Darwin (c1760) represents one of the Whitworth Art Gallery’s most important recent acquisitions and, with a twist in its story, this exemplary English piece was actually found intact in a house in Aix-en- Provence, France. The exotic scene accurately imitates a typical 18th Century hand-painted Chinese paper, but the tax stamp, still visible on the back of the original rag paper, categorically identifies it as English in origin. The colours interpreted in the ‘Serein’ colourway are very true to the original - a surprisingly (and wonderfully) well-preserved archive document.
