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The set of twelve coloured
engravings by H. Fletcher from paintings by Pieter
Casteels Published by Robert Furber,
Gardener at Kensington, 1730
Image size: 14 x 11 ½ in / 35.5 x 29.2 cm
Frame size: 24 ½ x 19 ¾ in / 62 x 50 cm
This remarkable set of still-lifes depicting The Twelve Months
of the Year in Flowers was the result of the collaboration of
three leading figures in their respective fields in England
in the first half of the eighteenth century: the artist Pieter
Casteels, the engraver Henry Fletcher, and the nurseryman Robert
Furber. Undertaken as a commercial venture in order to sell
bound sets of hand coloured engravings to a group of subscribers,
it also served as a showcase, by acting as a high-quality seed
catalogue, for Furber`s nursery at Kensington. This was the
first commercial horticultural catalogue of its time and as
such, it represents a defining point in the history of botanical
illustration and horticultural literature in Britain. |
