Watercolor drawings of flowers and other plants, circa 1825.

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Rushout, Anne, ca. 1768-1849, Watercolor drawings of flowers and other plants,, circa 1825

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Creator:: Rushout, Anne, ca. 1768-1849
Title(s):: Watercolor drawings of flowers and other plants, circa 1825.
Physical Description:: 1 v. (22 leaves) : ill. ; 43 cm.
Holdings:: Rare Books and Manuscripts
Folio A 2010 64
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund
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Copyright Status:: Copyright Not Evaluated
Full Orbis Record:: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/9571060
Notes:: The Honorable Anne Rushout (1767-1849) was the daughter of Sir John Rushout, First Baron of Northwick (1738-1800). She was a well-educated and accomplished woman, one of three sisters and two brothers. Although Anne's two sisters married, as did her brother George Rushout-Bowles, neither she nor her brother John, who would become the Second Baron Northwick of Northwick Park, ever did. Instead, it appears that Anne and John continued to live at the family estate, Northwick Park, in Gloucestershire (or Worcestershire, as it had been known in Anne's day). As an amateur artist, Anne painted notable watercolor views of Northwick Park, as well as botanical studies (cf. Huon Mallalieu, The dictionary of British watercolour artists up to 1920). In 1817, Anne Rushout inherited a house called "The Grove" at Wanstead (or "Wanstead Grove"), a few miles to the northeast of London. She rebuilt the house in 1822 and lived there until her death in 1849. Among its other features, Wanstead Grove was noted for its gardens, particularly its great variety of plants. The 1848 Journal of the Horticultural Society, London, records Rushout's gardener winning a "Silver Knightian Medal" for distinctive peaches and nectarines.
Bound in half calf and marbled boards, with gilt spine and leather title label on front cover.
Manuscript volume of watercolor drawings of flowers and other plants, by Anne Rushout, of Northwick. The drawings are mounted onto blank leaves (of a much later date); most are accompanied by contemporary labels noting, in pen and black ink, the Latin and common names of each plant. The watercolors may depict plants from Rushout's garden at Wanstead (in suburban London), where she resided from 1822 until 1849. The illustrations are executed on paper with the embossed seal "Parsons, Bristol".
The watercolors are made in a confident, skilled, hand. They show an eye for subtleties of structure, shading, coloration, and form. It seems that Rushout chose particularly challenging examples of plants to depict--many of them display unusual traits and structures. The botanical studies all depict the plants in various stages of development. On the same sprig or cutting can be found buds, blossoms, fruit, and dead leaves. The subjects include cyclamen, pepper plants, an impressive purple Spiderwort, aloe, and the gooseberry plant.
Subject Terms:: Flowers -- Pictorial works.
Gardens -- Great Britain -- Pictorial works.
Plants, Ornamental -- Pictorial works.
Rushout, Anne, ca. 1768-1849.
Wanstead Grove (London, England)
Form/Genre:: Botanical illustrations.
Watercolors.
Export:: XML

[1] Aloe Varigata / Partridge Breast Aloe
[2] Daphne Adorata / Sweet Scented Daphne
[3] Glossinia Maculata / Spotted Stalked Glosina
[4] Physalis Edulis / Eatable Physalis, or Cape Gooseberry
[5] (Not labeled) Chinese Lantern plant
[6] (Not labeled) Fir tree cutting
[7] Phytolacca Decantra / Virginia Poke
[8] (Not labeled) Unidentified cutting with white flowers
[9] (Not labeled) Unidentified cutting with white and red flower petals
[10] (Not labeled) A variety of squash plant
[11] Cotton Plant
[12] Hyoscyamus Aureus / Golden Flowered Henbane
[13] (Not labeled) Unidentified plant with large green leaves and small five-pointed pink flowers
[14] Dracaena Ferrea / Purple Dracaena
[15] (Not labeled) Pepper Plant
[16] Cyclamen Persicum / Persian Cyclamen
[17] (Not labeled) Unidentified flower with large red petals
[18] (Not labeled) Unidentified plant with flowers of five yellow petals
[19] Andromeda Pulveruenta / Oval Leaved Andromeda
[20] Malva Divaricata
[21] Mangosa
[22] Tradescantia Discolor / Purple Leaved Spiderwort.

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