November
Date1730
Publisher
Robert Furber
(c. 1674 - 1756)
After work by
Peter Casteels
Engraver
Henry Fletcher
OriginEngland, London
MediumLine engraving and etching on laid paper with hand coloring
DimensionsOverall: 17 × 13in. (43.2 × 33cm)
Other (Plate): 16 1/2 × 12 1/4in. (41.9 × 31.1cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1940-394,A
DescriptionEach flower labelled individually.Lower margin reads: "1 Ficoides or fig Marigold./ 2 White Periwinkle./ 3 Earliest flowering Laurustinus/ 4 Blew Periwinkle/ 5 Tree Candy tuft./ 6 Emboider'd Crane's bill./ 7 Yellow spik'd Eternal./ 8 Strip'd single Anemone./ 9 Borage./ 10 Thyme leav'd Myrtle./ 11 French Marigold./ 12 Colchicum Agripina major./ 13 Ilex? leav'd Jasmines./ 14 Great purple Cranes Bill./ 15 Arbutus or Strawberry tree./ 16 Double Nasturtium/ 17 Broad leav'd red Valerian./ 18 Myrto Cistus./ 19 Virginian Aster./ 20 Campanula Canariensis./ NOVEMBER/ 21 Pheasants Eye./ 22 Perennial dwarf Sun flower./ 23 Double Feather fen./ 24 Carolina Starfl flower./ 25 Scarlet Akthaea./ 26 Spanish white Jasmine./ 27 Lavender with divided Leaves./ 28 Golden Rod./ 29 American Viburnum./ 30 Yellow Dwarf Aloe./ 31 Single blew Anemone./ 32 Purple Ficoides./ 33 Groundsell tree./ 34 Pellitory with Daisy flowers.*/ 35 Scarlet single Anemone./ 36 White Egyptian holly hock./ 37 Caper Bush./ 38 Dwarf Colutea./ Design'd by P.tr Casteels./ From the Collection of Rob.t Furber Gardiner at Kensington. 1730./ Engrav'd by H. Fletcher."
Label TextIn 1730, a London nurseryman named Robert Furber advertised that he intended to publish a set of twelve prints, one for each month of the year depicting the flowers that were in bloom for that particular month. The prints were based on paintings by the Flemish artist Pieter Casteels III and engraved by Henry Fletcher. Though beautiful, these prints were not purely decorative, but a cleverly devised marketing scheme to promote Furber’s nursery in Kensington. They were the first illustrated seed catalogue published in England and they launched a flurry of imitations. In his advertisements, Furber promised that there would be upwards of 30 different kinds of flowers per print, with each flower labeled with a number and identified at the bottom of the print. And they were all available for purchase from his nursery. Ultimately, the twelve prints represented nearly 400 different flowering species.
ProvenanceFrom the Collection of Robert Furber Gardiner at Kensington, 1730.
