Picture Details
Chilli pepper plant and fruit, watercolour and ink on paper.
Partner:
Kew GardensImage reference:
ILLUS114.0/10.0ROXOrigin:
Calcutta, IndiaArtist / Date:
Unknown, 1790-1812Donor / Date:
1859Size:
435 x 355 mmDescription:
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William Roxburgh (1751-1815) entered the service of the East India Company after several voyages as a ship's surgeon. On his appointment as Superintendent to the Botanic Gardens in Calcutta, Roxburgh applied his scientific training to study, describe and record the many plants that grew in India. To illustrate his descriptions Roxburgh employed a team of Indian artists, who provided multiple copies of each painting. Illustrated here is a particular species of pepper, which Roxburgh noted was "tinged with the prevailing dark purple colour of the whole plant, particularly the nerves and veins". The variety of fruit produced by different species can be seen below, for example, Figure 4 represents Capsicum frutescens, "a pointed variety, with the fruit yellow, or of a bright orange colour when ripe, which the Hindoos call simply 'gachh murich', it is the sort most used, particularly when dried, in which state it is found in every market".
Bibliographic Info:
Roxburgh, W. (1874), Flora Indica. Thacker, Spink and Co., Calcutta.
