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Red Peony (Paeonia lactiflora) and Bleeding Heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis): PD.132-1973.10

Object information

Current Location: In storage

Titles

Red Peony (Paeonia lactiflora) and Bleeding Heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis)

Maker(s)

Canton workshop

Entities

Categories

Description

A watercolour drawing from the album PD.132-1973. This is a Chinese export watercolour depicting a red peony (Paeonia lactiflora) and bleeding heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis). The composition shows a fully opened red peony bloom with densely layered petals on the left, accompanied by characteristic dark green compound leaves. On the right, the arching stems of bleeding heart display their distinctive pink heart-shaped pendant flowers hanging in drooping clusters, with compound foliage. The painting demonstrates the fine brushwork characteristic of Chinese export art from the late 18th or early 19th century, combining traditional Chinese flower-and-bird painting style and Western botanical illustration.

Measurements and weight

Height: 298 mm
Width: 374 mm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1973) by Fairhaven, Henry Rogers Broughton

School or Style

Chinese
Chinese export art
Chinese export watercolour

Materials used in production

Watercolour
White bodycolour

Components of the work

Support composed of paper

Techniques used in production

Watercolour : Watercolour heightened with white on thin paper, tipped in on the cream coloured album sheet

Identification numbers

Accession number: PD.132-1973.10
Primary reference Number: 32394
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Thursday 28 August 2025 Last processed: Thursday 28 August 2025

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Paintings, Drawings and Prints

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Red Peony (Paeonia lactiflora) and Bleeding Heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis)" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/32394 Accessed: 2025-12-07 09:31:06

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/32394 |title=Red Peony (Paeonia lactiflora) and Bleeding Heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis) |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-07 09:31:06|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

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https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-32394

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