IDENTIFIERS
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id:	32418
accession number:	PD.133-1973.9

DATE AUDIT
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created:	Saturday 6 August 2011
updated:	Thursday 28 August 2025

DESCRIPTIVE DATA
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object type: This is a Chinese export watercolour depicting Bombax ceiba, commonly known as red silk cotton tree or kapok. The illustration features a curved woody branch displaying the plant's most distinctive characteristics during its flowering period. Two prominent coral-red to orange-red flowers are shown in full bloom, each has five broad, fleshy petals surrounding a dense cluster of yellow stamens. Multiple green buds in various stages of development are scattered along the branch. The foliage is represented by a single compound leaf showing the palmate arrangement characteristic of Bombax ceiba, with five to seven elongated leaflets radiating from a central point. The leaflets display the typical lanceolate shape with prominent parallel venation. A Chinese inscription at the lower left corner reads “mumianhua木棉花”, red silk cotton. 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
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text license status:	CC0
image license status:	CC-BY-NC-SA

OWNERSHIP
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instutition: The Fitzwilliam Museum
department: Paintings, Drawings and Prints
collection:	Broughton Collection

STABLE URL
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url:	https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/32418


SUBJECTS
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plant
plant



TECHNIQUES
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watercolour and some bodycolour with white on thin paper, backed with second sheet, and both tipped in on the album sheet
watercolour

CATEGORIES
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category: drawing

DATING
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culture:	19th Century

CREATORS
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maker: Canton workshop


IMAGES

surrogate: large
format: jpeg
location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/portfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/647/784/large_PD_133_1973_9_mas.jpg
height: 1365 pixels
width: 1024 pixels

surrogate: mid
format: jpeg
location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/portfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/647/784/mid_PD_133_1973_9_mas.jpg
height: 667 pixels
width: 500 pixels

surrogate: original
format: jpeg
location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/portfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/647/784/PD_133_1973_9_mas.jpg
height: 5344 pixels
width: 4008 pixels

surrogate: preview
format: jpeg
location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/portfolio/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C/647/784/preview_PD_133_1973_9_mas.jpg
height: 333 pixels
width: 250 pixels