IDENTIFIERS ----------- id: 317660 accession number: 4205.8 DATE AUDIT ---------- created: Monday 4 November 2024 updated: Thursday 17 July 2025 DESCRIPTIVE DATA ---------------- object type: The composition features a pair of mandarin ducks (Aix galericulata) positioned on dark rocks beside a lotus pond. The male duck displays its characteristic ornate plumage with distinctive brown, blue, and white markings, while the female shows more subdued brown colouring with scaled patterns. Both birds are rendered with careful attention to their distinctive features, including the male's decorative crest and the female's more modest patterning. The setting includes a lotus pond with pink lotus flowers in various stages of bloom, from buds to full blossoms, accompanied by their characteristic round leaves. Tall bamboo or reed-like plants emerge from behind the rocks where the ducks rest. The artwork demonstrates a blend of naturalistic observation and traditional Chinese artistic conventions. The lotus flowers and rocks, in particular, show strong influences of traditional Chinese painting techniques in their execution. The composition creates a harmonious scene that symbolically represents marital fidelity, as mandarin ducks are traditionally viewed as symbols of conjugal faithfulness in Chinese culture. The illustration combines precise ornithological documentation with artistic interpretation, characteristic of Chinese natural history paintings of this period. title: watercolour LICENSING --------- text license status: CC0 image license status: CC-BY-NC-SA OWNERSHIP --------- instutition: The Fitzwilliam Museum department: Paintings, Drawings and Prints STABLE URL ---------- url: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/317660 TECHNIQUES ---------- watercolour and body colour on pith paper watercolour DATING ------ culture: 19th Century CREATORS -------- maker: Canton workshop DIMENSIONS ---------- dimension: Height units: mm value: 182 dimension: Width units: mm value: 290