Collections : [Yale University -Yale Center for British Art]

The island of Labuan was taken possession by the British in 1846, and proposed as a British base against piracy in the South China Sea. It became a crown colony in 1848. Porcher indicates that the island's most important product was coal, and describes at length the island's position, crops, cultivation and harbor (diary 20-28). He also includes a detailed map of Labuan.

The incident Porcher depicts was reported in the Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle for 1852 (222-223). Porcher and the crew of the Cleopatra, Pluto and Semiramis were traveling up the Tunku river in pursuit of the Illanun [Iranun] pirates responsible for the murder of the HMS Dolphin's crew (see "25. Official visit of the Boats of the Cleopatra to the Pangeran Madoud's house"). When they arrived at the residence of Rajah Muda, marines and armed men landed to find white flags hoisted on the roof of the houses. Porcher reports: "In retaliation for their having fired at us the day before, when white flags were flying, both at the Chief's house, and also in our boats, about 40 houses were burned, and the little property that was found in them destroyed, as well as their paddy, fruit trees, etc." (34). The pirates returned fire again, killing one man and wounding two others. Porcher continues with a detailed description of the Iranun pirates from Mindanao, who were known for murdering crews of vessels "except those they are able to sell as slaves". The entire landscape is frenetic with action; figures are hiding behind foliage with guns, while gunfire issues from the British vessels in the river.

Penang, an island off the coast of the Malaysian Peninsula, was first occupied by the British East India Company in 1786, and became a British 'Straits Settlement" along with Province Wellesley, Malacca and Singapore when the Anglo-Dutch Treaty (1824) brought these under the administration of the British East Company. It became an important trading center under the British, its commercial architecture dotting the shoreline of Porcher's watercolor.

Singapore is at the crossroads of Indian and Pacific Oceans, the Malacca, Sunda and Lombok Straits, and the South China Seas, which made it a key trading center in the India-China route. This view overlooking the Singapore River was taken from an observation point on Mount Wallich, named after Nathaniel Wallich who founded the settlement's Botanical and Experimental Garden. Today the view is no longer replicable, as Mount Wallich was levelled in 1885. Significantly, Porcher's view pre-dates one of the most well-known panoramic paintings of this viewpoint by Percy Carpenter, Singapore from Mount Wallich, 1856. Many of the same structures are visible in both the Porcher and Carpenter: Government Hill and Governor's House, the colonial residence built in 1822 by G.D. Coleman, which itself provided the colonial administration with an uninterrupted view (most view of Singapore were commissioned from this vantage point). The elevated vantage point also eliminated the unattractive mangrove swamps that dominated low-lying areas. The spires of the Armenian Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator and the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd; the broad esplanade of Telok Ayer street; the Telok Ayer market, also built after designs by Coleman, on the spit of land jutting into the basin (Pieris 43-45; Wong and Waterson 96).

Government Hill features prominently in views of Singapore, often as the apex of the composition, as Porcher has done in this view from the South Boat Quay near the junction with Market Street. Raffles had established his presence and political control by appropriating the traditional elevated domain of the Malay Rulers, who occupied it (then called Bukit Larangan 'Forbidden Hill') in the fourteenth century (Wong 37). In Porcher's view, the river is bustling with traffic: small sampans ferry passengers to the arched landing and a Malay perahu-mayang fishing boat brings in its catch at lower right. A number of warehouses lining the banks of the river are accessible by the Thomson's Bridge – the only access to the commercial town. Porcher labeled the Master Attendant's building (at right), which was the headquarters of the Master Attendant of the British entrepot and a post office. In a lithographed version of Porcher's view by Vincent Brooks, a nakhoda (boat captain) was added in the foreground, and a Javanese trading vessel at left. Several boats filled with cargo, and a display of tropical fruits perched dockside entices viewers to the 'exotic' goods flowing in and out of the port (see Hong Suen Wong page 72 for Vincent Brooks lithograph).

Mounted together with "33. Coffee from Pinang. May 28th 1850." "34. Cloves from Pinang. Dec. 22nd 1851." "35. Nutmegs from Pinang. June 1st 1850."

Mounted together with "32. Pepper Grown at Sinapore. November 4th 1851.," "34. Cloves from Pinang. Dec. 22nd 1851.," "35. Nutmegs from Pinang. June 1st 1850."

Mounted together with "32. Pepper Grown at Sinapore. [sic] November 4th 1851.," "33. Coffee from Pinang. May 28th 1850.," "35. Nutmegs from Pinang. June 1st 1850."