Exhibition features historic botanical ties
This exhibition is the first time the papers, including an early bilingual pictionary and plant catalogs known as herbals, and 30 of the collection's 130 watercolor paintings, have been reunited and displayed together.
Curator Emma House said the true value of the collection of pictures and research notes is the insight it offers into an early exchange of knowledge between the two cultures.
"It's unique to have the archive material — we know the name of the person who did the research and we know who they were," she explained. "Often, we know who the British person involved was, but we have no information on the local input. Here, we have all this and we know who the people were. Whang At Tong's voice comes through.
"After Blake died, he didn't need to come to London and bring the collection, but it was obviously important to him, so, he safeguarded the project and brought it over, and stayed working with Blake's father. His name is mentioned a lot (in the annotations)."
Blake was sent to China for commercial reasons, to study, catalog, and report back to his employers about local plants, with an eye on commercial exploitation. But this collection was compiled outside of work, in his free time, as a genuine labor of love, because of his clear passion for the subject.
Blake's father shared his enthusiasm for botany, which ensured the collection came into being in the first place. And, after his death, the work was continued and preserved, allowing the exhibition to take place centuries later.
"It was quite a long-term project, as they had to return to different plants at different times of year, such as flowering time or fruiting time, to update the pictures, and they had to keep records," explained House. "We don't know a great deal about Mak Sau, although you can tell that the pictures have all been done by one person, but Blake's notes talk a lot about Whang At Tong's local knowledge and input."
