July
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 1/2 × 12 1/2in. (41.9 × 31.8cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1940-390,A
DescriptionEach flower is labeled individuallyLower margin reads: "1 Double Nasturtium./ 2 Double white Maudlin./ 3 Prince picote July flower./ 4 True caper./ 5 Virginian yellow Jasmine./ 6 Painted Lady Carnation./ 7 Double blew Throat-wort./ 8 Scarlet Martagon./ 9 White Lilly strip'd with purple./ 10 Spanish Broom./ 11 Carolina kidney bean tree./ 12 Double strip'd female balsom./ 13 True Olive tree./ 14 Red Oleander./ 15 Painted lady pink./ 16 White Lupin./ JULY/ 17 Princess picote July flower./ 18 Geranium noctu olens./ 19 White Valerian./ 20 Hop Horn beam./ 21 Indian or china pink./ 22 Double Pomegranate./ 23 Double mouse ear./ 24 Virginian Scarlet honey suckle./ 25 Double white Throat-wort./ 26 French Marigold./ 27 Double scarlet Lychnis./ 28 Double blew Larkspur./ 29 Hungarian Climer./ 30 Double Stock./ 31 Bean Caper./ 32 White Oleander./ Design'd by P.tr Casteels./ Fromt the Collection of Rob.t Furber, Gardiner, at Kensington, 1730./ Engrav'd by H F[illegible]"
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.
In this arrangement, North American specimins are arranged with those from Europe and Asia. Number 11 Carolina kidney bean tree (Wisteria frutescens) no. 24 is the Virginan scarlet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), no. 20 Hop hornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia) - represents both Europe and Asia Minor. [Mark Laird, The Flowering of the Landscape Garden: English Pleasure Grounds (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press), 71]
