Seeds of Exchange: Canton & London in the 1700s
Historical paintings, drawings, maps and models tell the story of a little-known international botanical collaboration.
Opening Hours
Open Tue–Sun 10am–4pm
Closed Mon
Dates
11 Feb
-
10 May 2026
Ticket Information
Tickets to the exhibition are included in the museum entrance price
Museum tickets £16, concessions for National Art Pass holders, senior citzens, students, children, unemployed, carers.
Kids under 6 free.
Location Info
- Address
- Garden Museum, Lambeth Palace Road, London, UK
- AccessAble Link
- View Accessibility Info
Discover the exchange of botanical knowledge shared between Canton (now Guangzhou) and London between 1766-1773, in this unique exhibition at the Garden Museum, showcasing a collection of Chinese botanical art and research for the first time in Britain since it was commissioned 235 years ago.
Featuring 30 botanical paintings by the artist Mauk-Sow-U together with herbals, maps, models, a portrait of Whang At Tong 黃遏東 by Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), and watercolours and drawings of Canton from the V&A, Seeds of Exchange tells the story of a little-known international botanical collaboration.
Bradby Blake worked in Canton in the late 1760s until his death in 1773, during which time he commissioned more than 150 botanical paintings of Chinese plants, the makings of an unfinished ‘Compleat Chinensis’.
In his garden in Canton, he grew local plants such as Camellia japonica, Kumquat (Citrus japonica), and tangerines from seeds and cuttings, documenting and recording information about seed germination and growing conditions, sending seeds and plants to England.
The exhibition will bring together Bradby Blake’s archive of Chinese herbals and research material, to be reunited the botanical paintings they inspired for the first time in 235 years.