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Primula with caterpillar on its stalk and dragonfly

Maker

attributed to
Barbara Regina Dietsch
1706-1783

Formerly attributed to
(artist)
1667-1719

formerly attributed to
(artist)
1647-1717

Title

Medium

bodycolour on parchment

Dimensions

Height: 28.4 cm
Width: 20.3 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.4290

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Caterpillars

Label Text

The popularity of horticulture in seventeenth-century Europe created a demand for botanically accurate depictions of individual flowers. Such drawings were often bound into so-called Florilegia by collectors who cultivated, exchanged and studied plants. A notable feature of this example is the inclusion of a caterpillar and a dragonfly. It remains unclear why a dragonfly is shown in this illustration, since it has no obvious connection to either the primula or the caterpillar.

Provenance

Lionel Lucas, London (1822-1862), L.1733a; by descent to his nephew, Claude Lucas; his sale, Christie's (London), 9 December 1949, lot 48; purchased there by Colnaghi (London) on behalf of Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b; Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Second Nature, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 14/06/2000-03/09/2000

catalogue untraced, Eton College, 1950

Literature

Royal Horticultural Society Journal, 1952
ill.

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: n/a.

Inscription: none on recto, unable to see verso.

Collector's mark: Recto: lower centre edge, stamped in black ink, partly trimmed away: Lionel Lucas (L.1733a). Verso, though no longer able to see: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

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