Vintage Art Appreciation: Purple crocuses, cloth of gold crocus, liverwort, poppy anemones and jay, c1650

I give you this to take with you:
Nothing remains as it was.
If you know this, you can begin again,
with pure joy in the uprooting.
― Judith Minty, Letters to My Daughters
About the painting: A page of watercolours depicting seven plants and a dead Jay. The plants are two Purple crocuses (Crocus vernus Hill), a crocus from Susa (Crocus susianus Ker-Gawler), double-form liverwort (Hepatica nobilis Miller 'Caerulea Plena'), and two poppy anemones (Anemone coronaria L.). The Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius) appears to cast a shadow on the sheet, as though a real bird has fallen onto a page of painted flowers.

About the artist: Alexander Marshal (c. 1620-1682) was a talented horticulturalist, entomologist and amateur artist. He was one of a network of gardeners working in and around London in the middle of the seventeenth century, and had links with the Tradescants (who had a garden at Lambeth) and Henry Compton (who, as Bishop of London, developed a fine garden at Fulham Palace). Marshal’s careful study of plants was combined with an examination of the science of painting and he wrote in 1667 to the Secretary of the Royal Society to discuss the methods he used for making pigments. The colours in Marshal’s paintings do indeed remain impressively bright over 350 years later.

Source: Original painting and full article as it appears on the Royal Collection Trust (UK) website here.

To download my digitally enhanced version of the above painting as a 5" x 7" @ 300 ppi JPEG, please click here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Vintage Art Appreciation: Still Life with Orchids

Still Life with Orchids, 1888
by Gustave Den Duyts (1850–1897)

“That proves you are unusual,” returned the Scarecrow;
“and I am convinced that the only people worthy of consideration
in this world are the unusual ones.
For the common folks are like the leaves of a tree, and live and die unnoticed.”
― L. Frank Baum, The Land of Oz
Vintage painting oiginally found on Wikimedia here. Digitally altered version can be found as a 5" x 8" @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Vintage Botanical Illustrations: Collection of Single Roses, 1897

SET 1
(1) THE COPPER AUSTRIAN BRIAR.
The true "Eglantine" of Linnaeus and Redouté. A very choice kind of single rose, which will grow in light warm soil.
(2) ROSEA LUTEA.
The Eglanteria of Linnaeus, an indispensable rose for hybriding. Is the original wild rose of the Austrian briars. Hot sandy soil.
(3) ROSA KAMTSCHATICA.
A good hedge rose. Grows freely.

SET 2
(1) ROSA CANINA GALLICA.
A garden variety of the English dog rose and French rose. Suitable for shrubberies.
(2)ROSA BRACTEABER, from which the Macartney rose was derived. Useful for covering walls with a south and west aspect. The flowers occur singly, but are very large.
(3) ROSA SPINASISSIMA V. GRANDIFLORA. Burnet or Scotch rose. Sandy soil.

SET 3
(1) PAUL'S "Carmine Rose."
A good pillar rose. Grows freely.
(2) ROSA RUGOSA.
The Japanese Ramanas rose for beds and shrubberies, equally beautiful in autumn for its large scarlet fruit and tinted leaves.
(3) ROSA MOSCHATA V. BRUNONII.
A form of musk-rose. Vigorous, for large buildings, trunks of trees, etc., requires space; blooms freely.
(4) ROSA POMIERA.
This is a garden rose grown for the large bright fruit.

SET 4
(1) HYBRID PERPETIAL ROSE "Crown Prince."
(2) NOISETTE ROSE "Madame P. Cochet."

Four sets of rose illustrations from an article published May 15, 1897. You can download these graphics as three 8.5" x 11" @ 300 ppi JPEGs (Sets 1-3) and one 11" x 8 @ 300 ppi JPEG (Set 4) here. Good for graphic design, junk journal, papercrafts or scrapbooking projects.


From my personal collection of ephemera. These images are to be incorporated into your creative works. Not for resale "as-is." Credit to FieldandGarden.com appreciated but not required.