View of the Menagerie at Kew 1763

Thomas Sandby made this watercolor and graphite drawing, “View of the Menagerie at Kew,” during the 18th century. The image offers insights into the cultural and social values of the time. Sandby’s work depicts a popular leisure spot for the British elite. Kew Gardens, where the menagerie was located, served as a space where social class was clearly on display. With its exotic architecture, based loosely on Chinese forms, the scene highlights the fascination with the ‘Orient’ that characterized much of European art and design. However, we might also consider that this aestheticization of the foreign served to legitimize Britain’s colonial ambitions. What was once genuinely ‘other’ becomes a spectacle, dominated by Western tastes. To fully understand Sandby’s drawing, one might consult historical records of Kew Gardens, studies of British colonialism, and analyses of 18th-century aesthetics. Ultimately, the image and its afterlife reminds us that art always exists within a complex web of social, political, and institutional forces.