CHINESE SCHOOL

CHINESE SCHOOL, 19TH C THE FLORA OF GREEN BANK HONG KONG, 1848 with contemporary pencil (one ink) inscriptions almost certainly by the botanists Robert Fortune (1812-1880) or John Lindley, FRS (1799-1865) No 5 Agapanthus Umbellatus, No 7 Lilium from Foochow, No13 Pomegranate, No 26 Hibiscus, No 28 Wightea coccinea ?, No 43 Renanthera Coccinea (Our plant), No 61 Plumbago rosea and No 125 Bauhinia - from Sydney, watercolour on paper (one on card), 36 x 23cm and c, unframed (8)Provenance: (possibly) commissioned by Robert Fortune from an unknown Chinese artist, c1848; with Peter Nahum, London. In his 'A Journey to the Tea Countries of China' (J Murray, 1852) the Scottish botanist and plant hunter Robert Fortune describes in detail the beautiful valley garden of Green Bank, that was 'under the fostering care of Mr Braine', and at that time the property of Messrs Dent & Co. Many of its plants had been transplanted from Mr Beale's Macao garden in 1845.