Junonia orithya, Butterfly and Chinese Hibiscus
A watercolour drawing from the album 4205. The image features a vermilion Chinese hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis) that is commonly grown in Southern China. On the tip of the petal is a black and white butterfly. On the right, the blue and orange butterfly could be Junonia orithya, which is a nymphalid butterfly with many subspecies occurring from Africa, through southern and south-eastern Asia, and in Australia. The artwork shows meticulous attention to botanical and entomological details, particularly in the rendering of leaf structures, the delicate flower petals, and the intricate patterns on the butterflies' wings. Some leaves show signs of natural damage or spots, adding to the scientific authenticity of the illustration. The illustration combines scientific accuracy with artistic composition, characteristic of Chinese natural history paintings of this period. This piece exemplifies the careful observation and technical precision typical of Chinese export watercolours, with particular attention paid to the accurate depiction of both the plants and insects in their natural state
Given by Rev. John Durham Denis de Vitré, 1942
Height: 188 mm
Width: 293 mm
Method of acquisition: Given (1942) by De Vitré, John Durham Denis de
19th Century
Circa
1800
-
Circa
1870
Chinese
Chinese export art
Chinese export watercolour
Support composed of pith paper
Watercolour : Watercolour and bodycolour on pith paper
Accession number: 4205.2
Primary reference Number: 317337
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) "Junonia orithya, Butterfly and Chinese Hibiscus" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/317337 Accessed: 2025-12-06 01:38:00
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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/317337
|title=Junonia orithya, Butterfly and Chinese Hibiscus
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-06 01:38:00|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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