Nun Orchid
Painting
1800-1830 (made)
1800-1830 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Exotic 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. This painting of a nun orchid is skilfully done and very true to life.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Nun Orchid (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Watercolour and ink on Chinese paper |
| Brief description | Painting, 'Nun Orchid', watercolours and ink on paper, China, 1800-1830 |
| Physical description | Painting depicting a tall flower with orange petals. Around the base tall, lanceolate leaves which are browning at the edges. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Style | |
| Object history | The nun orchid is a tall erect terrestrial orchid, generally 2-3 feet high. Leaves large, up to 14 inches long, 5 inches wide, elliptic-lanceolate, the petioles covering the short thickened stem, flowering shoot tall, bearing 15 or more flowers, with the sepals and petals white outside, cinnamon-brown inside, lip white and purple. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Exotic 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. This painting of a nun orchid is skilfully done and very true to life. |
| Bibliographic reference | Souvenir from Canton : Chinese export paintings from the Victoria and Albert Museum, Shanghai, 2003
232 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 495 |
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| Record created | October 17, 2002 |
| Record URL |
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