves of a book, it folds out and stretches like an accordion,” says Lange of the rare find, explaining, “The individual images are hand painted watercolor. It stretches out about 9 or 10 feet and we built a special case for it that’s large enough to show it off and has motion-sensitive lighting.”

Yellow silk damask banyan, or man’s dressing gown, with high collar and sleeves off the shoulder. This is a rare survivor, dating from about 1790.

While some of these albums still exist in museums today,Lange acknowledges, “It’s really one of the treasures of thecollection. Most of these albums were cut up and basicallydisplayed as images on the wall. They were sliced out of the albumsand exist today as separate images but not as a complete book. Wewould bring it out for special occasions for forums, which arespecial one-day programs on certain subject matters. We had it outlast in the late 1990s for a program on tea, coffee and chocolate,but at that time we made a cradle for it, not the sophisticateddisplay we have now.”

Another rare find that is making an appearance is a pair of small Chinese porcelain wine cups, sans handles, that are decorated in underglazed blue and date from 1640. They were most likely used for drinking wine or small quantities of gin by merchants who were possibly living in Indonesia. The cups were salvaged from a Chinese ship that went down in the South China Sea region.

The wine cups are similar to examples found in the American market in colonial sites such as Jamestown, near Williamsburg, Va. Some have been discovered as far north as the Canadian Maritime and places like Newfoundland, placing them among some of the earliest porcelains in the Deerfield collection.

The exhibition, however, is not without its whimsy, as Lange explains. “We have a cat urinal – that isn’t too common. It’s a vessel form in the shape of a cat and his head comes off, so it’s functional as well as decorative. It also has a tail that sweeps over his back that is used as a handle.”

A major in the American Revolution and aide-de-camp to General Henry Knox, as well as the first secretary of war, Samuel Shaw was the shipping agent for the Empress of China and sailed on its maiden voyage. This revered patriot made several trips to Canton, so it is only fitting that the collection contains items that he, himself, purchased on his travels to China.

On display is a tea set, one of about nine sets of china that Shaw sent to friends back home while based in the Orient. The tea set is decorated with an insignia of the Society of the Cincinnati, a group of French and American revolutionary war officers started by Henry Knox whose members included George Washington, among others. The tea server also includes the initials (DT) of the friend Shaw sent the set to – David Townsend.

Along with the actual tea set is the original letter Shaw sent to Townsend, hoping that “across the equator tea will taste as good back home as it did in Canton.” He also expressed a hope of coming back home to enjoy tea with his friend. Sadly, Shaw was never able to make good on his invitation, as he died aboard ship en route to his home in Boston during one of his forays to Canton.

The Canton waterfront with steamer Spark on pith paper, circa 1855. This gouache is attributed to the studio of Tingqua, who was active from about 1840 to 1870.

Also included in the exhibition are two hong bowls (punchbowls) painted with images of the foreign factories or residenceswhere the Western merchants lived. The traders were basicallyrestricted and quarantined to an area that occupied a 12-acresection of the Canton waterfront. The Chinese were concerned aboutforeigners and did not want their populace coming in contact withwhat they considered foreign barbarians.

Lange says of the bowls, “It’s a visual image of what these buildings looked like that’s wrapped 360 degrees around the exterior of the bowls. You see figures of foreigners, Western merchants and Chinese merchants outside of these buildings chatting and doing some kind of exchange. You really get a very good look at how busy this area was. A variety of small boats are in the foreground – basically at the bottom, near the foot of the bowl – and as you go up the outside of the bowl, you see these structures that provided working and living quarters. They are visually arresting, and these bowls came back on the Empress of China. Records indicate that the ship’s captain brought back five of what he called ‘factory painted bowls.'”

The exhibition has been laid out like a voyage, beginning with the ships departing New England ports, highlighting the typical contents of their outbound cargo. It then moves visitors along to Canton, and discusses trading there. As Lange points out, “Canton was probably the most expensive place to do trade. It cost upwards of $3,000 per ship, given all of the taxes, payments and fees that you had to pay to the customs officials to do trade in China.

“They wouldn’t have gone there if they could have gotten tea from somewhere else, but they were there because of the importance of tea. Silks were secondary, and then porcelains and other novelties are lesser,” notes Lange.

Visitors to the exhibition learn about the many rules and regulations for the traders in Canton – they could not go into the interior of China, not even into the walled city of Canton. They could not bring their wives or children, nor could they bring in firearms.

“Going Shopping” is the next phase of the journey where visitors learn about the commodities brought back from the Canton trades. Teas, watercolors and paintings, silks, porcelains, even children’s games are all on display. Finishing up the exhibition is mention of the Connecticut River Valley’s connection to the China Trade. In this section one finds journals and ads about supplying outbound cargo and stories of seamen from the region who traveled to Canton. Included are local histories of ownership of various objects that traveled back from China. These stories and artifacts connect the Connecticut River Valley directly to the China Trade.

Historic Deerfield is on Main Street. The museum is open daily from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. For information, 413-775-7214 or www.historic-deerfield.org.