A variety of medicinal herb albums. Total of twelve volumes. One thousand two hundred illustrations. Watercolor. Export paintings. Approximately 1773-1776-PDF

This "Atlas of Various Chinese Medicinal Herbs" was painted by a Guangzhou studio for European export in the late Qing Dynasty. The set consists of twelve volumes, each containing one hundred paintings, accompanied by Chinese characters for explanations. The content includes one thousand two hundred types of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, such as insects, stones, metals, plants, flowers, fruits, and vines. These watercolor paintings were approximately created in the late 18th century.

These Chinese painting workshops adjusted their image in response to the expectations of European buyers. In the era without images, missionaries/scholars from the West recorded their understanding of the Eastern world through the medium of painting. These paintings also gave the Western world a more intuitive sense of the ancient Eastern countries. The 18th and 19th centuries were the heyday of Guangzhou's export paintings. During this period, a group of outstanding early Chinese export painters emerged. They left behind some paintings of considerable quality, but their original real names remain unknown.