The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Cultivated Medlar (Mespilus germanica)

Cultivated Medlar (Mespilus germanica)

c. 1800
(Dutch, 1746–1822)
Netherlands, late 18th-early 19th Century
stipple and roulette
Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland, for the Donald Gray Memorial Collection 1939.289
Location: not on view

Description

The brown and blue-green inks were printed à la poupée. Instead of making a plate for each color, a single plate is selectively inked in different colors using stumps of rags, known as dolls (poupée in French), so that the complete design is printed at one time. Since this process is laborious, the plate was most often colored by hand with watercolor, like the right-hand impression. The printed color, however, creates a more beautiful effect, because all of the subtleties of the shading are evident. In comparison, the watercolor camouflages some of the finest detail.
  • The Flowering of the Botanical Print. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 26-July 3, 2016).
    Printing in Color. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10-November 17, 1985).
  • {{cite web|title=Cultivated Medlar (Mespilus germanica)|url=false|author=Gerard van Spaendonck|year=c. 1800|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1939.289