Picture Details
Hemp
Partner:
Natural History MuseumImage reference:
Fleming Collection 153.518Origin:
Indian SubcontinentDonor / Date:
John Fleming, Purchased 1882Size:
400 x 245 mmDescription:
Click here for more details
Note on reverse: 'The hemp plant is cultivated all over India for the purpose of intoxication but is never used for cordage. Instead Corchorus capsularis & olitorius, and [?]cololaria junce are used for making all sorts of cordage and canvas.' Initialled JK (initials of James Kerr, 1738-1782, surgeon, East India Company).
Fleming served in the Indian Medical Service in Bengal from 1768 to 1813, and at one point, he was temporarily in charge of the Calcutta Botanical Garden. Among the sets of drawings he collected of botanical subjects were many copies of Roxburgh's drawings, probably made by Roxburgh's own artists. The original illustrations made for Roxburgh remain in Calcutta today. 13 or 14 folio volumes of watercolour drawings of plants which had once been in Fleming's ownership were purchased by the Natural History Museum in 1882.
