IDENTIFIERS ----------- id: 32414 accession number: PD.133-1973.5 DATE AUDIT ---------- created: Saturday 6 August 2011 updated: Thursday 28 August 2025 DESCRIPTIVE DATA ---------------- object type: This is a Chinese export watercolour depicting aibika, Abelmoschus manihot. The illustration features a tall branching stem with a large yellow hibiscus-like flower displaying five broad petals and a prominent red center with visible stamens, characteristic of the mallow family. Several green buds in various stages of development are visible along the upper portion of the stem, showing the ribbed calyx typical of Abelmoschus species. The plant displays the characteristic palmate leaves of aibika, with deeply lobed, hand-shaped foliage arranged alternately along the green stem. The leaves are rendered in various shades of green with prominent venation, showing the natural variation in leaf size and shape typical of this species. Some leaves show the distinctive three to five-lobed pattern characteristic of Abelmoschus manihot. A Chinese inscription at the lower left corner reads “huang shukui hua 黃蜀葵花”, aibika. 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. 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/32414 SUBJECTS ------------------- plant plant TECHNIQUES ---------- watercolour and some bodycolour heightened with white on thin paper, backed with second sheet, and both tipped in on the album sheet watercolour CATEGORIES ------ category: drawing DATING ------ culture: 19th Century CREATORS -------- maker: Canton workshop DIMENSIONS ---------- dimension: Height units: mm value: 312 dimension: Width units: mm value: 399