Chinese Perfume Plant (Aglaia odorata)
This is a Chinese export watercolour depicting Aglaia odorata, commonly known as Chinese perfume plant or mock lemon. The illustration features the plant's characteristic compound inflorescences composed of numerous tiny golden-yellow flowers arranged in radiating clusters. These flower heads emerge from the leaf axils on slender green stems, showing the typical umbel-like formation. The dark green leaves are arranged alternately along the green stems and have parallel venation. Several flower clusters are shown in different stages of development, from tight buds to fully opened sprays. A Chinese inscription at the lower left corner reads “baizhu lanhua 白珠蘭花”, Chinese perfume plant. 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.
Height: 307 mm
Width: 389 mm
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1973) by Fairhaven, Henry Rogers Broughton
Chinese
Chinese export art
Chinese export watercolour
Support composed of paper
Watercolour : Watercolour and some bodycolour on thin paper, backed with second sheet, and both tipped in on the album sheet
Accession number: PD.133-1973.8
Primary reference Number: 32417
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) "Chinese Perfume Plant (Aglaia odorata)" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/32417 Accessed: 2025-12-06 08:00:34
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/32417
|title=Chinese Perfume Plant (Aglaia odorata)
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-06 08:00:34|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-32417
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