The panels foregrounded the use of western principles of perspective in Chinese painting. On the horizon in both are steel blue mountains, far in the distance, illustrating the European convention of fixed-point perspective, a single vanishing point. This principle would underpin the composition of the oil paintings of c. 1790-1830 depicting landscape and court scenes and the four seasons by figures such as Spoilum and Fatqua.

The hugely popular paintings of the Canton waterfront show this western influence, but, as Iside Carbone has commented, maintain their Chinese character with delicate brushwork and, principally, a sweeping panoramic view in the manner of Chinese scroll painting, a feature inherited from the preceding generation of panels of the present type, in which this tradition was preserved. At the same time, the present paintings benefit from a freedom of expression and lack of a constrained ‘style’ that was to become entrenched in the paintings made for the western market.

Despite the importance of these panels, surviving examples are exceedingly scarce. An example is illustrated in 'The Decorative Arts of The China Trade' (Woodbridge, 1991), which the author describes as 'this very rare panel'. Discovered in England, it suggests that panels of this type may have been made for export, as part of longer series to decorate whole rooms. The close stylistic and compositional resemblance between the present pair and the illustrated example suggest the possibility of a common workshop.

The panels are delicately painted in detail and with mellow, washed colours on a weaved, textured canvass. The two compositions are characterised by senses of restfulness and tranquility.