Camellia
Painting
1800-1830 (made)
1800-1830 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The camellia, called 'cha hua' in Chinese, was, and still is, a common garden flower in south China. Unfamiliar 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 foreign plants and, more commonly, paintings depicting numerous species of tropical flowers and fruits.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Camellia (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Watercolour and ink on Chinese paper |
| Brief description | Painting, Camellia, watercolour and ink on paper, Canton, China, 1800-1830 |
| Physical description | Rectangular watercolour painting depicting a flower on plain ground. Flowers large, stemless, borne singly at branch ends in winter and spring, with deciduous sepals. Petals 1-2 inches long, often nearly erect or ascending-spreading, somewhat rounded in shape, adnate to the numerous yellow stamens at base. Of the tea family. The faintly fragrant flowers are white, pink, red, rose or purple. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Style | |
| Object history | Purchased from a source not recorded in the Asia Department registers, accessioned in 1890. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | The camellia, called 'cha hua' in Chinese, was, and still is, a common garden flower in south China. Unfamiliar 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 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
246 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | D.102-1890 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | October 16, 2002 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest
