Greystones Fine Interiors

Description

Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759-1840) was one of the most talented botanical artists ever known. He is also possibly the most popular botanical artist in history - his sharpened observation and individual creativeness distinguishing him as a true artist as opposed to being an illustrator. Redouté was fortunate to become an artist who was patronized by the kings of France from Louis XVI to Louis-Philippe. His profile also has a unique claim to fame. His status and reputation was enhanced in no small way due to his patronage by two of the premier first ladies of European history - Marie Antoinette and Josephine Bonaparte. Whilst he is most famed for Les Roses (1817 - 21) he also created extraordinary studies of Fruits and Flower, a collection of which we offer. Redouté's original watercolours are characterised by subtle gradations of tone and when exploring methods for accurately reproducing his paintings Redouté's selected stipple engraving which produced simply astonishing and exquisite plates. Redouté's plates have artistic value, and botanical and documentary value, both for the species and cultivars still surviving and for those that have disappeared.

Here we are delighted to offer a simply wonderful Japanese Camellia lithograph by Pierre-Joseph Redouté. Camellia japonica, known as common camellia or tsubaki in Japanese, is one of the best known species of the genus Camellia, named after a Jesuit priest and botanist named Georg Kamel. The specific epithet japonica was given to the species by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 because Engelbert Kaempfer was the first to give a description of the plant while in Japan. Sometimes called the rose of winter, it belongs to the family Theaceae. Camellia japonica is a flowering tree or shrub, usually 1.5–6 metres tall. The youngest branches are purplish brown, becoming grayish brown as they age. The alternately arranged leathery leaves are dark green on the top side, paler on the underside, The base of the leaf is pointed (cuneate), the margins are very finely toothed (serrulate) and the tip somewhat pointed. In the wild, flowering is between January and March. The flowers appear along the branches, particularly towards the ends, and have very short stems. They occur either alone or in pairs, and are 6–10 centimetres across. There are about nine greenish bracteoles and sepals. Flowers of the wild species have six or seven rose or white petals the innermost petals are joined at the base for up to a third of their length. There are numerous stamens. In the wild, it is found in mainland China (Shandong, east Zhejiang), Taiwan, southern Korea and southern Japan. It grows in forests, at altitudes of around 300–1,100 metres (980–3,610 ft). It is the official state flower of the US state of Alabama. Camellia japonica has appeared in paintings and porcelain in China since the 11th century. Early paintings of the plant are usually of the single red flowering type. However, a single white flowering plant is shown in the scroll of the Four Magpies of the Song Dynasty. It is the official state flower of the US state of Alabama

The lithograph was printed by hand in 1954 by K.G. Lohse of Frankfurt, made using the original 'stipple' engraving plate from the hand of Pierre Joseph Redouté. This plate is near identical to those produced with Redouté's oversight, the tones, textures, details are astonishing. This is a very, very fine plate indeed.

The lithograph is mounted in a luxury handmade, hand-finished and wonderfully gilded hammered wooden frame with a confidently proportioned decorated mount. A fine gold fillet has been added as a very sophisticated contrast for the plate. The frame is renaissance gold (the main face features thick foil incorporating real gold) and with good light this piece just glows, with a wonderful, deep and warm gold tone. The framed Lithograph measures 57cm tall by 48cm wide.