Fan mei gui thumbnail 1
Not on display

Fan mei gui

Painting
1770-1790 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Unknown (maker)
Place of origin
Canton (made)
China (made)

From the 18th century onwards, 'China pictures' formed a regular part of private trade from Canton to Europe. They were shipped in boxes that could contain as many as 400 individual sheets. This painting is from a set showing botanical subjects. The Chinese caption reads 'fan meigui', meaning 'foreign rose'.

Object details

Categories
Paintings
Chinese Export Watercolours
Watercolours
Botanical Art
Object type
Painting
TitleFan mei gui (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Watercolours on paper
Paper
Watercolour (Paint)
Painted
Brief description
Painting, "fan mei gui", watercolours on paper, Guangzhou, China, 1770-1790
Physical description
Rectangular watercolour painting in muted tones depicting tall thorned stems and red flowers with layered petals, possibly fan mei gui
Dimensions
  • Height: 26.4cm
  • Width: 29.6cm
  • Height: 30cm
  • Width: 26.6cm
Style
Qing
Object history
From the 18th century onwards 'China pictures' formed a regular part of private trade from Canton, shipped in boxes which could contain as many as four hundred individual sheets. This painting is from a set showing botanical subjects. The Chinese caption reads 'fan meigui', meaning 'foreign rose'.
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
Flowers
Summary
From the 18th century onwards, 'China pictures' formed a regular part of private trade from Canton to Europe. They were shipped in boxes that could contain as many as 400 individual sheets. This painting is from a set showing botanical subjects. The Chinese caption reads 'fan meigui', meaning 'foreign rose'.
Associated objects
Collection
East Asia Collection
Accession number
D.1289-1889

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Record createdFebruary 6, 2003
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O74011/fan-mei-gui-painting-unknown/
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