On this colorful bowl, the flags of Brazil, Denmark, England, France, Holland, and Sweden fly over trading posts or “hongs” edging the Pearl River in Canton, China. Foreign merchants used hongs as warehouses, offices, and residences. Asian and Western figures intermingle on balconies and in courtyards depicted here, but foreigners were not permitted to move freely beyond the hongs and the river-bank. They were strictly supervised by a small number of Chinese called Hong Merchants who mediated between the Imperial Chinese and their visitors. No American flag appears here because the bowl was made shortly before Americans began trading in Canton in 1784. Lucrative Chinese exports to the West went far beyond porcelains to include teas, cottons, silks, rhubarb, cassia (Chinese cinnamon), nankeens (durable yellow cloth), floor-matting, lacquer wares, fans, and furniture. Among the American exports to China were Spanish bullion (gold), furs, ginseng, cheese, grain, opium – and rum – a popular ingredient in punches mixed up in serving vessels such as this bowl.