IDENTIFIERS ----------- id: 32420 accession number: PD.133-1973.11 DATE AUDIT ---------- created: Saturday 6 August 2011 updated: Thursday 28 August 2025 DESCRIPTIVE DATA ---------------- object type: This is a Chinese export watercolour depicting cypress vine (Ipomoea quamoclit), commonly known as cardinal climber or hummingbird vine. The illustration features the plant's characteristic climbing habit with multiple branching stems that twist and spiral. The deeply dissected foliage with thread-like segments that create an almost fern-like appearance, giving the plant its feathery, ornamental quality that distinguishes it from other Ipomoea species. The small tubular flowers are scattered along the stems, each rendered in bright coral-pink to red tones with star-shaped face. The flowers are shown in different stages of development, from tight buds to fully opened blossoms. 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/32420 SUBJECTS ------------------- plant plant TECHNIQUES ---------- watercolour heightened with white 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