Duvalia caespitosa (Masson) Haw (Milkweed) Possibly 1777 - 1786

Robert Jacob Gordon made this drawing of Duvalia caespitosa, or milkweed, in watercolour and graphite. As an explorer and military commander in the Dutch East India Company in the late 18th century, Gordon's botanical drawings documented the natural world as it was being encountered by European imperial expansion. This seemingly straightforward illustration is loaded with cultural and political meaning. The work reflects the scientific and colonial ambitions of the period, where documenting and classifying the natural world was a form of claiming dominion over it. Gordon's employment by the Dutch East India Company, a powerful symbol of global trade and colonial exploitation, places this image within the context of the complex power dynamics between Europe and the regions it sought to control. By studying Gordon's journals, company records, and contemporary scientific publications, we can decode the social and institutional context of this botanical drawing. Art becomes more meaningful when we examine the prevailing social conditions of its production.