65 . TAICHEONG ( Hong Kong active 1850- 1875 ) CHINA TRADE PORTRAIT OF CAPTAIN OBED BAXTER ’ S DAUGHTER , oil on canvas stamped on reverse “ Taicheong Portrait Painter , Hong Kong ”, in original carved and gilt decorated Chinese frame . 23 ½ in . x 18 in . Portrait depicts either Helen Mar Baxter ( b . 1869 ) or Alice Mar Baxter ( b . 1872 ). Their father , Captain Obed Baxter of Dennis , Massachusetts sailed many trade voyages to China , Hong Kong and India . His family would accompany him to the Far East in specially built cabins aboard his ship The Obed Baxter . In 1883 off Calcutta India , Baxter died aboard on a voyage with his family along . His wife Helen Mar Baxter did not allow his body to be buried at sea ; instead she had him preserved in a pickle barrel in order to be buried in the family plot in Dennis . Provenance : Descended through the family of Captain Obed Baxter . A portrait of a sailor by Taicheong is held in the permanent collection in the Mystic Seaport Museum , Mystic , Connecticut .
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