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Vol.
17
A P R –J U N 2 0 21
Issue
01
10 / A Banquet of Malayan Fruits 16 / Nature Conservation – A History 22 / A Beastly Business
38 / The Nature of Poetry 44 / Finding Magic Everywhere 50 / Plantation Agriculture
The
Nature Issue
Deforestation’s
deadly impact
in early Singapore
p. 56
Director’s Our cultural beliefs influence how we view the natural environment as well as our understanding
and attitudes towards animals and plants. These views and perceptions impact our relationship
Note
with the natural world.
Some people see nature as wild and chaotic while others view nature as orderly, acting
according to natural “laws”. There are those who perceive nature as an economic resource to
be exploited for profit or for human enjoyment, yet there are also many who strongly believe
that nature should be left untouched to flourish in its natural state.
This issue of BiblioAsia looks at how human activities over the past 200 years have affected
and transformed our physical environment, and how we are still living with the consequences
today. This special edition accompanies an exciting new exhibition launched by the National
Library – “Human x Nature” – at the Gallery on Level 10 of the National Library Building on Victoria
Street. Do visit the exhibition, which will run until September this year.
Georgina Wong, one of the curators of the show, opens this issue by exploring the relationship
between European naturalists and the local community as plants and animals new to the West were
uncovered. Not unexpectedly, indigenous input was often played down, dismissed, or exoticised.
Farish Noor examines this phenomenon by taking a hard look at Walter Skeat’s book Malay Magic.
Faris Joraimi sees a similar impulse at work as he examines the beautiful paintings of
Malayan fruits in the Dumbarton Oaks collection, which relied on anonymous Chinese artists
and Malay informants.
One exception to the rule was Ishak Ahmad, whose knowledge helped create an under-
standing of the economic potential of the seas around Malaya. Anthony Medrano outlines the
contributions of the man who, among other things, was the father of Yusof Ishak, Singapore’s
first president.
Turning our gaze landward, we look at the environmental destruction caused by humans.
Timothy Pwee documents the history of plantation agriculture as Chia Jie Lin (the exhibition’s
co-curator) examines the impact of deforestation caused by these plantations. Ang Seow Leng
explores how attitudes towards conservation have evolved over time while Fiona Tan writes
about a failed attempt to control the wildlife trade in 1930s Singapore.
For most city dwellers, the closest we have to nature is the greenery in our housing estates
and the easily accessible parks and recreational areas. All this is thanks to a deliberate effort to turn
Singapore into a Garden City. Lim Tin Seng tells us how that vision has evolved since the 1960s.
Also, don’t miss Michelle Heng’s essay about Singaporean poets who have tackled nature
in their work and Jacqueline Lee’s piece highlighting how writers of speculative fiction envisage
Tan Huism Singapore’s environmental future.
Director We hope this issue amply demonstrates that the fates of humanity and nature are ulti-
National Library mately intertwined.
Editorial & Production
Editor-in-Chief Contributors Jacqueline Lee Please direct all correspondence to: On the cover
Jimmy Yap Ang Seow Leng Lim Tin Seng National Library Board A painting of the nutmeg plant from the William
Anthony Medrano Michelle Heng 100 Victoria Street #14-01 Farquhar Collection of Natural History Drawings,
Editorial Consultant Chia Jie Lin National Library Building c. 1810. Gift of G.K. Goh. Courtesy of the National
Francis Dorai Timothy Pwee Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board.
Faris Joraimi Singapore 188064
Farish A. Noor Email: ref@nlb.gov.sg
Senior Editor Website: www.nlb.gov.sg
Veronica Chee Fiona Tan Design and Print
Oxygen Studio
Georgina Wong Designs Pte Ltd
All rights reserved.
National Library Board, Singapore, 2021.
BiblioAsia is a free quarterly publication produced by the National ISSN 0219-8126 (print)
Library Board. It features articles on the history, culture and heritage ISSN 1793-9968 (online)
of Singapore within the larger Asian context, and has a strong focus The views of the writers and contributors do not
reflect the views of the Publisher. No part of this
on the collections and services of the National Library. BiblioAsia is publication may be reproduced in any form or by
any means without prior written permission from
distributed to local and international libraries, academic institutions, the Publisher and copyright owner(s).
government ministries and agencies, as well as members of the public. biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg
Whilst reasonable care has been taken to ensure
The online edition can be accessed with the QR code on the right. the accuracy of the information in this publication,
the Publisher accepts no legal liabilities
whatsoever for the contents of this magazine.
biblioasia
CONTENTS VOLUME
ISSUE
17
01
APR
JUN
2021
01 Director’s Note
04 Singapore’s Environmental Histories
Georgina Wong explores how European naturalists 10 The paintings of fruits in the Dumbarton
Oaks collection feature fruit names in Jawi. 16 Is there hope for animals like the
critically endangered Sunda pangolin? 22 An attempt in the 1930s to regulate the
wildlife trade in Singapore failed.
leveraged indigenous knowledge to catalogue the natural
world and also shares highlights from the National
Library’s latest exhibition, “Human x Nature”.
10 A Banquet of Malayan Fruits
Who commissioned the beautiful paintings of local fruits
in the Dumbarton Oaks collection? Faris Joraimi attempts
to unravel the mystery.
16 Nature Conservation in Singapore
Over the last 200 years, the balance between biodiversity
conservation and development has evolved, says
Ang Seow Leng.
22 A Beastly Business
Fiona Tan looks at the attempt to regulate the wildlife
28 Local fishermen received a helping
hand from the father of Singapore’s first
president.
62 The Garden City vision has blossomed
over the years.
trade in Singapore in the 1930s.
28 Ishak Ahmad and the Story of Malayan Waters
A senior officer in the Fisheries Department, Ishak Ahmad
helped boost the Malayan fishing industry and the work of
local fishermen, says Anthony Medrano.
34 Man vs Nature: Speculative Fiction and the Environment
Jacqueline Lee looks at works of speculative fiction that
imagine a Singapore beset by rising sea levels and mass
extinctions.
38 The Nature of Poetry
Michelle Heng reveals how poets writing in English have
charted the changing contours of Singapore and Malaya.
44 Finding Magic Everywhere
According to Farish A. Noor, much of the magic in Walter
Skeat’s book Malay Magic is an illusion.
50 From Gambier to Rubber: Plantation
Agriculture in Singapore
Timothy Pwee guides us through the pepper, gambier,
nutmeg, pineapple and rubber plantations that once
blanketed Singapore.
56 Deforestation in 19th-century Singapore
Rampant deforestation made Singapore warmer, a
phenomenon that was apparent as early as the 1840s,
says Chia Jie Lin.
62 Of Parks, Gardens and Trees: The Greening of Singapore
Lim Tin Seng traces the journey from the first botanical
garden in 1822 to the “City in Nature” vision in 2020.
Image credits: (This page) Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection.
(Facing page clockwise from the top) Wildlife Reserves Singapore; Tong Seng
Mun Collection, National Archives of Singapore; Ministry of Information and
the Arts Collection, National Archives of Singapore; Skizzen aus Singapur and
56 Jungle fires were common because burning
was the usual practice for clearing forests for
crop cultivation.
Djohor, National Library, Singapore; National Archives of Singapore.
BIBLIOASIA APR - JUN 2021 VOL. 17 ISSUE 01 FEATURE
mid-20th century, the research fund of the
Georgina Wong is a Curator with Programmes &
Exhibitions at the National Library, Singapore. She is
Colonial Office in London had grown to one
co-curator of the “Human x Nature: Environmental million pounds sterling annually.2 While the
Histories of Singapore” exhibition. EIC’s primary agenda for natural history
research was to maximise the company’s
profit, naturalists and scientists were also
motivated by the prospect of expanding
“[I]t is apparent that but few years
the frontiers of science.3
can elapse before the whole island
will be denuded of its indigenous European Study and Patronage
vegetation, when its climate will
The naturalists conducting research in
no doubt be materially altered
Southeast Asia had strong connections to
(probably for the worse), and
Europe and often built on the study and
countless tribes of interesting insects
collecting work of others in the same line with Charles Darwin in 1858,4 he is better
become extinct. I am therefore
of work. Naturalists would donate or sell remembered in this region for his research
working hard at the insects alone
their specimens in Europe and elsewhere into the natural history of the Malay archi-
for the present, and will give you
to be stored and displayed in museums pelago. He spent eight years, from 1854
some little notion of what I have
Georgina Wong explores the relationship between and research collections for further study. to 1862, exploring present-day Malaysia,
done and may hope to do.”1
t
This enabled other naturalists to examine Singapore and Indonesia, collecting and
the human and natural worlds, and shares highlights
the region’s flora and fauna remotely recording – by his own count – more than
from the National Library’s latest exhibition. – Alfred Russel Wallace, without having to leave Europe at all. 125,000 species of wildlife.5
Singapore, 9 May 1854 The collections of the famed natural- While in Singapore, Wallace spent a
ist Alfred Russel Wallace were extensively significant amount of time collecting over
studied across Europe, where he sold many 700 species of beetles in the Dairy Farm
The National Library’s latest exhibition, of his specimens in order to fund his expe- and Bukit Timah areas. In his letters and
“Human x Nature: Environmental Histories ditions. While best known for his work on his 1869 book, The Malay Archipelago,
of Singapore”, explores the history of hu- the theory of evolution, jointly published Wallace provides interesting perspec-
man relationships with nature on the island
over the last 200 years. These relation-
(Facing page) Famed naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace spent eight years, from 1854 to 1862, exploring present
ships – be they scientific study, sustenance Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, collecting and recording more than 125,000 species of wildlife. Shown here
farming or commercial exploitation – vary are illustrations of the king bird-of-paradise and the twelve-wired bird-of-paradise. Image reproduced from
between communities and have evolved Wallace, A.R. (1874). The Malay Archipelago: The Land of the Orang-utan, and the Bird of Paradise; a Narrative of
over time. As much of the ways in which Travel, with Studies of Man and Nature (between pp. 548 and 549). London: Macmillan. Retrieved from BookSG.
humans interact with the environment are Collection of the National Library, Singapore. (Call no.: RRARE 915.9804 WAL; Accession no.: B18835319E).
based on our understanding and perception (Top) A photograph of Alfred Russel Wallace taken in Singapore, 1862. Image reproduced from Marchant, J.
of the natural world, the exhibition begins (1916). Alfred Russel Wallace: Letters and Reminiscences (vol. I, between pp. 36 and 37). London, New York,
with an examination of the study of natural Toronto and Melbourne: Cassell and Company. Retrieved from Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
history in Southeast Asia. (Below) Wallace discovered and identified the gliding tree frog, Rhacophorus nigropalmatus, also known as
Wallace’s flying frog. It is found in Malaysia, Borneo and Sumatra. Image reproduced from Wallace, A.R. (1874).
The Study of Nature The Malay Archipelago: The Land of the Orang-utan, and the Bird of Paradise; a Narrative of Travel, with Studies
of Man and Nature (p. 38). London: Macmillan. Retrieved from BookSG. Collection of the National Library,
While the region has long been the subject Singapore. (Call no.: RRARE 915.9804 WAL; Accession no.: B18835319E).
of much fascination for travellers and ex-
plorers, especially for Europeans since the
16th century, the influx of naturalists and
scientists to the region only started in the
17th century and intensified throughout
the 18th century when the British and
Dutch East India companies began their
commercial and colonial efforts in earnest.
A thorough understanding of the environ-
ment was considered a key component of
colonial expansion as it enabled European
empires to seize control of merchant
economies, which relied heavily on the
trade of natural resources such as spices,
timber and plantation crops.
To this end, the British East India Com-
pany (EIC) – the commercial and colonial
arm of the British government – and later
the Colonial office, actively encouraged
and funded their employees’ efforts to
undertake natural history research. By the
04 05
BIBLIOASIA APR - JUN 2021 VOL. 17 ISSUE 01 FEATURE
tives on Singapore’s natural landscape Raffles also employed two young nity of universities, scientific organisations Yet these Europeans consistently
(Below) French entomologist and natural history dealer Henri Deyrolle named the beetle species Calodema
in the mid-19th century, lamenting that wallacei (centre) after Alfred Russel Wallace, whose collection he was studying. Images reproduced from French naturalists – Alfred Duvaucel and and historical societies that depended on relied on indigenous knowledge and
the virgin forest in the suburbs had been Deyrolle, H. (1864). Description des buprestides de la Malaisie (plate II). Brussels, Paris: [n.p.]. Retrieved from Pierre Médard Diard – who were on board a system of publishing and peer review. expertise to navigate the region, collect
entirely cleared for nutmeg and areca BookSG. Collection of the National Library, Singapore. (Call no.: RRARE 595.763095951 DEY-[SEA]; Accession the Indiana when Raffles and William Far- Authors who were a part of this system specimens, and identify and name species
palm plantations, resulting in a dearth of no.: B20395528A). quhar made landfall in Singapore in January enjoyed the patronage of royalty, govern- as well as their respective properties and
insect life. Naturalists at the time were (Bottom) American physician and naturalist Thomas Horsfield conducted natural history research in Southeast 1819. Diard and Duvaucel accompanied ments and businesses such as the East uses. In other words, close collaboration
studying native biodiversity in a region that Asia when he was employed as a surgeon by the Dutch East India Company in Batavia (now Jakarta) in 1801. One Raffles around the region and subsequently India Company that were invested in with local communities was crucial for their
was experiencing rapid deforestation to of the mammals he described is the small-clawed otter shown here. These mammals are native to Singapore but amassed a large collection of specimens. their research. research and data collection.16 However,
make way for plantation agriculture. Their are now rarely seen as a result of habitat loss, unlike the smooth-coated otters which have become prevalent Together, they captured, dissected and ate a However, this privileged access, pri- non-European sources were rarely, if ever,
in recent years. Image reproduced from Horsfield, T. (1824). Zoological researches in Java, and the neighbouring
research and records have since become islands. London: Printed for Kingsbury, Parbury, & Allen. Retrieved from BookSG. Collection of the National dugong (Dugong dugon) while on a natural marily available to white men with a Euro- credited, as these were usually regarded
invaluable documentation of species that Library, Singapore. (Call no.: RRARE 591.9922 HOR; Accession no.: B03013680J). history expedition in Sumatra in 1819.13 pean education, the means to travel and as objects of study, rather than sources
are now locally or globally extinct. Specimens were sent to London, where connections that allowed them to publish of credible information. European authors
Part of Wallace’s collection of beetles British surgeon Everard Home illustrated their work, marginalised indigenous com- often derided indigenous knowledge as
was eventually sold to the French ento- and described the animal’s skeleton and munities and their knowledge systems unscientific and superstitious.
mologist and natural history dealer Henri organs in a paper read before the Royal which had been passed down mainly John Desmond Gimlette’s 1915 book,
Deyrolle. His father, Jean-Baptiste Deyrolle, Asiatic Society in London in 1820. The from one generation to another rather Malay Poisons and Charm Cures, is an
established a business dealing in taxidermy stuffed animals, skins and skeletons col- than through published works. As a result, example of simultaneously relying on
and specimens in Paris in 1831. Today, lected by the two Frenchmen, including indigenous knowledge and understanding indigenous knowledge while devaluing
Maison Deyrolle serves as a museum of the drawings they had commissioned, are of the environment faced obstacles in it at the same time.17 In his foreword to
natural history and a cabinet of curiosities currently housed in the Muséum National being widely disseminated or accepted Gimlette’s book, W.H. Wilcox, then Medi-
open to the public.6 d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris.14 as mainstream science.15 Hence, almost cal Adviser to the Home Office in London,
Henri Deyrolle had procured a col- all extant printed materials from the 17th disparaged the knowledge and experience
lection of buprestidae – jewel beetles Indigenous Knowledge to 19th centuries documenting indigenous of the Malay bomoh (shamans and medical
highly prized by collectors for their glossy, European naturalists and authors were knowledge of the region originated from practitioners) as primitive and clouded by
iridescent colours – obtained by Wallace connected by an exclusive scientific frater- European naturalists. black magic:
in Malaya. The former subsequently pub-
lished an essay providing detailed descrip-
(Below) John Desmond Gimlette’s book, Malay Poisons and Charm Cures, devotes a chapter to poisons obtained
tions of these beetles in the Annales de from fish such as the pufferfish. Shown here are illustrations of the pufferfish by the Dutch ichthyologist, Pieter
la Société Entomologique de Belgique in Bleeker. Images reproduced from Bleeker, P. (1865 ). Atlas Ichtyologique des Indes Orientales Néêrlandaises:
1864.7 Being the first published author to Publié sous les auspices du Gouvernement Colonial Néêrlandais (vol. V; CCXIII). Imprimerie de De Breuk & Smits.
describe several of the species, Deyrolle Retrieved from BookSG. Collection of the National Library, Singapore. (Call no.: RRARE 597.09598 BLE; Accession
had the privilege of naming them. He no.: B18975254H)
named the beetle Calodema wallacei in (Right) Portrait of Mohamed Haniff, Field Assistant and one-time Overseer of the Penang Botanic Gardens.
Wallace’s honour.8 Mohamed Haniff, who died on 25 March 1930, co-wrote Malay Village Medicine with Isaac Burkill, then Director
of the Botanic Gardens in Singapore, This was published in The Gardens’ Bulletin Straits Settlements in April 1930,
Naturalists of the British East and is one of the rare works that credits a Malayan botanist as co-author. Image reproduced from Mohamed
Haniff Obituary (1930, June). The Gardens’ Bulletin Straits Settlements, 5 (3–6), 161–162, p. 161. Retrieved from
India Company Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
By the turn of the 19th century, the EIC
had amassed an extensive collection of all
manner of all manner of cultural artefacts,
books, valuables and natural history speci-
mens from across the globe. These items
were collected not only for their value or
for profit, but also for the acquisition of
control and power over colonised nations.
Francis Rawdon-Hastings, First Marquess
of Hastings and the Governor-General of name a well-known naturalist in Southeast In his book Zoological Researches
Bengal, was an avid supporter of the com- Asia in the early 1800s not connected to in Java, and the Neighbouring Islands,
pany’s ambitions to acquire knowledge. Raffles in some way. published in 1824,11 Horsfield describes
In 1799, he wrote that the company had American physician and naturalist over 70 different mammals and birds,
“joined a desire to add the acquisition of Thomas Horsfield, who was employed as a some of which he had identified and
knowledge… to the power, the riches, and surgeon by the Dutch East India Company classified for the first time. As a result,
the glory which its acts have already so in Batavia (now Jakarta) in 1801, began several species he found in Southeast
largely contributed to the British Empire conducting his natural history research in Asian were named after him, for example
and Name”.9 the region. When the British wrested control the Javanese flying squirrel (Iomys hors-
Stamford Raffles was a significant of Java from the Dutch in 1811, Horsfield fieldii) and Horsfield’s fruit bat (Cynoterus
contributor to the knowledge gathering befriended the newly minted Lieutanant- horsfieldii). Many of the specimens he
effort. A self-styled naturalist, most of his Governor of Java Stamford Raffles, who collected, along with his publications,
contributions to the study of natural history commissioned him to research and collect were donated to the East India Com-
were the result of hiring and commissioning specimens.10 Horsfield went on to collect pany Museum in London where he later
naturalists and artists to collect and draw and describe hundreds of species of flora took up the appointment of curator
specimens. One would be hard-pressed to and fauna. in 1819.12
06 07
BIBLIOASIA APR - JUN 2021 VOL. 17 ISSUE 01 FEATURE
“[A]n especial and absorbing interest it safe for consumption. Such valuable, The publication contains a glossary of in Singapore, all of whom reported to Isaac Burkill, reorganised the herbarium’s Malaya spurred the growth of the rubber
is attached to a description of hard-won information could only have plant species, complete with their Malay European directors such as Henry Nicholas collection and later produced a more acces- industry in Malaya.28 By the 1930s, Malaya
medicine as practised in a country come from indigenous guides. In the book, names. The authors note that according Ridley, the first director who served from sible work, the two-volume A Dictionary had become the world’s largest rubber
into which modern medicine has Gimlette did, however, credit his primary to Malay naming convention, many plants 1888 to 1912. Ridley’s tenure heralded an of the Economic Products of the Malay producer, with rubber plantations sprout-
not yet penetrated, for one is carried sources of information – two bomoh of the were named for their properties and uses era of intense botanical exploration and Peninsula (1935), which framed plant ing up across Singapore and the peninsula.
back to the times far distant when in Kelantanese royal court, Hadji Awang and instead of their physical characteristics – specimen collecting across Singapore and “discoveries” in terms of their usefulness “Everyone went mad”, said Ridley. “Every
one’s own country the practitioners Enche’ Harun bin Seman.19 resulting in plants with wildly different the Malay Peninsula. Much of the work and economic value.27 bit of waste ground, orchards and even
of medicine were striving to see light appearances sharing similar names. Accord- was undertaken by Malayan collectors and Another of Ridley’s legacies would gardens were planted [with rubber trees].
amidst the medley of faith cures, Mohamed Haniff and Henry Ridley ing to Burkill, this led European naturalists herbarium assistants who accompanied have a profound impact on the global No one talked of anything else.”29
charms, herbal and animal remedies One of the rare works that credits a Ma- who only understood plants but not Malay European botanists in the field.23 economy and the landscape of the region. The study of Southeast Asia’s natural
which has formed the Materia layan botanist as co-author is Malay Vil- knowledge systems, attributed perceived During this period, a huge volume He experimented with developing a more history has been driven by many factors,
Medica of their forefathers.”18 lage Medicine, published in The Gardens’ inaccuracies to their Malay sources.21 of research on the region’s flora was pro- sustainable method of latex extraction including colonialism, territorial expan-
Bulletin Straits Settlements in April 1930. Haniff was an extremely prolific duced, much of which appears in Ridley’s from rubber trees called the “herringbone sion and the European pursuit of knowl-
However, a chapter of the book that It was written by Mohamed Haniff, Field botanist and collector. Armed with an landmark five-volume work, The Flora of the technique” that allowed the trees to be edge. This perception of nature, shaped
is dedicated to poisons obtained from fish Assistant and one-time Overseer of the extensive knowledge of Malayan flora, Malay Peninsula, published between 1922 tapped at regular intervals without causing primarily by collection, classification and
such as the pufferfish (also called globefish, Penang Botanic Gardens, and Isaac Burkill, he was frequently relied upon to source and 1925 after his retirement as director.24 long-term damage to them. ultimately profit, paved the way for the
balloonfish and blowfish) clearly demon- then Director of the Botanic Gardens in for plants and collect information from Ridley’s book helped establish Singapore’s His subsequent relentless promotion large-scale exploitation and transforma-
strates the value of indigenous knowledge. Singapore. Long-time collaborators Burkill indigenous communities. Despite having position as a centre for botanical research of the commercial value of rubber and tion of the landscape of Singapore and
Gimlette describes various species of and Haniff toured the Malay Peninsula, worked with several prominent European in the region and facilitated the transfer of the large-scale introduction of the tree in the region.
pufferfish along with their Malay names, extensively consulting bomoh and bidan botanists, Haniff was never promoted many botanical specimens from Singapore
complete with anecdotes on poisonings (midwives) about local medicine and col- beyond the rank of Field Assistant.22 to the Kew Gardens Herbarium, from which ABOUT THE HUMAN X NATURE EXHIBITION
and known antidotes. He also lists instruc- lecting plant samples to deposit in the Haniff was one of many Malayan he based his research.25
tions on how to prepare the fish to render gardens’ herbarium.20 botanists working at the Botanic Gardens One of Ridley’s objectives in publish- Visit the “Human x Nature: Environmental Histories of
ing his book was to generate interest in Singapore” exhibition at the Gallery on Level 10 of the
(Below) Henry Nicholas Ridley (left), Director of the Singapore Botanic Gardens (1888–1912), posing with his Malay assistant beside a rubber tree in the Economic
the economic and scientific potential of National Library building on Victoria Street. Featuring
Garden. The herringbone incision patterns are clearly visible on the tree trunk. He invented this method which allowed rubber trees to be tapped at regular intervals the flora of Southeast Asia. However, the over 150 artefacts, it explores our relationship with the
without causing damage to the trees. Courtesy of National Archives of Singapore. colonial authorities and the public found natural world, from cultural understandings and scientific
(Below right) Henry Nicholas Ridley published his landmark five-volume work, The Flora of the Malay Peninsula, after his retirement. Published between 1922 and
his work dense and overly scientific, with study to commercial and urban land use. It also examines
1925, the work is a record of his reasearch on the region’s flora. Shown here are illustrations of the Liparis tricallosa, a type of orchid. Image reproduced from Ridley, little application to their interests, which efforts at conservation and restoration.
H.N. (1922). The Flora of the Malay Peninsula (vol. I; p. 20). London: L. Reeve & Co., Ltd. Collection of the National Library, Singapore. (Call no.: RRARE 581.9595 RID; were primarily economic.26 His successor,
Accession no.: B03006199F).
(Call no.: RRARE 595.763095951 DEY-[SEA]; Accession 18 Gimlette, 1923, p. xi.
NOTES no.: B20395528A); Deyrolle, H. (1864). Description des 19 Gimlette, 1923, pp. vi, 113–114.
1 In Alfred Russel Wallace’s letter to Edward Newman. buprestides de la Malaisie Receuillis par M. Wallace. Annales 20 Burkill, I.H., & Mohamed Haniff. (1930, April). Malay
Newman was an English entomologist and botanist, de la Société Entomologique de Belgique, 8, 1–269, p. iii. village medicine. The Gardens’ Bulletin Straits
and editor-in-chief of the natural history magazine, The Retrieved from Biodversity Heritage Library website. Settlements, 6 (6–10), 165–321, p. 165. Singapore: Botanic
Zoologist. See Van Wyhe, J., & Rookmaaker, R. (Eds.). 8 Deyrolle, 1864, pp. vi–vii, plate II. Gardens. (Call no.: RDTYS 615.3209595 BUR)
(2013). Alfred Russel Wallace: Letters from the Malay 9 Desmond, R. (1982). The India Museum, 1801–1879 (p. 13). 21 Burkill & Mohamed Haniff, Apr 1930, p. 166.
Archipelago (p. 286). Oxford: Oxford University Press. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. (Call no.: RCLOS 22 Mohamed Haniff obituary. (1930, June). The Gardens
(Call no.: RSEA 508.092 WAL) 069.0954 DES-[JSB]) Bulletin Straits Settlements, 5 (3–6), 161–162, p. 161.
2 Clarke, S. (2011). The chance to send their first class men 10 Bastin, J. (2019). Sir Stamford Raffles and some of his friends Retrieved from Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
out to the colonies: The making of the colonial research and contemporaries: A memoir of the founder of Singapore 23 A large volume of letters along with Henry Nicholas
service (p. 188). In B.M. Bennett & J.M. Hodge (Eds.), (pp. 135–137). Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co. Ridley’s own field notes document the everyday work of
Science and empire: Knowledge and networks of science Pte Ltd. (Call no.: RSING 959.5703092 BAS-[HIS]) the Singapore Botanic Gardens. These can be accessed at
across the British Empire, 1800–1970 (pp. 187–208). 11 Horsfield, T. (1824). Zoological researches in Java, and the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York, NY: the neighbouring islands. London: Printed for Kingsbury, 24 Ridley, H.N. (1922–25). The flora of the Malay Peninsula
Palgrave Macmillan. (Call no.: R 509.171241 SCI) Parbury, & Allen. Retrieved from BookSG. (Call no.: RRARE (5 volumes). London: L. Reeve & Co., Ltd. (Call no.: RRARE
3 For more information on the British East India Company 591.9922 HOR; Accession no.: B03013680J) 581.9595 RID; Accession nos.: B03006199F [vol. I],
and their activities regarding the environment of the 12 Bastin, 2019, pp. 90, 153. B03006198E [vol. II], B03006197D [vol. III], B03006204D
region, see Damodaran, V., Winterbottom, A., & Alan, 13 Pocklington, K., & Low, M. (2019). 200: Points in [vol. IV], B03006203C [vol. V])
L. (Eds.). (2015) The East India Company and the natural Singapore’s natural history. Singapore: Lee Kong Chian 25 Barnard, T. (2016). Nature’s colony: Empire nation and
world. Houndsmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Natural History Museum. (Call no.: RSING 508.5957 LOW); environment in the Singapore Botanic Gardens (p. 181).
Macmillan. (Call. no.: RSEA 508.54 EAS) Home, E. (1820, April 13). On the milk tusks, and organ of Singapore: NUS Press. (Call no.: RSING 580.735957 BAR)
4 Darwin, C., & Wallace, A. (1858, August). On the tendency hearing of the dugong. Philosophical Transactions of the 26 Barnard, 2016, pp. 182–183.
of species to form varieties; and on the perpetuation Royal Society of London for the Year 1820, Part II, 144–55. 27 Burkill, I.H. (1935). A dictionary of the economic products
of varieties and species by natural means of selection. London: W. Bulmer and W. Nicol. (Call no.: RRARE 599.556 of the Malay Peninsula. London: Published on behalf
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 3 (9), 45–62. PHI-[JSB]; Accession no.: B29268003H) of the Governments of the Straits Settlements and
Retrieved from Wiley Online Library. 14 Weiler, D. (2020, Jul–Sep). Stamford Raffles and the two Federated Malay states by the Crown Agents for the
5 Wallace, A.R. (1869). The Malay archipelago: The land French naturalists. BiblioAsia, 16 (2), 4–9. Retrieved from Colonies. (Call no.: RCLOS 634.909595 BUR)
of the orang-utan, and the bird of paradise; a narrative BiblioAsia website. 28 Tinsley, B. (2009). Gardens of perpetual summer: The
of travel, with studies of man and nature (vol. I; p. vii). 15 Ikechi, M. (2006). Global biopiracy: Patents, plants and Singapore Botanic Gardens (pp. 41–42). Singapore:
London: Macmillan. (Call no.: RRARE 915.9804 WAL; indigenous knowledge (pp. 10–13). Vancouver, British National Parks Board, Singapore Botanic Gardens. (Call
Accession no.: B03013900E). [Note: NLB has digitised Columbia: UBC Press. Retrieved from ProQuest Ebook no.: RSING 580.735957 TIN); Tan, P.W.C., Tan, A.L., & Lau,
the 1874 edition. See Wallace, A.R. (1874). The Malay Central via NLB’s eResources website. L. (2015). Singapore rubber trade: An economic heritage
Archipelago: The land of the orang-utan, and the bird of 16 Damodaran, Winterbottom & Alan, 2015, pp. 18–20, (pp. 41–42). Singapore: Suntree Media Pte Ltd. (Call no.:
paradise; a narrative of travel, with studies of man and 29–30. RSING 338.476782095957 TAN)
nature. London: Macmillan. Retrieved from BookSG. (Call 17 Gimlette, J.D. (1915). Malay poisons and charm cures. London: 29 Ridley found a way to tap rubber and gave Malaya its
no.: RRARE 915.9804 WAL; Accession no.: B18835319E) J. & A. Churchill. (Call no.: RRARE 398.4 GIM-[JSB]; Accession wealth. (1953, November 21). The Straits Times, p. 9.
6 Deyrolle. (2021). Deyrolle La Boutique En Ligne. Retrieved no.: B29267423B). [Note: NLB has digitised the second edition. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
from Deyrolle website. See Gimlette, J.D. (1923). Malay poisons and charm cures.
7 Deyrolle, H. (1864). Description des buprestides de la Malaisie London: J. & A. Churchill. Retrieved from BookSG. (Call no.:
(pp. vi–vii). Brussels, Paris: [n.p.]. Retrieved from BookSG. RRARE 398.4 GIM; Accession no.: B02993050F)]
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BIBLIOASIA APR - JUN 2021 VOL. 17 ISSUE 01 FEATURE
A BANQUET OF The expansion of European imperial power and almost singular uniqueness. In locating Scientific Illustration as an Aesthetic
in the Malay Archipelago beginning in this folio, our scene shifts an ocean away, The Dumbarton Folio is structured in three
the early 19th century introduced not to the United States. parts. The first 12 watercolours are compos-
MALAYAN FRUITS
just conscripted soldiers, missionaries In 2019, I visited the Dumbarton Oaks ite scenes, each showcasing four species of
and colonial officials, but also explorers Research Library and Collection, a historic fruit. Following these are 10 drawings, each
and naturalists. Their urge to catalogue estate about the size of 20 football fields. focused on a specimen of a single species.
and classify generated an extensive Nestled in Georgetown, a manicured dis- In the last section, each page depicts eight
visual record of flora and fauna found in trict in Washington, D.C., Dumbarton Oaks fruits drawn in miniature, two groups of four.
Southeast Asia. comprises a mansion surrounded by lush Each group – two rows on top and two rows
Painters – although not often associ- gardens. The estate made history in 1944 below – corresponds to the four species
ated with the branches of science – were when international delegates convened depicted in each of the 12 composite scenes.
instrumental to the study of natural history. here for a series of critical meetings that The groups of four are arranged in the order
The William Farquhar Collection of Natural led to the creation of the United Nations. It of the corresponding composite scenes, and
BOTANICAL ART IN THE MELAKA STRAITS History drawings,1 for instance, enjoys the
privilege of being Singapore’s best known
was also the residence of Robert and Mil-
dred Bliss, influential and wealthy cultural
each fruit is labelled according to its Malay
name in Jawi as well as poor transliterations
and most publicly accessible set of botanical patrons who were active in politics and in barely visible Roman script.
Who commissioned the Dumbarton Oaks collection of 70 drawings on local fruits? art from the early colonial period. The 477 philanthropy. Today, Dumbarton Oaks is a The folio dissolves hard distinctions
watercolour paintings of plants and animals research institute where Mildred Bliss’ vast between conventionally “scientific” docu-
Faris Joraimi attempts to unravel the mystery of its origins, which could predate Raffles’ arrival. from Singapore and Melaka by unnamed collection of Byzantine and Pre-Columbian mentation and “ornamental” representa-
Chinese artists (most likely Cantonese) art keeps company with valuable manu- tion. Of course, the key formal features of
were commissioned by Farquhar between scripts on gardens and landscaping. botanical illustration are strongly evident.
1819 and 1823 when he was First Resident Carefully housed among the shelves For instance, the fruits are typically drawn
Faris Joraimi is a student at Yale-NUS College and will graduate in 2021. He studies the history of the Malay world, and has written for and Commandant of Singapore. The entire in its impressive reading room is this folio on plain backgrounds which traditionally
Mynah, Budi Kritik, S/pores and New Naratif. Faris was also co-editor of Raffles Renounced: Towards a Merdeka History (2021), a volume collection currently resides in the National containing exquisite depictions of fruits serve to isolate the specimen from its
of essays on decolonial history in Singapore.
Museum of Singapore. from the Malay world. The bound volume original setting, so that it could be properly
has no label on its cover save a generic recorded and observed. This was a near-
The Dumbarton Oaks Collection title, “Chinese Watercolours: Fruits”, hot- universal procedure used by European
This story, however, is about a far more stamped in gold on the spine. The draw- botanists for representing specimens
modest, and relatively obscure, collec- ings feature 57 species of fruits commonly collected in the field.2 Another typical ele-
tion: one folio of 70 drawings, but no less found in Southeast Asia, such as pineapples, ment is the portrayal of multiple stages in
intriguing because of its mysterious origins watermelons, mangosteens and durians. the plant’s life cycle within a single drawn
(Facing page) In this set of drawings from the Dumbarton Folio featuring mangosteens, there are unopened flower buds, flowers in full bloom, juvenile fruits as well
as fully ripe ones, all on the same branch. The other three types of fruit are the ivory yellow rambutan, jambu air and buah melaka. Image reproduced from Album of
Chinese Watercolours of Asian Fruits, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection.
(Below) Each page in the last section of the Dumbarton Folio depicts eight fruits drawn in miniature, two groups of four. Each group – two rows on top and two
rows below – corresponds to the four species depicted in each of the 12 composite scenes. Each fruit is labelled according to its Malay name in Jawi as well as poor
transliterations in barely visible Roman script. Shown here are the top two rows from one of the pages. Clockwise from the top: cempedak, red rambutan, sentul and
nam-nam. Image reproduced from Album of Chinese Watercolours of Asian Fruits, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection.
10 11
BIBLIOASIA APR - JUN 2021 VOL. 17 ISSUE 01 FEATURE
specimen. In the set of drawings featuring edges of the frame. A visual protagonist regarding how and why it came into the
mangosteens for example (see facing page), dominates each scene, usually a fruit like custody of the Blisses. However, it likely
the viewer is shown unopened flower buds, a cempedak, mangosteen or durian. predates the William Farquhar collection,
flowers in full bloom, juvenile fruits as well A notable example features a large and indeed the establishment of a British
as fully ripe ones, all on the same branch. pineapple, whose seductive shade of pink trading post in Singapore in 1819. The late
Historian Daniela Bleichmar, who is characteristic of the species, Ananas Mildred Archer, Curator of Prints and Draw-
studied 16th-century botanical drawings by bracteatus (red pineapple). It is a different ings at the India Office Library in London,
colonial Spanish expeditions to the Americas variety from Ananas comosus, which we dated the Dumbarton Folio’s production to
and the Philippines, found these features find in every local wet market and super- be roughly between 1798 and 1810.6 To the
to be among the “iconographic strategies” market. Ananas bracteatus, on the other best of my knowledge, it is the only such vol-
that allowed artists to “compress time and hand, is esteemed for its pretty foliage: ume known to exist, and there are no known
space” in order for drawings to contain the note the stripes and red-tinted edges. The duplicates. Only two of its illustrations find
necessary botanical information.3 While artist evidently decided to show off these parallels in one other collection. Apart from
plants in reality take time to manifest visible ornamental qualities by having one of the those, every other painting is unique.
changes across different seasons, an artist leaves drape elegantly across the page. The title given on the spine is, at least,
could capture the full range of that infor- We find instances of lyrical expres- accurate. Like the Farquhar drawings, The watermelon painting in the Dumbarton Folio (left) depicts swirling tendrils with leaves and flowers shown in distinct stages of development. The watermelon
mation on one page. In a “single imaginary sions in the second set as well. The stun- those in the Dumbarton Folio bear the is also cut in half to reveal its fleshy red interior and black seeds. Image reproduced from Album of Chinese Watercolours of Asian Fruits, Dumbarton Oaks Research
Library and Collection. An almost exact replica of the painting (right) can be found in the bound folio titled NHD 42 housed at the Prints and Drawings Room of the
specimen”, for instance, the plants could ning watermelon painting depicts swirling stylistic mark of Chinese artists trained
British Library. Photo by Faris Joraimi.
be rendered in different stages of growth tendrils with leaves and flowers shown in in the Cantonese tradition of ink painting
to depict all possible conditions it could be distinct stages of development. Like the in the ateliers of southern Chinese ports.
in.4 The botanical illustration was effective pineapple, the watermelon is also cut in For instance, the light blue shade applied What also stands out about the folio Dumbarton’s Malay fruits, I chanced this folio is known. Despite the Bencoolen
at capturing knowledge obtained about the half to reveal its fleshy red interior, with as a backdrop to white-coloured flowers was its inclusion, in clear hand, of the upon the watermelon’s twin in Mildred connection, we still do not know where
biodiversity of distant colonies for circula- the seeds laid aside. All the fruits in both was a signature technique in Chinese Malay names for all the 57 fruits depicted. Archer’s catalogue, British Drawings in NHD 42 was produced; it found its way to
tion and analysis in the imperial centre. This the composite scenes and single-species watercolour painting. The Jawi script reads as sharply today as the India Office Library.9 It was listed as the Marsdens only in England. Therefore,
involved a degree of artistic manipulation, studies are dissected this way. Revealing Generally, British officials working in perhaps when it was first inscribed. Who being part of a folio simply titled NHD 42, it offers no satisfying clue as to where the
however, distorting essential distinctions the anatomy of the fruit, down to every Southeast Asia in the 19th century commis- identified these names? Was there a local housed at the Prints and Drawings Room Dumbarton Folio was made either.
we have about “objective” versus “artistic” last succulent pulp, pit and seed, was sioned Chinese artists to produce botanical expert consulted? Maybe – as with the of the British Library. Leafing through the Nevertheless, the duplicates led me
representation. crucial to botany’s thorough investigation illustrations. Abdullah Abdul Kadir (more William Farquhar Collection – the British large sheets of drawings in the Asian and to briefly entertain the possibility of model
Viewing these drawings, one also of plant life. Dissection was an invaluable popularly known as Munshi Abdullah), who official who commissioned these drawings African Prints Room of the British Library, types, circulated to enable the reproduc-
cannot help but notice how intensely lyrical technical skill. Many pioneering botanists, was employed by Stamford Raffles as his had instructed artists to visit the local mar- I discovered a pomelo study among the tion of copies produced for a wide clientele
the compositions are. Highly expressive, such as Nathaniel Wallich,5 were surgeon- scribe and interpreter, corroborates this ketplace: all the fruits depicted are edible 10 watercolours in NHD 42 that was also expecting the same images. If, however,
the scenes are richly illustrated with leaves naturalists after all. fact in his memoir, Hikayat Abdullah (The after all; in which case, all it took was to an almost exact twin of the one in the such an established commercial market
and stems entwined around one another. Little is known about the precise Tale of Abdullah): Stamford Raffles himself ask the fruit seller what they were called. Dumbarton Folio. existed, with demand sufficient to justify
Vividly textured fruits catch one’s eye circumstances surrounding the volume’s employed painters from Fujian and Macau But who wrote the names? Before Unfortunately, the British Library has some sort of mass production, we will have
among the foliage. In most of these pieces, production, or who and what it was intended while playing gentleman-naturalist in the mass education, most people in the Malay no idea who NHD 42 was made for and why, likely found many more duplicates and not
the leaves and branches are cut off at the for. There is no information that survives forests of Singapore.7 world were illiterate. “Penmanship”, noted but at least they have firmer dates: the a mere two drawings. It is far likelier that
Amin Sweeney and Nigel Phillips, “was an watermark on the sheets of paper used for these duplicates were individually copied.
Included in the Dumbarton Folio is the composite drawing featuring the Ananas bracteatus (red pineapple), with its distinctive shade of pink skin characteristic of the
exclusive art”.8 Literature flourished almost the drawings is from 1807, so the NHD 42 What is the Dumbarton Folio, then? Its
species, and the langsat, chiku and kundang. Although the exterior of the pineapple is pink, it has a fleshy yellow pulp like other pineapple varieties. Image reproduced only within palace walls. Still, there lived most likely dates back to 1808. This places scale and scope do not match that of earlier,
from Album of Chinese Watercolours of Asian Fruits, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. in the European entrepots like Melaka and it comfortably within Archer’s 1798–1810 more encyclopedic catalogues documen
Batavia (present-day Jakarta) a handful of range for the Dumbarton Folio. The artist ting local ecology in the Malay world. A cen-
professional Malay scribes who served as is also a Chinese “probably from Sumatra”, tury earlier, there was Johannes Nieuhof’s
secretaries and polyglot interpreters for and the drawings “appear to have been Voyages and Travels, into Brasil, and the
merchants and diplomats: Munshi Abdullah borrowed by the Marsdens in 1809.”10 East Indies, for instance, with its elaborate
and his father, for instance. Someone of There can only be one pair of “Mars- accounts of this region’s flora and fauna,
such standing and occupation could have dens” where Sumatra is concerned: Wil- published in 1703.14 Neither does the folio
been the ghostwriter. It is almost certain liam Marsden and his wife Elizabeth. The engage in the kind of intense accumulation
that a folio like this could have only been former’s landmark book, The History of of data found in Georg Eberhard Rumphius’
produced in one of the few Malay-speaking, Sumatra, published in 1783, was a magiste- six-volume Het Amboinsche Kruidboek, or
European-controlled ports along the Straits: rial survey of the island, with observations Herbarium Amboinense, a catalogue of the
Melaka and Penang on the Malay Peninsula, on its cultures, languages and physical plants of the island of Ambon, published
or Bencoolen (now Bengkulu) in Sumatra. environment.11 An Orientalist, William’s posthumously from 1741 to 1750.15 By the
The William Farquhar Collection also has work became the model for Stamford time the Dumbarton Folio was produced,
Jawi labels, but like the anonymous Chinese Raffles’ more intellectually and morally the field of botany had been established
artists who did the illustrations, the identity impoverished The History of Java (1817).12 in the region. And while it was likely made
of the author of the labels remains elusive. Elizabeth contributed the illustrations slightly before the Farquhar drawings, it
to her husband’s tome. At some point, falls far short of the latter’s range, but its
Following the Watermelon’s Lead Charles Wilkins, her father and himself a style is certainly more ornate.
There are only two pieces in the entire leading Indologist, was in possession of NHD The academic Farish Noor believes
Dumbarton Folio that find almost exact 42, and lent it to Elizabeth who adapted that the folio was commissioned as a
matches in another collection of botani- some of the drawings for her husband’s picturesque record of local flora by a
cal art. A few months after encountering book.13 Beyond this, nothing more about European official, most probably someone
12 13
BIBLIOASIA APR - JUN 2021 VOL. 17 ISSUE 01 FEATURE
from the British East India Company (EIC), When the EIC officials were posted to folio does, however, is demonstrate the
who wanted a souvenir to take home.16 Southeast Asia, the Indian artists apparently deployment of these conventions as an
A lovely present, surely, for a wife none did not accompany their British employers. aesthetic in its own right, to be enjoyed as
too pleased that her husband’s little However, the EIC officials found a ready pool art. Looking at these drawings, my thoughts
excursion to the “Far East” had lasted of Chinese artists steeped in their own tra- floated to the Nanyang Style artists20 and
several more years than promised. This dition of ink painting. Historian Kwa Chong their delicate still lifes in the 1950s: the
was exceedingly common in the 18th Guan referred to the Farquhar drawings as rambutans, durians and mangosteens of
and 19th centuries, especially in India, a “charming and distinct record” of Chinese Liu Kang, Chen Wen Hsi and Georgette
where EIC officials hired local painters to artists grappling with European demands for Chen.21 By then, painting local fruits was
depict ancient monuments, people and, realism.18 Commentators looking at similar about capturing the “soul” of Malaya in
of course, “exotic” plants and animals to collections from the period have christened all its living colour. These Nanyang artists
be taken home as mementos.17 Many of them collectively as the “Straits school” certainly had illustrious predecessors.
these artisans were trained in the courtly of botanical art.19 The Dumbarton Folio is
tradition of Indian miniature painting, but without doubt a product of this tradition. The Scientific Cosmopolitanism of
to suit the European aesthetic preferred While drawing upon the representa- the Malay World
by their British patrons, they developed tional conventions of botanical illustration, When the Dumbarton Folio was made,
a hybrid Indo-European type of painting the Dumbarton Folio was not intended Europeans still had much to learn about
now referred to as “Company style” or as a formal catalogue of nature the same the biodiversity of the Malay Archipelago.
“Company painting”. way the Farquhar collection was. What the It would take the exertions of later natural-
ists, notably Alfred Russel Wallace (who
conceived the theory of evolution through other scientific disciplines blossoming in A composite drawing of the cempedak, rambutan, nam-nam and sentul from the Dumbarton Folio. Image
(Below) For the sake of comparison, shown here is the durian from the William Farquhar Collection of Natural reproduced from Album of Chinese Watercolours of Asian Fruits, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection.
History Drawings. Gift of G.K. Goh. Courtesy of the National Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board. natural selection), Henry Nicholas Rid- places like London and Paris. The colonisa-
ley (first director of Singapore’s Botanic tion of the Malay world enabled European
(Bottom) A composite drawing from the Dumbarton Folio featuring the durian, pulasan, rambai and rukam.
Gardens), Pieter Bleeker (Dutch medical scientists to travel freely and organise field communities. In drawing attention to this languages, the Dumbarton drawings are a
Image reproduced from Album of Chinese Watercolours of Asian Fruits, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library
and Collection. doctor, ichthyologist and herpetologist) research in a way that locals could not. diversity, we can put together a fuller and symbol of the region’s dynamic cultures of
and Isaac Henry Burkill (second director of In fact, the Dumbarton Folio dem- more accurate history of science in the consumption, enriched by hybrid interac-
Singapore’s Botanic Gardens), to identify onstrates how local knowledge almost Malay world. tions and international trade.
and describe the grand multitude of life always facilitated European access to new There is one final aspect that gives
in the region. Their illustrated catalogues species found in the region. All of those the Dumbarton Folio, and indeed natural
Faris Joraimi wishes to record his
and scientific encyclopedias brought these gentlemen-naturalists, celebrated as “great history from that period, such an exquisitely
thanks to Dr Trisha Craig of Yale-
strange new forms – now taxonomised and men of science”, owed their findings to the human dimension. These edible fruits were
NUS College and Professor Sir
given Latin binomial names – existing on labour of local guides and local experts probably drawn from a roadside market-
Peter Crane of the Oak Spring Gar-
the frontiers of the West’s understanding who collected, preserved and identified place, giving us a glimpse into what people
den Foundation for making this
into an ordered familiarity. specimens for them. Their vast tomes ate here two centuries ago. Many of these
study possible, as well as Dr Yota
The art historian Gill Saunders argues also relied heavily on drawn images, often are the same fruits we still recognise and
Batsaki and Dr Anatole Tchikine
that naming and description was a process executed by local artists. are available today: from mangosteens and
for their hospitality throughout his
of “placing these unfamiliar plants in the Popular narratives about science, with duku to langsat and jambu air. But they also
stay at Dumbarton Oaks in 2019.
existing scheme of things”.22 Assimilated their persistent focus on the trope of “dis- depict a Malay world long embedded in
To access the Dumbarton
into an ever-expanding universal regime of covery” by an individual genius, have con- the global circulation of people and goods:
Folio, visit https://www.doaks.org/
classifying life, modern science alienated veniently erased the contributions of these both the pineapple and cacao are native
resources/rare-books/album-of-
these plants and animals from the origi- faceless and nameless local individuals. In to South America, while the watermelon
chinese-watercolors-of-asian-fruits
nal cultural contexts in which they were reality, scientific inquiry is cosmopolitan, comes from Africa. Conjuring up rich aro-
embedded, and through which Europeans and involves the participation of diverse mas intermingling over the din of a dozen
first encountered them.
Abdul Kadir, 1797–1854. Singapore: Oxford University 15 Rumphius, G.E. (1741). Herbarium amboinense (6 vols.). Retrieved
Complicating this, however, is the NOTES Press. (Call no.: RSING 959.51032 ABD) from Botanicus.org website. (Not available in NLB holdings). For
1 Farquhar, W. (2015). Natural history drawings: The
fact that modern scientific inquiry in the complete Wiliam Farquhar Collection: Malay Peninsula,
8 Sweeney, S., & Phillips, N. (1975). The voyages of a commentary, see Hamilton, F. (1824). Commentary on the
Mohamed Ibrahim Munshi (p. xxii). New York: Oxford Herbarium Amboinense. [Edinburgh]: [Wernerian Natural History
Malay world was not an unmediated pro- 1803–1818. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet and University Press. (Call no.: RSING 959.5 MUH) Society]. (Call no.: RCLOS 581.95985 HAM)
cess where Europeans simply entered and National Museum of Singapore. (Call no.: RCLOS 9 Archer, 1962, p. 100. 16 Personal communication with Associate Professor Farish
508.0222 FAR-[JSB])
independently extracted information about 2 Saunders, G. (1995). Picturing plants: An analytical history
10 British Library Board. (1807–1809). NHD 42. Archives Noor, 15 August 2019.
and Manuscripts, The British Library. Retrieved from The 17 Sardar, M. (2004, October). Company painting in nineteenth-
local biodiversity for their own curiosity and of botanical illustration (p. 15). Berkeley: University of British Library website. century India. Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Retrieved
profit. The Dumbarton Folio embodies the California Berkeley Press. (Call no.: RART 743.7 SAU) 11 Marsden, W. (1783). The history of Sumatra. London: from The Metropolitan Museum of Art website.
3 Bleichmar, D. (2006). Painting as exploration: Visualising
work of science as a cross-ethnic interface nature in eighteenth-century colonial science. Colonial
Printed for the author. Retrieved from BookSG. (Call no.: 18 Farquhar, 2015, p. 327.
RRARE 959.81 MAR-[JSB]; Accession no.: B03013526I) 19 Noltie, H.J. (2009). Raffles’ ark redrawn: Natural history
– one where European patrons employed Latin American Review 15 (1), 81–94, p. 90. Retrieved 12 Raffles, T.S. (1817). The history of Java (2 vols.). London: drawings from the collection of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles
Chinese labour to produce images, while from Taylor & Francis Online. Printed for Black, Parbury, and Allen, booksellers to the (p. 12). Edinburgh: Royal Botanic Gardens. (Call no.: RSING
4 Bleichmar, 2006, p. 90.
Malay botanical knowledge supplied local 5 Together with Stamford Raffles, the Danish surgeon and
Hon. East-India Company, Leadenhall Street, and John 508.0222 NOL)
Murray, Albemarle Street. (Call no.: RRARE 959.82 RAF-[JSB]; 20 Pioneered by artists Cheong Soo Pieng, Liu Kang, Chen
nomenclature. This is not to downplay the naturalist Nathaniel Wallich founded the first botanical Accession nos.: B29029409B [Vol. I], B29029410E [Vol. II]) Wen Hsi and Georgette Chen in the 1950s, the Nanyang
fundamentally unbalanced relationship garden on Government Hill (now Fort Canning Hill) in 13 British Library Board, 1807–1809. Style integrates Chinese painting traditions with Western
Singapore in 1822. Wallich was previously Superintendent
between the Europeans and their local of the Royal Gardens in Calcutta, India.
14 Nieuhof, J. (1703). Voyages and travels, into Brasil, and the techniques from the School of Paris, and typically depict
East Indies. London: A. and J. Churchill. Retrieved from local or Southeast Asian subject matter.
assistants. Men like Wallace were privileged 6 Archer, M. (1962). Natural history drawings in the India Cornell University Library Southeast Asia Visions website. 21 For more information about these Nanyang artists, see Tan,
by their connection to the 19th century’s Office Library (p. 100). London: Her Majesty’s Stationery [Note: NLB has the 1744 edition. See Nieuhof, J. (1744). B., & Creamer, R. (2016). Liu Kang; Ho, S. (2015, January 28).
Office. (Call no.: RART 743.6 ARC) Voyages and travels, into Brasil, and the East Indies. Chen Wen Hsi; Creamer, R. (2018, January 24). Georgette Chen.
global centres of knowledge, with societies 7 Abdullah Abdul Kadir, Munshi & Hill, A.H. (1985). The London: A. and J. Churchill. (Call no.: RRARE 910.41 NIE- Retrieved from Singapore Infopedia website.
dedicated to botany, geology, zoology and hikayat Abdullah: The autobiography of Abdullah bin [JSB]; Accession no.: B29265189I)] 22 Saunders, 1995, p. 65.
14 15
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