Singkwa towel gourd
Painting
1800-1830 (made)
1800-1830 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The Singkwa towel gourd was, and still is, a common garden flower in south China.Unfamiliar 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 | Singkwa towel gourd (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Watercolour and ink on Chinese paper |
| Brief description | Painting, 'Singkwa Towel Gourd', watercolour and ink on paper, Canton, China, 1800-1830 |
| Physical description | Rectangular watercolour painting depicting a flower on plain ground. The flowers are yellow, the leaves in two shades of green have seven points. On the left, a long green fruit. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Object history | Unfamiliar flora and fauna had strong appeal to British botanists in the 18th/19th century, and such interest gradually filtered down to the general public. Travellers brought back to Britain foreign plants and more commonly, paintings depicting the numerous species of tropical flowers and fruits. The Singkwa towel gourd was and still is a common plant grown for food in south China. 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. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | The Singkwa towel gourd was, and still is, a common garden flower in south China.Unfamiliar 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
245 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | D.1328-1889 |
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| Record created | February 12, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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