Picture Details
Tamarind bark
Partner:
Kew GardensImage reference:
EBC59857Origin:
Berar, Madhya Pradesh, IndiaDonor / Date:
Paris Exhibition, 1900Size:
W 50-65; L 130-140 mmDescription:
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The bark was originally in the collection of the India Museum in London. The India Museum was formed by the East India Company in 1801 to display artefacts, natural history specimens and illustrations from the Indian subcontinent. The Museum was closed in 1879 and its collections dispersed among the London Museums and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The bark was then displayed at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900 by the Divisional Forest Officer of British India as part of the India Section. This world fair was held to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to encourage development into the next. There is a reference to the use of this bark as a medicine but we are not sure how this would have been used. It was collected from the Wum Division in Berar when Berar was a province in British India, it is now part of Madhya Pradesh.
