April
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 1/2 × 13 1/4in. (44.5 × 33.7cm)
Other (Plate): 16 1/2 × 12 1/2in. (41.9 × 31.8cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1940-387,A
DescriptionEach flower individually numbered.Lower margin reads: "1 Keysers Jewel Hyacinth./ 2 Diamend d:.o/ 3 Double blossom'd Peach./ 4 Single Orange Narcissus./ 5 Double Endroit Tulip./ 6 Glory of y.e East Auricula./ 7 Double Wall flower./ 8 Blush red lilly of y.e Vally./ 9 Britsh King Anemone./ 10 Caelestis Anemone./ 11 Amaranthus trachee./ 12 Single Junquill./ 13 Loves Master Auricula./ 14 Double painted Lady Auricula./ 15 Palurus christs thorn./ 16 White Lilly of the Vally./ APRIL/ 17 Merveille du Monde Auricula./ 18 Lady Margareta Anemone./ 19 Juliana d:.o/ 20 Double Junquill./ 21 Duke of Beauford Auricula/ 22 Lecreep N:.o 1 Tulip./ 23 Beau Regard Tulip./ 24 Dwarf single flowering - -Almond./ 25 Duke of S:.t Albans Auricula./ 26 Turkey ranunculus sweet -/ scented}/ 27 Double Cuckon Flower/ 28 Grand Presence Auricula./ 29 Sea Pink./ 30 Double flowering Almond./ Design'd by P.tr Casteels./ From the Collection of Rob.t Furber, Gardener, 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.
