Study of a spray with blue flowers, with a grass hopper, two butterflies, a dragonfly and another insect
Draughtsman: Canton workshop
This is a Chinese natural history illustration depicting various insects around a flowering plant. The central composition features a green grasshopper perched on a plant stem with broad green leaves and delicate blue flowers. Around this central arrangement are several flying insects: a red dragonfly at the top left, two pale butterflies, and a brown beetle in the upper right. The painting is executed in the style typical of Chinese export natural history art from around the late 18th or early 19th century, with careful attention to both scientific detail and artistic arrangement. The piece demonstrates the Chinese artists' ability to combine accurate natural observation with decorative elements that would appeal to Western collectors and naturalists. Previously described as "study of a spray with blue flowers, with a grasshopper, two butterflies, a dragonfly and another insect".
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1973) by Fairhaven, Henry Rogers Broughton
19th Century
Production date:
circa
AD 1810
Support
composed of
paper
Paper
Height 192 mm
Width 253 mm
Watercolour : Watercolour and bodycolour on paper
Accession number: PD.260-1973
Primary reference Number: 23102
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Paintings, Drawings and Prints
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Study of a spray with blue flowers, with a grass hopper, two butterflies, a dragonfly and another insect" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/23102 Accessed: 2025-04-20 07:19:49
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/23102
|title=Study of a spray with blue flowers, with a grass hopper, two butterflies, a dragonfly and another insect
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-04-20 07:19:49|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-23102
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