IDENTIFIERS
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id:	23120
accession number:	PD.278-1973

DATE AUDIT
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created:	Saturday 6 August 2011
updated:	Thursday 28 August 2025

DESCRIPTIVE DATA
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object type: This is a Chinese export watercolour depicting pink cotton rose (Hibiscus mutabilis) with two butterflies and a bee. The illustration features a large, fully opened pink cotton rose with many layered petals in varying shades of pink, from pale to deeper rose. The flower displays the characteristic ruffled petal of cotton rose. On the right there are two buds in different stages of development - one green and one showing pink coloration. The plant has trifoliate compound, arranged naturally along the stems. A Chinese inscription at the lower left corner reads “furong hua 芙蓉花”, Hibiscus mutabilis. Three insects are depicted around the flower: a small reddish-brown dragonfly on the left; a large black butterfly with white spots and orange bands feeding on the main bloom; and another butterfly at the top right with intricate patterns of blue, orange, and white markings on its wings. 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 “flower in bud and in bloom, surrounded by butterflies and insects”.
title:	drawing

LICENSING
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text license status:	CC0
image license status:	CC-BY-NC-SA

OWNERSHIP
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instutition: The Fitzwilliam Museum
department: Paintings, Drawings and Prints
collection:	Broughton Collection

STABLE URL
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url:	https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/23120


SUBJECTS
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plant
plant



TECHNIQUES
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bodycolour on paper
watercolour

CATEGORIES
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category: drawing

DATING
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culture:	19th Century

CREATORS
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maker: Canton workshop


IMAGES

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