Rosa chinensis with Butterflies and Bee
Draughtsman: Canton workshop
This is a Chinese export watercolour depicting pink Chinese roses (Rosa chinesis) with two butterflies and a bee. The illustration features several branches with delicate pink roses in various stages of bloom. There are three fully opened roses - one on the left and two clustered together on the right; several rose buds are painted in deeper pink. The green leaves on the branches are arranged in the characteristic compound leaf pattern of roses. Some leaves show brown edges. On the left is a yellow butterfly with blue markings and black edges on the wings. On the top is a swallow tail butterfly with white and red spots along the edge of its wing. On the right is a bumble bee. A Chinese inscription at the lower left corner reads “changchun hua 長春花”, a common name for Rosa chinesis). The painting demonstrates the fine brushwork characteristic of Chinese export art from the late 18th or early 19th century, combing traditional Chinese flower-and-bird painting style and Western botanical illustration. Previously described as “Roses in bud and bloom, surrounded by butterflies and insects”.
Height: 428 mm
Width: 340 mm
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1973) by Fairhaven, Henry Rogers Broughton
Chinese
Chinese export art
Chinese export watercolour
Support composed of paper
Watercolour : Bodycolour on paper
Accession number: PD.274-1973
Primary reference Number: 23116
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Paintings, Drawings and Prints
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Rosa chinensis with Butterflies and Bee" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/23116 Accessed: 2025-12-07 10:36:14
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/23116
|title=Rosa chinensis with Butterflies and Bee
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-07 10:36:14|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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