Bush thunbergia
Painting
1800-1830 (made)
1800-1830 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This painting of a bush thunbergia is skilfully done and very true to life. 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 | |
| Title | Bush thunbergia (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Watercolour and ink on Chinese paper |
| Brief description | Painting, 'Bush Thunbergia', watercolour and ink on paper, Canton, China, 1800-1830 |
| Physical description | Rectangular painting depicting a flower on plain ground. Leaves dark green, set opposite each other, 1-3 inches long, irregular in outline, with curved stalks. Throughout the summer, flowers appear singly in the leaf axils and accompanied by 2 leafy bracts. Corolla funnel-shaped, 1.5-2.5 inches long, about 2 inches across, the 5 spreading lobes purple, the throat yellow and the curved tube yellowish white. Stamens 4 in each flower. Fruits do not develop locally. |
| 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 a bush thunbergia is skilfully done and very true to life. 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. |
| Bibliographic reference | Souvenir from Canton : Chinese export paintings from the Victoria and Albert Museum, Shanghai, 2003
234 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | D.1326-1889 |
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| Record created | October 17, 2002 |
| Record URL |
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