Pair of Hand-Colored Victorian Botanical Prints by B. Maund 1836
€ 340
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1836
Sheet size
24 × 18 cm (9.4 × 7.1 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14141-21 & BG-14141-22
What the condition grades mean
Excellent
Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good
Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good
Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair
Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
Condition
Excellent impressions with fine, original hand-coloring. Slight age toning and minimal foxing typical for the period, with visible platemarks. Paper strong and margins clean.
About this sheet
Two botanical plates from The Botanic Garden by Benjamin Maund (1790-1864), published in London around 1836 (Volume VII). Each is an original copper engraving with hand coloring, laid out as four separate plant portraits within ruled compartments, with the name engraved beneath each.
The left sheet shows Rudbeckia columnaris, a red and yellow coneflower with a tall central cone, together with Dracocephalum peregrinum (a spiked, purple-flowered dragonhead) and Vesicaria grandiflora (yellow flowers on a trailing stem), and a white-flowered shrubby sprig. On the right sheet a large yellow Rosa lutea fills the upper left compartment, with a spike of pale lilac flowers, a violet and a small-leaved evergreen sprig, Vaccinium vitis idaea (lingonberry), in the other three. Each plant is drawn full length with leaves and flowers. The old description gave the engraver as S. Watts after E. D. Smith, and the plates carry small artist and engraver credits at the foot.
Maund's The Botanic Garden presented hardy ornamental flowering plants cultivated in Great Britain, issued in parts from the 1820s, and it mixes native and introduced garden species, including several from North America, such as the Rudbeckia shown here.
