Chitqua (Tan-Che-Qua)
(circa 1728-1796), Chinese artistSitter in 3 portraits
Chitqua was a sculptor whose life-like portraits in clay attracted the attention of European merchants in the Chinese port of Canton (Guangzhou). He came to England in 1769, settling in London, where he charged ten guineas for a bust and fifteen for a whole-length figure. He was received as a foreign dignitary, attending an audience with King George III and a dinner at the Royal Academy, where he exhibited a clay figure in 1770. James Boswell called him an 'an ingenious artist in taking likenesses in terracotta'. He sat for portrait artists, including John Hamilton Mortimer, and featured in Johann Zoffany's group portrait of the founder members of the Royal Academy. Little is known about his life following his return to China in 1772.
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