Not on display

Painted Snipe

Painting
1800-1830 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This painting of a painted snipe is one of the mass-produced pictures aimed at European visitors. Foreign 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 paintings depicting numerous species of birds.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitlePainted Snipe (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Watercolour and ink on paper
Brief description
Painting, 'Painted Snipe', watercolour and ink on paper, Guangzhou, China, 1800-1830
Physical description
Rectangular watercolour painting with a line border depicting a bird on plain ground. The bird faces to the left and is largely brown. It stands on a rocky ground with small purple flowers behind.
Dimensions
  • Height: 26cm
  • Width: 32cm
Style
Object history
Foreign flora and fauna was 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 paintings depicting numerous species of birds. This painting of a painted snipe is one of those mass-produced pictures aimed at European visitors.
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 painted snipe is one of the mass-produced pictures aimed at European visitors. Foreign 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 paintings depicting numerous species of birds.
Bibliographic reference
Souvenir from Canton : Chinese export paintings from the Victoria and Albert Museum, Shanghai, 2003 263
Collection
Accession number
D.1320-1889

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Record createdJuly 7, 2004
Record URL
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