IDENTIFIERS ----------- id: 23126 accession number: PD.283-1973 DATE AUDIT ---------- created: Saturday 6 August 2011 updated: Thursday 28 August 2025 DESCRIPTIVE DATA ---------------- object type: This is a Chinese export watercolour depicting rose companion (Lychnis coronata) with butterflies and a dragonfly. The illustration features several stems of Lychnis coronata with characteristic fringed pink flowers that have a flattened, almost carnation-like appearance. Five blooms are visible in various stages of development, displaying the distinctive notched or toothed petal edges typical of this species. The stems feature pairs of opposite, lance-shaped green leaves growing directly from the nodes. A Chinese inscription at the lower left corner reads “jianchun luo剪春羅”, rose companion (Lychnis coronata). Three insects surround the flowers: a large black butterfly with yellow markings (Papilio epius) on the left; a smaller black butterfly with blue and yellow spots on the right; and a delicate dragonfly with blue-green and pink transparent wings in the upper right corner. 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. Previously described as “stem with flowers in bud and bloom, surrounded by butterflies and insects”. 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/23126 SUBJECTS ------------------- plant plant TECHNIQUES ---------- bodycolour on paper watercolour CATEGORIES ------ category: drawing DATING ------ culture: 19th Century CREATORS -------- maker: Canton workshop DIMENSIONS ---------- dimension: Height units: mm value: 296 dimension: Width units: mm value: 434