February
Date1732
Publisher
Robert Furber
(c. 1674 - 1756)
After work by
Peter Casteels
Engraver
James Smith
OriginEngland, London
MediumHand-colored etching and line engraving
DimensionsOther (Plate): 16 3/8 × 13 1/2in. (41.6 × 34.3cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1956-126
DescriptionLower margin reads: "S.D.E.W/ Apples/ 1 Powell/ SDE/ 2 Old Wife/ SDE/ 3 Branett/ SDE/ 4 Yellow Pippin/ SDE/ S.D.E.W/ 5 Kentish PEarmain/SDE/ 6 Vaughn Pippin/ SDE/ 7 Winch Apple/ SDE/ 8 Perell Russetting/SDE/ 9 Nonpareil/ SDE/ S.D.EW/ 10 Piles Russett/ SDE/ 11 Mashes John/ SDE/ 12 Strip'd Bretagne/SDE/ 13/ Cheradam/ SDE/ 14 S.t Peters Pippin/SDE/ FEBRUARY/ 1732./ S.D.E.W/ 15 Greasey Pippin/ SDE/ Pears/ 16 Petit S.t Germain/ W/ 17 Winter Musk/ DEW/ 18 Bergam/t D Pasqu.e/ ES/ S.D.E.W/ 19 S.t Marshall/ S/ 20 Lent S.t Germain/ S/ 21 Winter boon/ without Kernell/ S/ 22 Dead Mans pear/ SDEW/ S.D.E.W/ 23 Double Flowering/ DEE/ 24 Petit Boon/ S/ 25 Easter Bergamot/ S/ A/ Hermaphrod.te/ Or..ge/ B Turkey Juniper/ Design'd by Pet/r Casteels./ From the Collection of Robert Furber Gardiner at Kensington 1732./ Engrav'd by Jam.s Smith."Label TextThis print is February from the series known as Robert Furber's Twelve Months of Fruits which were published in 1732. In 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. 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. Riding high on the success of the botanical prints, he announced the publication of Twelve Months of Fruit, in which he would replicate the model used with the "Twelver Months of Flowers." The Fruit series garnered 561 subscribers, 171 being members of the print trade, indicating just how popular the genre he created had become. Each fruit varietal is listed along the lower margin of the print along with a number and an explanation. These prints were accompanied by a book that included information on growing fruit as well as a catalogue describing the fruit listed in each print. All of these varietals were all available for purchase from his nursery. The catalogue includes a key to the information provided along lower part of the print:
S=Standard; D=Dwarf; E=Espalier (which is described as "Aspect" in the catalogue)= refers to the positioning of the planting in a specified direction.
