Red-Crowned Crane

Foreign flora and fauna were of great interest to British botanists in the 18th and 19th centuries, and such enthusiasm gradually filtered down to the general public. Travellers often returned to Britain with paintings depicting numerous species of birds. This painting of a red-crowned crane is drawn on western paper, specially imported into China for its quality. It is an example of a type of picture that was mass produced in China for European visitors. It was made in Canton (Guangzhou) in southern China, which in the 18th century became the principal – and later the only – trading port at which Europeans were permitted to buy Chinese goods.