Butterflies
Painting
1800-1840 (made)
1800-1840 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This painting shows two brown butterflies. 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 specimens of foreign insects and, more commonly, paintings depicting those insects.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Butterflies (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Watercolour and ink on Chinese paper |
| Brief description | Painting, 'Brown Butterflies', watercolours and ink on paper, Guangzhou, China, 1800-1840 |
| Physical description | Painting, rectangular, depicting brown butterflies at three stages of their life cycle; eggs, feeding on green leaves and as fully-fledged insects. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Object history | Exotic 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 specimens of foreign insects and more commonly, paintings depicting those insects. 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 | This painting shows two brown butterflies. 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 specimens of foreign insects and, more commonly, paintings depicting those insects. |
| Bibliographic reference | Souvenir from Canton : Chinese export paintings from the Victoria and Albert Museum, Shanghai, 2003 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | D.1309-1889 |
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| Record created | February 12, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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