Chinese St Johns Wort
1780
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1780
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Dominant colour
Chinese St Johns Wort is a 1780 paint by Unknown, a Patna School of Painting work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This painting shows a detailed image of Chinese St John's Wort. The painting is part of a set, which is interesting because it was made for British botanists who were curious about exotic plants. These botanists wanted to learn about and collect plants from other countries. You can learn more about this style of painting at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
A rectangular watercolour painting in muted tones shows opposite, stalkless, oblong leaves measuring 1.5–2.5 inches long and half to 1 inch wide, deep green above and paler beneath. The plant produces bright yellow flowers about 2 inches in diameter in early summer, each with a five-parted calyx and corolla and numerous stamens, followed by a small rounded capsule containing many seeds. The work is one of 24 in a set, each inscribed with the Chinese name of the depicted species. Acquired from E. Parsons, it was accessioned in 1889 as recorded in the Asia Department registers.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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