May
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 × 13in. (44.5 × 33cm)
Other (Plate): 16 × 12 1/2in. (40.6 × 31.8cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1940-388,A
DescriptionEach flower is numbered individuallyLower margin reads: "1 Cinamon Rose./ 2 Narrow-Leav'd Strip'd flow-/er de-luce./ 3 Columbine Strip'd./ 4 Bishop of Canterbury Tulip./ 5 Double Catch fly./ 6 Late white Hyacinth./ 7 Blew-bell Hyacinth/ 8 Mountain bulbed Gronfoot./ 9 Belsilvia Anemone./ 10 Venetian Vetch/ 11 Blew Hyacinth of Peru./ 12 China pink. / 13 Savoy Spider wort/ 14 Double Orange Lily./ 15 White Hyacinth of peru./ 16 Pheasants Eye./ 17 Purple Mallow./ MAY/ 18 Arbor Tudoe./ Embroiderd Craines bill./ 20 Dwarf Dutch Tulip./ 21 Indian Queen Ranunculus./ 22 Yellow Austrian rose./ 23 Double white Mountain Ra-/ nunculus./ 24 Dutch yellow Ranunculus./ 25 Indian King Ranunculus./ 26 Yellow globe flower./ 27 Red Austrian rose./ 28 Cytissus Secundus Clusii./ 29 Lotus with yellow flow-/-ers:/ 30 Virginian Columbine./ 31 White Asphodil./ 32 Yellow Asphodil./ 33 Princess's Pink./ Design'd by P.tr Casteels./ From the Collection of Rob.t Furber, Gardiner, at Kensington, 1730."
The lower margin reads: "Design'd by P.tr Cassteels./ From the Collection of Rob.t Furber Gardiner at Kensington 1730./ Engrav'd by H. Fletcher."
The names of the flowers are also listed in the lower margin.
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.
