Pomona Britannica: No. 74 - Figs | Cleveland Museum of Art

Pomona Britannica: No. 74 - Figs

1807, published 1812

Richard Brookshaw

(British, 1736–1810)

Culture

England

Medium

aquatint and stipple engraving printed in color and hand colored on thick wove paper

Measurements

Platemark: 45.1 x 34.7 cm (17 3/4 x 13 11/16 in.); Sheet: 59.2 x 47 cm (23 5/16 x 18 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.165

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

Originally from the Mediterranean, figs were cultivated in England as early as the 1580s.

Description

This color aquatint etching is one plate from George Brookshaw’s 1812 illustrated volume Pomona Britannica. Named after the Roman goddess of fruit trees, gardens, and orchards, Brookshaw intended the volume to be the English “country gentleman’s” guide to the science of classifying and identifying fruits (pomology). Many of Brookshaw’s models came from the Royal Gardens at Hampton Court and Kensington Gardens. Each print featured one fruit, often life-size, including detailed depictions of its flower and leaves. Printed in color with hand-painted highlights, this and other illustrated botanicals formed an essential part of the cultured English library in the early 19th century.