Large folio. 169 original drawings in watercolor with body color; half are on oriental paper pasted onto album sheets, the remainder drawn directly onto the folios. With three blank folios at front and back. Bound in contemporary full green Morocco with gilt-stamped oriental geometric scroll decoration on front, back and spine, lettered with descriptive title on the spine, gilt ornate roll-tooled border on green paper pastedowns, and gilt edges. Provenance: George Folliott, his bookplate on front pastedown.

The drawings fall into a number of distinct groups: the first depicts figures and of those, the first six show women and children in combination or alone, while the remainder show women and children making music; after these come musical instruments, then four pictures of men playing instruments; next comes a group of pictures of birds, followed by a number of pictures of other animals including butterflies and other insects, centipedes, crabs, spiders, lizards and snakes; and finally, pictures of fish and eels. In total there are fifty figure drawings, twenty-eight musical instruments, nineteen birds, twenty-four fish and forty-eight other animals.

The figures are full of charming interplay, they generally show a lady with a child or younger companion, or occasionally two ladies of similar age, sometimes they appear to be engaged in a lesson and it is tempting to imagine a sequence for many of them and to read the series almost like a picture book; one wonders whether they are drawn from live models, for although the figures may be merely generic, the recurrence of a handful of recognizable faces and their characterful and lively depiction render that plausible.

The instruments are much larger, taking up the best part of the sheets; the hand responsible for the figures is extremely fine, the details are beautifully and delicately executed. The nineteen watercolors of birds which follow are superb and also take up entire pages in the majority of cases, they are exquisite: detailed, sharp and almost jewel-like in their coloring. The group of pictures of insects and other terrestrial animals show greater variation of style: some are similar to the birds, some have a drier quality, more like chalks or pastel (though still executed in watercolor), and a number are distinguished by the inclusion of the animal's shadow. This last trait is found in the majority of pictures of spiders, beetles, snakes and lizards, and they share a softer, hazier style and a darker palette. The drawings of fish, finally, include some similar in style to these, but are mostly executed in the glittering, well-defined style found in the images of birds. A measure of order has been introduced into the otherwise disparate group of animals other than birds and fish, which are arranged broadly speaking from small to large. There is a delight in the pure observation of living things, depicted for their own sake, which is characteristic of Chinese watercolours of this period; no background and little contextual detail is included.

However, some of the animal drawings, particularly of the fiercer types, show them interacting in a natural manner, bristling and ready to attack or defend themselves.

Interestingly, this album does not contain paintings on pith, the most economical support from a Chinese perspective and therefore cheaper, as well as desirable to Europeans because of the enamel-like quality it lends to the finished image; rather, the first portion of drawings are on thin 'chine' stuck down onto the European wove album sheets, and the others are painted directly on wove. The latter group are probably later, after trade was opened more widely in the 1840s, while those on 'chine' would have been relatively expensive, in comparison to pith paintings; they are all of high quality and large, again a mark of contemporary relative high value.

From 1757, when China first opened to foreign trade through the one trading port of Canton (Guangzhou), such works of art rapidly grew in popularity throughout Europe, accelerated yet further from 1842 when the treaty of Nanking forced the Chinese to open to further trade through other ports including Shanghai and Hong Kong. Factories devoted to such export paintings were established in these areas, usually producing unsigned work such as the sheets in this collection.

Unlike other export figure drawings, such as an album depicting noble ladies playing instruments in the National Library of Russia, they are not displayed against a background, contextualised within a scene as in the European pictorial tradition. Elements of stylistic cross-fertilisation such as this are often found in export painting; in this case however, the style of all the drawings is more classically Chinese.

Within China itself, where a hierarchy of traditional art practice had been established over hundreds of years, scenes of everyday life, flora and fauna fell into a popular but little valued category. To Western eyes, however, they were highly desirable exotica, executed with delicacy and skill, an easily transportable and affordable souvenir of a distant land and very foreign culture.

The first group depicts figures and of those, the first six show women and children in combination or alone, while the remainder show women and children making music. After these come musical instruments, then four pictures of men playing instruments. Next comes a group of pictures of birds, followed by a number of pictures of other animals including butterflies and other insects, centipedes, crabs, spiders, lizards and snakes; and finally, pictures of fish and eels. In total there are fifty figure drawings, twenty-eight musical instruments, nineteen birds, twenty-four fish and forty-eight other animals. A tally is jotted down in pencil in a nineteenth-century hand on the front fly-leaf and a shelf-mark on the back fly-leaf. The figure drawings are on chine and the majority, those showing women and children playing instruments, are numbered in pencil in top right 1-40, with Chinese characters in the top left corner; as the Arabic numerals are in some cases cut off where the chine is lacking, they were clearly numbered before being pasted onto the album sheets. One of the preceding six drawings has the Chinese character in lower right instead; four of them are numbered 70-73 and apparently comprise a portion from a separate and larger sequence; another one is marked with the letter 'e' in top right instead of a number, and therefore seems to fall into the same group as the final four figure drawings of men playing instruments, which are bound in after the series of isolated instruments, marked a-d and also bearing the Chinese characters in lower right rather than the top corner. The instruments are much larger, taking up the best part of the sheets, and often a distinguished by having a rectangle in the lower left corner of the chine cut away, which probably bore a Chinese inscription. The hand responsible for the figures is extremely fine and perhaps different to that seen in the more sweeping style of the instrument pictures, although where they occur the details are beautifully and delicately executed, suggesting that this may rather be a matter of subject than approach. The nineteen watercolours of birds, which follow, are superb and also take up entire pages in the majority of cases, though drawn directly onto the album sheets. They are exquisite: detailed, sharp and almost jewel-like in their colouring. The group of pictures of insects and other terrestrial animals show greater variation of style: some are similar to the birds, some have a drier quality, more like chalks or pastel (though still executed in watercolour), and a number are distinguished by the inclusion of the animal's shadow. This last trait is found in the majority of pictures of spiders, beetles, snakes and lizards, and they share a softer, hazier style and a darker palette. The drawings of fish, finally, include some similar in style to these, but are mostly executed in the glittering, well-defined style found in the images of birds. A measure of order has been introduced into the otherwise disparate group of animals other than birds and fish, which are arranged broadly speaking from small to large. There is a delight in the pure observation of living things, depicted for their own sake, which is characteristic of Chinese watercolours of this period; no background and little contextual detail is included. However, some of the animal drawings, particularly of the fiercer types, show them interacting in a natural manner, bristling and ready to attack or defend themselves. The figure drawings are full of charming interplay. They generally show a lady with a child or younger companion, or occasionally two ladies of similar age; sometimes they appear to be engaged in a lesson and it is tempting to imagine a sequence for many of them and to read the series almost like a picture book. One also wonders whether they are drawn from live models, for although the figures may be merely generic, the recurrence of a handful of recognisable faces and their characterful and lively depiction render that plausible. Scenes include a child lighting a small firework while a lady prepares to sound a pair of cymbals; another blowing a shell while a lady beats a drum,;two ladies dancing, one holding a tambourine and the other a flute; and two women, one older than the other, both playing stringed instruments like lutes.

Provenance: the bookplate of George Folliott probably relates to an amateur who built himself a modest mansion at Vicars Cross outside Chester and died in 1851. His house contained a top-lit gallery designed to display part of his collection, which included a small Rembrandt portrait of a man, as exhibited in 1847 and subsequently verified when the larger portion of his collection appeared for sale through Sotheby's in 1930. A descriptive catalogue from 1828 of the collection belonging to Mr William Harwood Folliott, of Chester, who was most probably a relation, includes a miniature portrait of 'G. Folliott' and a couple of landscape watercolours by the same. It also included stuffed animals, drawings of flowers and birds, and several albums including 'Large Book, weight 48lb, containing 321 Prints, many of which were brought from the Continent by Mr Folliott. Foreign travel and an interest in acquiring works on paper, including natural history, clearly ran strong.

This is a rare and exceedingly attractive testament to a number of strands of European culture at the middle of the nineteenth century: travel, the taste for the oriental, and an interest in the natural world and its categorisation.

Full list of Plates

Lady with a child on her back, directed slightly to left. On chine. Chinese character TL on separate piece of chine pasted in.

Lady with a child strapped to her back, both holding a small object, half turned to left. On chine. Ditto Annotated TR 'e'

Lady with a child strapped to her back, profile to left. On chine. Ditto. Annotated TR '70'

Lady with a child strapped to her back, back to the viewer. Ditto. Annotated TR '71'

Little boy holding a cherry twig, turned to right, looking to left. Ditto. Annotated TR '72'

Little girl holding a peach, turned to right. Ditto. Annotated TR '73'

Lady seated to left holding a tambourine and other instrument, with a young girl beside her to left who looks back at her. Ditto. Annotated TR '1'

Lady standing turned to left instructing a young girl who plays a drum hanging around her neck and set at waist level. Ditto. Annotated TR '2'

Lady seated turned to right, playing a hollow pot instrument, while a young girl standing behind her plays a lyre-like instrument. Ditto. Annotated TR '3'

Lady seated turned to right playing an instrument like a small lute with a bow, on her knee like a viol, watched by a young girl holding a fan who stands behind her to left. Ditto. Annotated TR '4'

Lady seated to right, playing a pair of cymbals, and looking back at a young girl standing beside her to left who plays a smaller pair. Ditto. Annotated TR '5'

Lady standing in profile on the right instructing a young girl who plays a wind instrument with a long, narrow cylindrical end. Ditto. Annotated TR '6'

Lady seated on a rock turned to right, playing a long, narrow trumpet, watched by a young girl holding a smaller pipe who stands behind her to left. Ditto. Annotated TR '7'

Lady seated facing right, playing a small rattle with a stick, while a little boy on the right dances. Ditto. Annotated TR '8'

Lady seated facing left, playing an instrument with nine brass cymbals set in a frame, which is held by a young girl standing beside her. Ditto. Annotated TR '9'

Lady seated facing left playing a long lyre-like instrument, while a young girls standing on the left holds a small dish. Ditto. Annotated TR '10'

Lady seated facing left playing a long-necked lute, while a young girl prepares to place a flower in her hair. Ditto. Annotated TR '11'

Lady seated on a bench facing left, playing a large lute, while a young girl beside her plays a small cymbal. Ditto. Annotated TR '12'

Lady standing turned slightly to left, playing a rectangular cymbal-like instrument held by a young girl beside her. Ditto. Annotated TR '13'

Lady standing facing left, playing a drum strung on the back of a young boy walking ahead of her. Ditto.

Lady standing turned to left, holding a fan, with a young boy beside her on the right who plays a cymbal. Ditto. Annotated TR '14'

Lady seated turned to left, playing a long-necked instrument with a small cylindrical base using a bow, while a young girl beside her plays a wind rattle. Ditto. Annotated TR '15'

Lady standing facing left, playing a lyre-like instrument set on a table, while a companion plays a long narrow pipe. Ditto. Annotated TR '16'

Lady seated at a table playing a bell hanging from a frame, while a young girl on the left plays another. Ditto. Annotated TR '17'

Lady standing facing right playing a long horn pipe with the end bent back, while a young boy plays a small wind rattle. Ditto. Annotated TR '18'

Lady seated facing left playing a long-necked lute, while a young girl beside her plays a drum slung at her hip. Ditto. Annotated TR '19'

Two young girls, one on the left dancing and playing a circular tambourine, the other dancing and holding a long strip tambourine. Ditto. Annotated TR '20'

Lady seated facing left playing a drum set on a small stand while a young girl standing behind fans her. Ditto. Annotated TR '22'

Lady standing turned to right playing a long stringed lyre held for her by a young girl. Ditto. Annotated TR '23'.

Two ladies, one standing on the left playing a large cymbal resting on a three-legged stand, while the other holds an open fan. Ditto. Annotated TR '24'

Lady seated to left, playing a mouth organ, while a young girl beside her holds a pair of cup-like castanets. Ditto. Annotated TR '25'

Lady standing turned to left playing a long stringed instrument resting on a table, with a young boy standing beside her. Ditto. Annotated TR '26'

Lady seated on a bench turned to right, playing a pair of cymbals while a young girl stands nearby, resting her head in her hands attentively. Ditto. Annotated TR '27'

Lady standing turned to right, striking a large cymbal on a stand, while a young boy lights a small petard. Ditto. Annotated TR '28'

Lady standing turned to right playing a small cymbal while a young boy beside her dances. Ditto. Annotated TR '29'

Lady standing turned to right playing a small pipe while a young girl beside her holds a dish covered with a cloth. Ditto. Annotated TR '30'

Lady standing turned to left playing a cymbal while a young girl beside her holds up an open fan or pair of clappers. Ditto. Annotated TR '31'

Lady seated to right playing a small pipe, while a young girl beside her holds a small lidded dish. Ditto. Annotated TR '32'

Lady seated to right playing a small flute, with a young girl standing behind her, hands on the back of her chair. Ditto. Annotated TR '33'

Lady seated on a bench playing a long lyre-like instrument with a pair of batons, with a companion beside her holding a long narrow pipe. Ditto. Annotated TR '34'

Two young women standing turned to left, one holding a fan and watching the other play a pair of small hand bells with long tassels. Ditto. Annotated TR '35'

Lady seated to left playing a large drum, while a young boy beside her blows into a shell. Ditto. Annotated TR '36'

Lady seated turned playing a large lute, while a young girl seated opposite her on the left plays another. Ditto. Annotated TR '37'

Lady standing playing a transverse flute, while a young girl on the left plays a small cymbal. Ditto. Annotated TR '38'

Lady standing to left playing a large gong set on a tall stand, while a young girl behind her holds a book. Ditto. Annotated '39'

Lady seated on a bench facing left playing a small cymbal, watched by a young boy. Ditto. Annotated TR '40'

Large kettle drum and beater. Ditto.

Hollow cup bell and beater. Ditto

Drum with fluted skirt, string and paper of beaters. Ditto

Cymbal and beater. Ditto

Pari of long wooden clappers joined with a tie. Ditto

Leather drum and beater. Ditto

Mouth organ. Ditto

Pair of flutes. Ditto

Long-necked small lute. Ditto. Rectangular area cut away from the chine, LL

Small cylindrical-based stringed instrument with long neck and bow. Ditto.

Small trumpet. Ditto

Ten cymbals set in a free-standing vertical frame. Ditto

Rectangular cymbal and beater. Ditto

Small lyre-like instrument. Ditto

Cylindrical drum with strap and pair of beaters. Ditto. Annotated TR '55'

Oval cymbal and beater. Ditto

Kettle Drum or bell and three beaters folded in a strip of material. Ditto

Oval Cymbal and beater. Ditto. Annotated TR '58'

Large drum with pair of beaters. Ditto

Pair of cymbals. Ditto

Oval cymbal and beater. Ditto

Lyre-like instrument. Ditto. Rectangular area cut away from the chine, LL

Long-necked small-based lute. Ditto. Ditto.

Large-based small lute. Ditto. Ditto.

Teardrop lute. Ditto.

Small-based long-necked lute and bow. Ditto

Long-handled rattle or wind drum. Ditto

Long-necked curved bell-ended trumpet. Ditto. Rectangular area cut away from the chine, LL

Man standing a playing a large drum set on a tall stand. On chine. Chinese character LR. Annotated TR 'a'

Man seated playing a small cylindrical drum on a stand, with a pair of beaters. Ditto. Annotated TR 'b'

Man standing facing left playing a gong. Ditto. Annotated TR 'c'

Man standing facing left playing a mouth organ. Ditto. Annotated TR 'd'

Green parakeet on a branch of with pink flowers

Pigeon standing on a scrubby hillock

Small finch-like bird on a branch with orange leaves

Two finch-like birds on a white-blossom branch

Grey bird on a rose branch

Long-tailed bird on a branch with pear-like fruit

Two finch-like birds on a branch with thorns

Bird with a long beak and large feet standing beside a plant with three-pointed leaves and white flowers

Pigeon standing on a stump with a red-fruited plant behind

Stork standing beside a plant with pink flowers

Plump black with with spots and stripes standing on a grassy hillock

Colourful bird with a pale crest beside the wings, standing at the edge of water

Two green finch-like birds on a twig with yellow flowers and round fruit

Long-tailed bird with long legs standing on a rocky outcrop with sweet william-like flowers

White parakeet on a branch with teardrop red fruit and vine-like leaves

Black bird on a bare lichen-studded branch

Long-tailed pheasant-like bird on a rocky outcrop with yellow flowers

Long-tailed bird on a twig with white blossom

Small brown bird on a twig with pink blossom

Three butterflies, a beetle and an insect

Three butterflies

Three butterflies and a dragonfly

Three butterflies

Ditto

Four butterflies and a fly

Two butterflies and two insects

Butterfly and caterpillar on a leafy twig, and a beetle

Two butterflies

Butterfly, hermit-crab, dragonfly and spider

Butterfly, moth, hermit-crab and insect

Two butterflies, a beetle and two wasp-like insects

Three butterflies

Ditto

Three butterflies, a dragonfly, a moth and a beetle

Two butterflies and a beetle

Two butterflies, a moth and two beetles

Two butterflies and a dragonfly

Two butterflies and an insect

Three months and two insects

Three butterflies

Three butterflies, a fly and a grasshopper

Three butterflies

Grasshopper, lizard, beetle and two flies

Chameleon, crab and caterpillar

Crab, beetle and caterpillar

Lizard and crab and twig

Spider, centipede, insect and two wood lice

Snake

Caterpillar, wood louse, beetle and insect

Grasshopper and spider

Eel or snake

Lizard, spider, three insects and a caterpillar

Caterpillar, beetle and clawed insect

Four caterpillars

Centipede and spider

Two caterpillars and a lizard

Lizard and fly

Beetle and two flies

Lizard, caterpillar, grasshopper, moth and fly

Centipede, lizard, beetle and fly

Two flies, snail and beetle

Caterpillar and two moths

Dragonfly, two flies and moth

Caterpillar, two flies and beetle

Lizard and three caterpillars

Grey-brown fish

White-yellow fish

Two eels

Brown-green fish

Large grey fish

Sword-fish

Two flying fish

Flying fish

Ditto

Two flying fish

Ditto

Ditto

Grey fish

Ditto

Ditto

Green fish

Amber fish

Eel and fishy ark brown-grey fish

Eel

Grey fish

Green-grey fish

Silver grey fish