Branch of Cashew c.1705?
Watercolour and bodycolour with gum arabic on vellum | 36.5 x 28.2 cm (vellum sheet) | RCIN 921171
-
A watercolour of a branch from a Cashew Plant (Anacardium occidentale) with a Ricini Longwing Butterfly (Heliconius ricini).This drawing is one of the ninety-five works acquired by George III as by Maria Sibylla Merian, but is more likely to be by one of her daughters, Johanna or Dorothea, both of whom were talented artists. It includes the Cashew Plant from plate 16 of Merian's Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium (The Metamorphosis of the Insects of Suriname) with the Ricini Longwing Butterfly from plate 30 of the same publication.
Provenance
Dr Richard Mead (1673–1754); his sale (London, Abraham Langford, 13–16 January 1755, lot 66), where purchased by an unknown collector; sold 15 June 1768 (London, Paterson and Eve, lot 572), where purchased by Sir John Hill via Wilson; George III by c.1810
-
Creator(s)
Acquirer(s)
-
Medium and techniques
Watercolour and bodycolour with gum arabic on vellum
Measurements
36.5 x 28.2 cm (vellum sheet)
Object type(s)
Other number(s)
RL 21171