IDENTIFIERS ----------- id: 23100 accession number: PD.258-1973 DATE AUDIT ---------- created: Saturday 6 August 2011 updated: Thursday 23 January 2025 DESCRIPTIVE DATA ---------------- object type: This illustration depicts a pheasant-tailed jacana and Amaranthus tricolour. The most distinctive feature of the bird is its elongated central tail feathers. It has a white head and the back of the crown is black with white stripes running down the sides of the neck, separating the white of the front of neck and the silky golden yellow of the nape. Its body is dark brown and the wings are white. As depicted, the bird prefers to stay at waterside. The elongated toes and nails enable it to walk on floating vegetation in the water. In the image, the bird is standing on a rock with Amaranthus tricolour, which shows vibrant colours of red, yellow and green. The late 18th century saw the rise of natural history painting and patronage in China and the East Indies. When Europeans arrived in Canton and Macao, they were keen to collect exotic specimens and wanted to commission drawings to send back home. This enthusiasm for natural history came from both professional and amateur botanists, many of whom were employees of the East India Company, who proved to be avid collectors. Stock sets of pictures were soon produced for the European market depicting fruit, flowers, birds and insects. Previously described as "study of a waterbird and flowers". title: drawing LICENSING --------- text license status: CC0 image license status: CC-BY-NC-SA OWNERSHIP --------- instutition: The Fitzwilliam Museum department: Paintings, Drawings and Prints collection: Broughton Collection STABLE URL ---------- url: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/23100 SUBJECTS ------------------- plant plant TECHNIQUES ---------- watercolour and bodycolour on paper watercolour CATEGORIES ------ category: drawing DATING ------ creation date: 1805 - 1805 creation date earliest: 1805 creation date latest: 1805 culture: 19th Century CREATORS -------- maker: Canton workshop