Dr Josepha Richard

I am a historian specialising in 18-19th century China, with a specific interest in studying Chinese gardens and Sino-Western interactions under the Qing dynasty (1644-1911).

I received a PhD in Landscape History at the University of Sheffield, an MA in Art History from Paris IV Sorbonne University and an MA in Advanced Chinese Studies from Leeds University.

My PhD thesis looked at the ways that Hong merchants used their private homes and gardens for social mobility in the global and local context of the Canton System (1757-1842).

Recently I combined history of art and science by researching botanically accurate paintings of Chinese plants commissioned by British trader John Bradby Blake in late 18th century Canton as the Oak Spring Garden Foundation fellow at the University of Bristol.

I returned to Sheffield as a teaching assistant, teaching 20th century China and global history during the 2019-20 academic year.