Gilded Fish: Illustrations of Histoire naturelle des dorades de la Chine c.1780

Goldfish are part of the carp family, Cyprinidae. The species of this family are generally brown or silver and reproduce quickly — which is why they have long been cultivated for food in China. At some point in the ninth or tenth century, mutated carp with bright yellow-orange scales appeared. These “gold” fish were saved and bred as ornamental pets, allowing strange and wonderful new forms to emerge that would probably not have survived in the wild. During the twelfth-century Song Dynasty, nobody outside of the imperial family was allowed to raise these fish, as yellow was the imperial colour. In the seventeenth century, the goldfish made it to Portugal and then the rest of Europe over the following century. By the late nineteenth century, the exotic golden creatures had become fast-breeding playthings for children. ... Read full article.