Rare 1814 Turpin Hand-Colored Engraving FLORE MÉDICALE, HOLLYHOCK (Alcée Rose)

Description: Rare 1814 Hand-Colored Copperplate Stipple-Engraving from: FLOREMÉDICALE décritePar F. P. CHAUMETON DOCTEUR EN MÉDECINE PEINTEPar Mme. E[rnest] P[anckoucke], ET PAR P. J. F. TURPIN 1814 ALCÉE ROSE.(Alcea rosea, Hollyhock) Scarce original antique hand-colored botanical engraving from Chaumeton & Turpin's epic, monumental plate volumes of the Flore Médicale (Medical Botany), produced from 1814 to 1820. A most important early 19th century compendiums of paintings of known medicinal plants, engraved & colored in the fine stipple-engraved color illustrations in the style of Redouté by two of his most accomplished pupils, Pierre-Jean-François Turpin (1775-1840) and A.E. Panckoucke. These are gems. The drawing, composition, detail work in the stipple-engraving, the brilliant coloring 'A La Poupee' (colored in the plate) & hand-water-coloring are magnificent. It's also in superb condition with the colors as vibrant as they come. I'm listing a group of some of the best of them, this one quite glorious, a true find. The Artist:The French botanist and illustrator Pierre Jean François Turpin (1775 -1840) is considered one of the greatest floral and botanical illustrators of his time.In 1794 he was stationed in Haiti as a member of the French Army where he met botanist Pierre Antoine Poiteau (1766-1854).Turpin and Poiteau collaborated in a study of Haitian flora; they collected an herbarium of some 1,200 plants, of which Turpin made drawings of a large number, and of which they together described about 800 species.Through his collaboration with Poiteau and other naturalists, Turpin created some of the finest watercolors and illustrations of plants that are known to exist. As a botanical artist Turpin achieved a fame equal to that of Redouté. He collaborated on a number of the most important botanical publications of the early nineteenth century. The Author:François-Pierre Chaumeton (1775 – 1819) was a French botanist and physician. He studied medicine, humanities and languages (particularly Greek) in Paris, afterwards serving as a surgeon in military hospitals. Finding military surgery distasteful, he opted for work as a pharmacist at Val-de-Grâce. He was an editor of the multi-volume "Dictionnaire des sciences médicales" (publisher Panckoucke 1812–1822. 60 volumes). He contributed numerous articles to The Dictionnaire des sciences médicales (a group of plates from those volumes are listed in my shop separately, also by Turpin & also magnificent). But his real passion was botany, & with Jean Louis Marie Poiret and Jean-Baptiste-Joseph-Anne-César Tyrbas de Chamberet, he was co-author of "Flore médicale". The Volumes:Published in eight volumes with 425 hand-colored, engraved plates, the Flore médicale was an epic, comprehensive illustrated work of Medical Botany. In the age that this work was produced, most of the known treatments available to medicine were from plants, many of which are also our favorite flowers, fruits, herbs & spices. These plates include wonderful renderings of many plants we use for cooking, like vanilla, pepper, onion, garlic, cacao, etc.The Medical Flora is the flora section of a major project, a work in sixty volumes, published from 1812 to 1822 by the same publisher, Charles-Louis-Fleury Joseph Panckoucke. The work was expanded to include grapes, melon, palms, pineapple, pomegranates, bananas, and other interesting but non-medicinal plants. The detailed illustrations were executed by Ernestine Panckoucke and Pierre Jean François Turpin, both master botanical illustrators. The Plates:Every part of these prints was made by hand: Hand drawn & engraved from original watercolor paintings by Turpin & Panckoucke. The engraving was done in the stipple technique which allows for delicate shading & modeling to more accurately represent the original painted drawing. The copper was hand-mined, smelted & rolled. The coloring was painstakingly done directly in the plate with multiple colored inks which were made from hand-ground minerals & pigments. The plates were printed onto handmade cotton rag paper, & they were usually hand sewn into handmade leather-bound books. Condition:Appears to be in good condition for a 210-year-old engraving. The hand-coloring appears to remain sharp & brilliant as the day it was painted. Age-toning & antiquarian character as is typical for a print this old. Please peruse the detailed photos. These prints are very old & may have minor imperfections expected with age, such as some typical age-toning of the paper, oxidation of the old original watercolors, spots, text-offsetting, artifacts from having been bound into a book, etc. Please examine the photos & details carefully.Text Page(s): This one comes with original text page(s). I've added a scan of a sample cover page from one of the volumes, it's not part of the listing. About this gorgeous plant:Alcea rosea, the common hollyhock, is an ornamental dicot flowering plant in the Mallow family, Malvaceae. It was imported into Europe from southwestern China during, or possibly before, the 15th century. Hollyhocks, are a beloved and common garden plant, with their tall, sometimes eight foot stalks and distinctive blooms that have an exuberant and yet soft quality. For many cultures, hollyhock have symbolized the circle of life, with flower wreaths placed on mummies in ancient Egyptian burials.The name hollyhock may derive from an English Anglican cleric and natural historian, William Turner in the 16th century, naming the plant ‘holyoke’. This could refer to the plant arriving in Europe from the Holy Land and/or sacred associations with the plants’ uses.There are around 60 species in the genus Alcea, which derives from the Greek altho meaning to heal. Diascorides wrote Althea can cure many diseasesIn herbal medicine, hollyhock is believed to be an emollient and laxative. It is used to control inflammation, to stop bedwetting and as a mouthwash in cases of bleeding gums.[ Size: 7-3/4" x 4-3/4" approximately.Shipping: Multiple prints combine into one USPS Flat-Rate envelope. If you'd like to combine & need more time to choose, please send a message & we'll do our best to oblige. If you're assessed multiple shipping for one combined package, we'll endeavor to refund any overage asap. Thanks for Visiting!

Price: 69 USD

Location: Great Barrington, Massachusetts

End Time: 2025-01-09T04:47:59.000Z

Shipping Cost: 11 USD