A STUDY OF A LOTUS FLOWER (NELUMBIUM SPECIOSUM)
Company School, possibly Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal or Southern India, first half 19th century

Watercolour, pen and ink on woven paper, the vertical composition depicting a masterful rendition of a blooming lotus flower, the national flower of India, on the lower right corner the Latin name of the specie, the pictorial technique mixing Western-inspired botanical drawings with local aesthetics focusing on the overall achievement rather than on the need for scientific accuracy, mounted and framed on a white cardboard panel, 45.3cm x 31.5cm.

This drawing by an unidentified Indian watercolourist comes from a period when there was a surge of interest in botany in India. This drew a number of great botanists to the region, where they helped establish what later became an artistic genre often categorised under the broad umbrella term of 'Company School'.