COLOURFUL 1960S OIL ON CANVAS BY FAMOUS HONG KONG ARTIST PW CHENG ORIGINAL SIGNED PAINTING OF CHINESE JUNK BOATS (64CM WIDE 59CM HIGH)

INCREDIBLE ORIGINAL OIL PAINTING BY THE FAMED HONG KONG ARTIST PW. CHENG. HE IS BEST KNOWN FOR HIS 1950S TO 1970S PAINTINGS OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE JUNKS.
 
HIS PAINTINGS ARE HIGHLY COLLECTABLE. THEY SELL FOR AROUND R2500 ON EBAY. PLEASE SEE PHOTOS ADDED.
 
ABOUT THE ARTIST: This is a 1950 to 1970's original oil painting by Hong Kong and Australian artist P W Cheng. A colourful landscape with junk boats and mountain in background. It appears to be done in the Hong Kong harbour.
 
EVER HEARD OF THE CHINESE JUNK BOAT? A JUNK IS A CHINESE SAILING VESSEL THAT WERE ONCE AMONG THE MOST POWERFUL AND EASY NAVIGABLE SHIPS IN THE ANCIENT WORLD.

WHAT IS A JUNK SHIP?
A junk is a Chinese sailing vessel. The name comes from Javanese djong (Malay: adjong), meaning 'ship' or 'large vessel'.  The Chinese name for a junk ship is chuán, meaning 'battleship'. The character and english exspression of the word chuán may be the origin of the word 'junk', from the Min Nan (Hokkien) pronunciation is sounds as chunk. 

BUT THE CHINESE JUNK SHIPS WERE AND ARE ANYTHING BUT JUNK!
Junks are efficient and sturdy ships that were traveling across oceans as early as the second century BC. They incorporated numerous technical advances in sail plan and hull designs that were later adopted in Western shipbuilding.
Besides having a cool name, the sturdy, lightweight junk is known for being the first ship to feature a rudder mounted on its stern for steering. The Chinese junk ship was among the most powerful and easily navigable ships in the ancient world.
Junks had many uses in ancient Chinese culture, including fishing, transportation, trading, warfare and the exploration of Southeast Asia.
The strong build of these ships allowed Chinese explorers to venture far and wide. Ancient Chinese coins have been found in India and even the eastern shores of Africa! Evidence of junks have been recorded in the writings of Muslims on the Euphrates River in the 7th century CE, and fleets of junk ships were recorded by Marco Polo in the 13th century. When Marco Polo wrote about these ships, most were quite large, with 50 to 60 cabins onboard. By the 15th century, however, junks had become colossal in size! These massive, well-built ships were said to be 400 feet long and 160 feet wide (thats 40 stories from bow to stern and 16 stories from starboard to port)!
One of the unique features of the junks were the shape of their sails, which were very different from those of Western ships. Chinese junks were not square-rigged; they had elliptical, curved sails, which were reinforced with inner bars made of bamboo. Because the bamboo kept the sails strong, less rigging was needed. It also prevented the sails themselves from fraying and rotting as quickly as they otherwise would have.
The ingenuity and strength of these ships have allowed them to continue to be used today. Some junks are used for tourism; however there are still junks that are used for fishing and trade in the coastal waters and rivers of China, Japan, and Indonesia and all over South East Asia. Although the typical junk has shrunk in size from 400 feet to about 70 feet, they are still large enough for some families to live in them.

ORIGINAL: IT IS 100 PERCENT ORIGINAL. SEE PHOTOS PLEASE.

SIZE WITH FRAME:  64CM WIDE 59CM HIGH
SIZE PAINTING: 48CM WIDE 43CM HIGH

Condition: FRAME HAS A FEW VENEER CHIPS. PAINTING IN GOOD CONDITION.

PLEASE ALSO SEE MY OTHER ITEMS LISTED. HAVE TWO OTHER PAINTNGS ON AUCTION THIS WEEK. A BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPE OIL PAINTING BY KINGWOOD AND A SAVANNA LANDSCAPE WATERCOLOUR PAINTING BY RA KRAUT.