Spoilum (active 1765–1805; ) was a Chinese artist active in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

between 1785 and 1810, during the

Old China Trade The Old China Trade () refers to the early commerce between the Qing Empire and the United States under the Canton System, spanning from shortly after the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783 to the Treaty of Wanghia in 1844. The Old ...

. He was the earliest oil painter in Canton. He painted portraits of Chinese and Western merchants and sea captains in the Western style painting with oil on canvas rather than ink on paper or silk in the Chinese style. He created paintings of Chinese hong merchants Eshing (silk merchant) and Puan Kee Qua. His portraits of Western merchants typically required a two- or three-hour sitting, and cost $10. He also mastered the European technique of

reverse glass painting Reverse painting on glass is an art form consisting of applying paint to a piece of glass and then viewing the image by turning the glass over and looking through the glass at the image. Another term used to refer to the art of cold painting and g ...

. Little is known of his life, although he was one of a family of painters, including his grandson

Lam Qua Lam Qua (; 1801–1860), or Kwan Kiu Cheong (), was a Chinese painter from the Canton province in Qing Dynasty China, who specialized in Western-style portraits intended largely for Western clients. Lam Qua was the first Chinese portrait painte ...

, and is said to have traveled extensively in the West.

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