Botanical: Indian Reed

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Botanical: Indian Reed

About the Item

DR. ROBERT JOHN THORNTON (c1765 – 1832). The Temple of Flora. London, 1798-1810. Painted by Reinagle, Henderson, Pether, et. al. Engraved by Ward, Caldwall, Earlom, et. al. Aquatint, mezzotint, and/or stipple engraving finished by hand. Approximately 17.75” x 22.5” Unframed. 5 frontice pieces, 32 plates; generally 29-30 per volume, 1 or more frontice pieces. VISIT MY STOREFRONT BY CLICKING ON Danielle Ann Millican, Inc. IN DEALER DETAILS. As a boy, Robert John Thornton (d.1837) demonstrated his love of natural history with his own botanical garden and an aviary, which contained every species of English hawk, most of them captured by himself. He took his Cambridge M.B. and, following in his father's footsteps, set up practice as a London doctor. Upon inheriting the family fortune in 1797, Thornton desired to leave his mark on the world in the form of a massive work dedicated to Carolus Von Linnaeus, the great Swedish naturalist. For his own aggrandizement and that of his beloved England, Thornton wished it to surpass in scope, illustration, paper, and topography any publication produced in any other European country. He felt he was engaged upon "a national undertaking", and dedicated this homage of philosophic and literary distinction to Queen Charlotte. It was to be titled The Temple of Flora; or Garden of Nature Picturesque Botanical Plates of the New Illustration of the Sexual System of Linnaeus. Desiring the national glorification of botany and its alliance with the arts of painting and engraving, Thornton was the first person to juxtapose landscape backgrounds with his floral subjects. He opened an art gallery of the paintings from which the prints were made and subscriptions for the forthcoming books were sold. Copies of the work were sent to the Queen and Prince Regent, and to the Emperor of Russia, who sent Thornton a ring in acknowledgment of the "splendid and elaborate Botanical works."

Dimensions:
Height: 37.5 in (95.25 cm)Width: 29.5 in (74.93 cm)
Place of Origin:
United Kingdom
Period:
18th Century and Earlier
Date of Manufacture:
1798-1810
Condition:
Seller Location:
Florham Park, NJ
Reference Number:
1stDibs: U1001048571119