Ashmolean Exhibition Traces How Empire and Botany Shaped Britain's Gardens
The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford presents 'In Bloom: How Plants Changed Our World', an exhibition exploring the intertwined histories of botany, empire, and global trade. Running until 16 August, the show features over 100 artworks, botanical paintings, historical curiosities, and contemporary pieces. It traces how plants like tea, tulips, and orchids traveled through imperial networks, often with exploitative consequences. The exhibition highlights the role of the East India Company, Scottish surgeons, and plant hunters such as Robert Fortune, who smuggled tea plants from China to India in the 1840s. The Wardian Case, invented by Dr. Nathaniel Ward in 1829, enabled long-distance plant transport. The Ashmolean's founding collection was assembled by John Tradescant the Elder and Younger. The Oxford Botanic Garden, founded in 1621 by Henry Danvers, is the oldest in the UK. The exhibition also examines the ecological and economic impacts of monocultures and the opium trade.
Key facts
- Exhibition 'In Bloom: How Plants Changed Our World' at Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, until 16 August.
- Over 100 artworks including botanical paintings, historical objects, and contemporary works.
- Explores the link between botany and empire, focusing on the East India Company.
- Highlights plant hunters like Robert Fortune, who smuggled tea plants from China to India in the 1840s.
- The Wardian Case, invented in 1829 by Dr. Nathaniel Ward, facilitated long-distance plant transport.
- Oxford Botanic Garden founded in 1621 by Henry Danvers, 1st Earl Danby.
- Ashmolean's founding collection came from John Tradescant the Elder and Younger.
- Tea trade linked to the Opium Wars and British colonial expansion.
- Exhibition includes Company School paintings commissioned by Scottish surgeons.
- Dutchman Hendrik van Rheede compiled 'Hortus Malabaricus' (1678-1693), first survey of tropical botany in South Asia.
Entities
Artists
- John Tradescant the Elder
- John Tradescant the Younger
- Robert Fortune
- William Kerr
- John Reeves
- Nathaniel Wallich
- Vishnupersaud
- Claude Martin
- Hendrik van Rheede tot Drakestein
- Martyn Rix
- Vinita Damodaran
Institutions
- Ashmolean Museum
- Oxford Botanic Garden
- University of Oxford
- East India Company
- Horticultural Society of London
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
- Calcutta Botanical Garden
Locations
- Oxford
- United Kingdom
- China
- India
- Assam
- Sikkim
- Himalayas
- Canton
- Hong Kong
- Shanghai
- Ningpo
- Foochow
- Amoy
- Pondicherry
- Lucknow
- Malabar
- Central Asia
- Pamirs
- Ottoman Empire
- Netherlands
- France
- Russia
- North America
- South Africa
- Americas