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The Architectural Flower: Victoria Amazonica and the Great Exhibition 

Victoria amazonica, otherwise known as the giant Victoria waterlily, is only partly visible. Their leaves float. Quilt-like and waxy, round and flat but crenelated underwater, with cantilevered ribs radiating from a central stem, nearly two inches deep. Unlike the white waterlilies native to Europe, Victoria amazonica was like nothing seen before. A “vegetable wonder”. A […]

The Colonial and Indian Exhibition, London, 1886

Following on from our last blog post about The Maori Collection, Josiah Martin’s photographs of Maori culture and the New Zealand landscape were exhibited at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, where he won a medal. It’s an incredibly interesting event, and seems particularly relevant as we head into the madness of autumn art fairs in […]