Abstract
The collection of botanical paintings commissioned by John Bradby Blake (1745–1773) from a Chinese artist in Canton c. 1770, is one of the star items in the outstanding collection of botanical books and paintings assembled by Rachel Lambert Mellon and now housed in the library of the Oak Spring Garden Foundation. A remarkably similar collection, commissioned from several Indian artists by Dr. James Kerr (1737–1782) in Bengal and Bihar, is now scattered among the collections of the Natural History Museum London, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the New York Botanical Garden. Discussion of the Blake and Kerr collections is preceded by some introductory background to the creation of such art – its hybrid nature, its role in the visual documentation of useful plants in European, Asian and colonial contexts, and the botanical and artistic networks in which the two collections were created.
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