Botanical Fruit: Lemons

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About the Item

Johann Christoph Volckamer (1662-1744). Nurnbergische Hesperides,
Oder Grunliche Beschreibung der Elden
Citronat, Citronen,und Pomerantzen Fruchte.
Drawn by Decker and Volckamer. Engraved by Glotsch, Kenckel, Krieger, Montalegre, Pfan and Steinberger. Engraving with later hand color.
Nuremberg, 1708. 115 plates Vol I, 132 plates Vol II ( 1714).

Of all fruit-bearing trees, orange and lemon trees were the most attractive to seventeenth and eighteenth century botanists, gardeners, art lovers and painters. Orangeries were tremendously popular--almost every residence, palace, botanical garden and university possessed one--and, exotic and sweet-smelling, they became a favorite area for strolling, painting, and contemplation. Versailles, Fontainebleau and Meudon favored orange, lemon, pomegranate and jasmine grown in pots or wooden tubs placed around their terraces and flower beds. Rare plants and fruits cultivated in conservatories were the pride of their owners and gardeners.

The marvels of these gardens were often recorded to immortalize the successes of the collections. Volckamer, who was a wealthy Nuremberg merchant, had a fine orangery, and engaged a variety of artists and engravers, among the latter being Paul Dedker, to execute his plates, which were uncolored and later finished by hand. The plates are most interesting and unique as the fruit is depicted on a large scale at the top of the plate before a background of a view of a garden, building, landscape or village. Some views of small town gardens show very clearly details of the formal gardens and were valued highly for this information alone. Clearly influenced by Ferrarius, Italy, 1646, the fruit are tied up with ribbons as though for country dances through the streets. Drawn in gouache and watercolor, sometimes on a leafy branch, the ribbons bearing the name of each species were added in the final engravings. Generally the fruit was shown whole or cut in two horizontally to highlight its flesh and seeds. These species, their size, shape, color, frangrance and taste, made them unique and exotic to a world hungry for information of foreign lands. Truly an extraordinary work, its value is tri-fold: the charming landscapes and architecture; the fruits themselves; and, most notably, their eccentric presentation.

Reference: Great FlowerBooks 1700-1900. Sitwell. Atlantic Monthly Press. NY, 1990.
Flower & Fruit Prints. Dunthorne. Da Capo Press. Washington, D.C., 1938.

Creator:
Johann Christoph Volkamer (Artist)
Dimensions:
Height: 21 in (53.34 cm)Width: 17 in (43.18 cm)
Materials and Techniques:
Glazed
Place of Origin:
Germany
Period:
18th Century and Earlier
Date of Manufacture:
1708
Condition:
Seller Location:
Florham Park, NJ
Reference Number:
Seller: 7.30.141stDibs: LU85711235540

Vintage 1960s Czech Mid-Century Modern Prints

Materials

Paper

Botanical Fruit tree pruning school poster, Czechoslovakia 1960s

$235

$675