In the Garden Museum’s next exhibition opening early 2026, discover the exchange of botanical knowledge shared between Canton (now Guangzhou) and London between 1766-1773, displaying a collection of Chinese botanical art and research for the first time in Britain since it was commissioned 235 years ago.

The exhibition will explore the relationship between John Bradby Blake (1745-1773), an English botanist who worked as a supercargo for the East India Company in the 1770s, his Chinese interlocutor Whang At Tong 黃遏東, and the botanical artists Bradby Blake commissioned to document plants native to Canton.

Featuring 30 botanical paintings by the artist Mauk-Sow-U together with herbals, maps, models, a portrait of Whang At Tong 黃遏東 by Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), and watercolors and drawings of Canton from the V&A, Seeds of Exchange will tell the story of a little-known international botanical collaboration. If you plan a trip to London, be sure to attend, and check their website https://www.gardenmuseum.org.uk/