Oblique-Leaved Begonia

Location

Country: Iran
City: Tehran
Place: British Embassy

This illustration is from botanical author Dr Robert John Thornton’s great work: ‘New Illustration of the Sexual System of Linnaeus’ (published 1799-1807). Thornton spared no expense in the production of the lavish publication, better known by its 1804 title ‘The Temple of Flora’. Although based on a dissertation about the sexes of plants by Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), Thornton added his own notes before publishing the work in parts.

‘The Temple of Flora’ was the most sumptuous botanical publication ever produced. Thornton, who had trained as a dentist, practised botanical painting himself but only included one of his own designs, ‘Roses’. Instead he commissioned several artists, including Philip Reinagle, Peter Henderson and Abraham Pether, to produce illustrations set against landscapes or allegoric backgrounds. In some instances the backgrounds do not relate to the flowers. For example, Reinagle’s Jamaican ‘Night-Blooming Cereus’ is set against a moonlit view of an English church. The high production costs of the publication led to financial disaster for Thornton and, in spite of the renown of the book, he died in poverty.

Philip Reinagle was born in Edinburgh, the son of a Hungarian musician. He began his career as a portrait painter, eventually specialising in animal, sporting and landscape paintings. He studied at the Royal Academy Schools in 1769 and later worked as an assistant to Scottish portraitist Allan Ramsay, in whose studio he worked on numerous versions of portraits of King George III and Queen Charlotte. Reinagle exhibited his paintings in London at the Royal Academy and the British Institution during the late 18th to mid 19th centuries. His depictions of animals and landscapes were influenced by the Dutch painting. Two of his eleven children, Fanny and Charlotte, later went on to become painters of portraits, miniatures and landscapes.
James Caldwell was born in London. He trained as a pupil of line and stipple engraver John Keyse Sherwin (1751-1790). Draughtsman, etcher and line, stipple and aquatint engraver of decorative subjects, topographical views, portraits of celebrities (including actress Sarah Siddons and philosopher David Hume) and caricatures after his contemporaries, including Carter, Adams, Hamilton and others. Caldwell exhibited in London at the Free Society of Artists and the Society of Artists between 1768 and 1780. He is last known to have been working in 1789.

Places

Subjects

begonia, butterfly

Materials & Techniques

engraving, aquatint, colour aquatint

Artist

Philip Reinagle (1749 - 1833)
James Caldwall (1739 - c.1823)

Title

Oblique-Leaved Begonia

Date

published 1 July 1800

Medium

Colour aquatint and engraving

Dimensions

height: 50.00 cm, width: 38.00 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from F B Daniell & Son, May 1957

GAC number

3798