Study of an Oriole

The tradition of flora and fauna painting in China was born out of the academic painting produced during the Song dynasty (960-1279). Bird and flower painting developed as an independent tradition and incorporated Taoist principles such as the value of harmony in nature. During the late 18th and early 19th century, employees of the East India Company commissioned Chinese artists to paint studies of the new species they encountered, either to send home as souvenirs or to accompany specimens to the universities and botanic gardens of Europe. It is often difficult to ascertain the origins of these watercolours, as Chinese artists worked across the China, Malaysia, and Singapore.

This watercolour depicts a species of Old World oriole from the family Oriolidae. Despite the remarkable detail of the watercolour, with care taken over every feather, the bird is difficult to identify. It is likely to be an Eurasian golden oriole (Oriolus oriolus), a slender-billed oriole (Oriolus tenuirostris), an Indian golden oriole (Oriolus kundoo), or a black-naped oriole (Oriole chinensis). These species are recognisable by their bright yellow plumage and black masks and wing tips.

A study of a black-naped oriole, painted in a similarly bold style, belongs to the William Farquhar Collection of Natural History Drawings in the National Museum of Singapore (accession no. 1995-02391). For more birds in a similar style, see A Study of a Spotted Dove and A Study of a Chinese Hwamei.