{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O63973"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O63973/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2008BV6250/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2008BV6250/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2008BV6250","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006BF4924","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O63973/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O63973","accessionNumber":"SD.10","objectType":"Watercolour","titles":[{"title":"Rat dEgypte apellé en Arabe Gérbouh","type":"assigned by artist"},{"title":"Jerboa or Desert Rat","type":"popular title"}],"summaryDescription":"Jerboas, rodents quipped with powerful hind legs and very long tails for balance, are capable of leaping large distances to escape predators. They are nocturnal desert dwellers, common in Egypt, thriving in arid conditions and feeding on plant material. Here, this animal, possibly a portrait of a pet, [they are said to be shy but easily tamed] is shown eating a date, holding the fruit in its tiny front paws. The name jerboa is said to derive from Arabic words meaning `meaty thighs’, and for a mouse-like creature, they are certainly big. Their burrows are deep and include a sleeping chamber with a nest made of camel's hair or shredded vegetation.\r\n\r\nJean-Baptiste Adanson was a diplomat, antiquarian and draughtsman, and brother of the naturalist Michel Adanson. Jean-Baptiste was the official French interpreter at various cities in Egypt and Syria, and became French consul in Egypt from 1775 until 1785. He compiled a large collection of his drawings of natural history, antiquities and views, yet a proposal in 1795 by a Committee of the Convention Nationale in Paris to publish his material was never realised. In some ways he anticipated Napoleon’s project of recording modern and ancient Egypt, which was finally published under the title of Description de L’Egypte in the early years of the nineteenth century.","physicalDescription":"Watercolour drawing of a jerboa or desert rat, eating a date.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Adanson, Jean-Baptiste","id":"A5913"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Pencil","id":"x30347"},{"text":"watercolour","id":"x33202"}],"techniques":[{"text":"Painting","id":"x30598"},{"text":"Drawing","id":"x32498"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Pencil and watercolour","categories":[{"text":"Paintings","id":"THES48917"}],"styles":[{"text":"French School","id":"x31263"},{"text":"Orientalism","id":"x31272"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2008BV6250","2006BF4924"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLD","id":"THES49658"},"free":"","case":"SCX","shelf":"1","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"watercolour","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Egypt","id":"x29512"},"association":{"text":"painted","id":"x30138"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1775-1796","earliest":"1775-01-01","latest":"1796-12-31"},"association":{"text":"painted","id":"x30138"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Purchased with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Art Fund, Shell International and the Friends of the V&A","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"29.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"46.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Rat d'Egypte apellé en Arabe Gérbouh","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"Adanson","id":"A5913"},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"French and Arabic","medium":"","method":"","position":"Front, lower margin","script":"","translation":"Egyptian rat called in Arabic \"Jerbou'' [i.e.Jerboa]","transliteration":"","type":"picture title","note":"picture title; French and Arabic; Front, lower margin; Adanson"}],"objectHistory":"Bought by Hughes Hallett at  Christie's, 16.7.63, Lot 39.\r\nBought at Sotheby's 27/4/66, Lot 24,  by Rodney Searight for £314.\n\nHistorical significance: This is a relatively early and accurate natural history illustration of the Lesser Egyptian Jerboa, (Jaculus jaculus). The word Jerboa is from the Arabic `Jerbou' which is alleged to mean `meaty thigh.'","historicalContext":"During his career Adanson filled notebooks and portfolios with drawings of natural history, antiquities and views. A proposal in 1795 by a Committee of the Convention Nationale in Paris to publish his material was never realised. Comparable works are now in Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; Pierpont Morgan Library, New York.","briefDescription":"Watercolour, a drawing of a jerboa or desert rat, eating a date, entitled `Rat d'Egypte apellé en Arabe Gérbouh, by Jean-Baptiste Adanson, 1775-1796.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Searight, Rodney. <i>The Middle East : watercolours and drawings by British and foreign artists and travellers, 1750-1900, from the collection of Rodney Searight, Esq.</i> London, 1971","id":"AUTH351220"},"details":"","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Briony Llewellyn   The Orient Observed   V&A, 1989  p. 140"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Images of the Ottoman Empire, Charles Newton, 2007, p. 84"},{"reference":{"text":"Searight, Rodney and Scarce, Jennifer M., <i>A Middle Eastern journey : artists on their travels from the collection of Rodney Searight,</i> Talbot Rice Art Centre, 1980","id":"AUTH351213"},"details":"","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"The Orient observed : images of the Middle East from the Searight Collection","id":"AUTH351231"},"details":"p.140","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Unique","id":"THES48864"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[{"text":"Egypt","id":"x29512"}],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"Jerboa","id":"x34884"}],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"Natural History","id":"x34885"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["SD.10"],"accessionNumberNum":"10","accessionNumberPrefix":"SD","accessionYear":null,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-12","recordCreationDate":"2002-01-10","availableToBook":false}}