Read Marina’s piece for Drawing Matter‘s online ‘Texts’, in which she talks about a series of drawings she bought decades ago by Henry William Parish. They date from the 1790s and document his time on an expedition to China:

During the long sea voyage, Lieutenant Parish of the Royal Artillery made several quiet, pale watercolours, many of them views of the coastline, as can be seen in an album kept in the Yale Center for British Art. For a seafaring nation, these delicate observations would provide valuable reconnaissance of harbours, inlets, fortifications, landmarks. The embassy was intent on gathering intelligence, but its aims were not only diplomatic and commercial. It was also an expedition of exploration, amassing as much knowledge as it could of the mysterious other world of China—its peoples, culture, society, language, ways of doing things.

The full essay is available to read here