Golden pheasant
1800
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1800
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Dominant colour
Golden pheasant is a 1800 paint by Unknown, a Patna School of Painting work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
You see a golden pheasant with bright red face, iridescent feathers, and a long striped tail. The bird stands on a rock against a green plant. Its colors look too perfect, almost painted that way on purpose. This painting was made for Europeans in China. It shows how traders in Canton copied local art for visitors. The bright colors made the bird look exotic back home. Check out more art like this at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
The painting is a rectangular watercolour featuring a golden pheasant with its body turned left, displaying prominent tail plumage and striped polychrome wing markings. It stands on a rock formation against a plain background, enclosed by a simple line border. Produced in Canton (Guangzhou) in 1800, the work was part of a series of images mass-produced for European visitors during a period when China restricted foreign trade to that port. Acquired in 1890 without recorded provenance, it reflects the 18th- and 19th-century European interest in exotic birds.
Read the full account in the museum source.
