Common Sterculia
1831
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1831
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Dominant colour
Common Sterculia is a 1831 paint by Unknown, a Patna School of Painting work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This painting shows a single common sterculia fruit against a plain cream background. The artist used careful lines to show every bump and curve. It was made in China on paper imported from Europe. British travelers often brought back plants and paintings like this to study back home. Look for more art like this at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
A rectangular watercolour painting on imported western paper depicts a common sterculia with five green and five yellow leaves extending from a brown stem, which supports pods in green, yellow, and red hues. The red pods contain small brown seeds, and the work is mounted on brown-tinted paper. The subject reflects the 18th- and 19th-century British fascination with unfamiliar flora, often documented through imported specimens or paintings brought back by travellers. Acquired in 1886, its provenance remains unspecified in the Asia Department registers.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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