Return To Oxford

So we went back to oxford this time we were on the hunt for botanical illustration and its different usages in design and functions. (aka. the butterfly hunt)

first stop was my favorite emporium of oddities and history The Pitt Rivers Museum.

Butterflies and tropical flowers were a favorite decoration in Asian countries like China and Japan. even on an Indonesian short-sword from the 18th century.

Next stop was the same building, but this time it was all about the Natural History collection in Oxford. This is the right place to learn about Butterflies:

Butterflies are flying insects with two pairs of scaly wings and two segmented, clubbed antennae. Like all insects, they have a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), 3 pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and a segmented exoskeleton.

We learned about how the wings are constructed, how the camouflage of a butterfly works and about the was some species disguise themselves as other less tasty specimens to survive.

And what’s natural history with a live bee hive to look at and watch…. 🙂

we also found examples of the useage of botanical illustration. Including a very old Asian parchment depicting a bird winged butterfly from southeast Asia…. ooo!