Chinese St Johns Wort
Painting
1770-1790 (made), 1770-1790 (made)
1770-1790 (made), 1770-1790 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This painting of Chinese St John's wort is from a set of 24, each inscribed with the Chinese name of the plant. Exotic flora and fauna were of great interest to British botanists in the 18th and 19th centuries, and such enthusiasm gradually filtered down to the general public. Travellers often returned to Britain with foreign plants and, more commonly, paintings depicting numerous species of tropical flowers and fruits.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Titles |
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| Materials and techniques | Watercolours on paper |
| Brief description | Painting, "Chinese St. John's wort", watercolours on paper, Guangzhou, China, 1770-1790 |
| Physical description | Rectangular watercolour painting in muted tones depicting leaves opposite, stalkless, oblong, 1.5-2.5 inches long, half to 1 inch wide, entire, deep green above, paler beneath. In early summer produces bright yellow flowers about 2 inches in diameter, with 5-parted calyx and corolla, and numerous stamens. Fruit a small rounded capsule containing many seeds, possibly Chinese St. John's wort |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Object history | Purchased from E. Parsons, accessioned in 1889. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This painting of Chinese St John's wort is from a set of 24, each inscribed with the Chinese name of the plant. Exotic flora and fauna were of great interest to British botanists in the 18th and 19th centuries, and such enthusiasm gradually filtered down to the general public. Travellers often returned to Britain with foreign plants and, more commonly, paintings depicting numerous species of tropical flowers and fruits. |
| Associated objects |
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| Bibliographic reference | Souvenir from Canton : Chinese export paintings from the Victoria and Albert Museum, Shanghai, 2003
223 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | D.1290-1889 |
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| Record created | October 17, 2002 |
| Record URL |
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