IDENTIFIERS ----------- id: 32413 accession number: PD.133-1973.4 DATE AUDIT ---------- created: Saturday 6 August 2011 updated: Thursday 28 August 2025 DESCRIPTIVE DATA ---------------- object type: This is a Chinese export watercolour depicting Calendula officinalis (pot marigold). The illustration features multiple branching stems with several bright yellow and orange composite flowers displaying the characteristic form with numerous ray petals surrounding central disc florets. The flowers are shown in various stages - some fully opened blooms with vibrant yellow-orange petals and prominent centers, and several green buds in different stages of development. The plant displays alternate leaves arranged along the green stems. The leaves are lance-shaped to oblong with slightly serrated edges and prominent venation, rendered in various shades of green. The branching pattern shows the typical growth habit of Calendula, with multiple flower heads terminating the branched stems and buds developing along the length of the stems. A Chinese inscription at the lower left corner reads “xiao jinju 小金菊”, pot marigold. 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. 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/32413 SUBJECTS ------------------- plant plant TECHNIQUES ---------- watercolour and some bodycolour on thin paper, backed with second sheet, and both tipped in on the album sheet watercolour CATEGORIES ------ category: drawing DATING ------ culture: 19th Century CREATORS -------- maker: Canton workshop DIMENSIONS ---------- dimension: Height units: mm value: 316 dimension: Width units: mm value: 401