Album of Original Watercolours and Sketches by TWINING, Elizabeth (1805-1889)

1838-1841 4to., (11 2/8 x 9 inches). 30 original watercolour drawings of flowers and fruit identified as being by Elizabeth Twining, 2 family portraits by her, one signed by Jane Twining, and one by A. Twining, 2 signed by Julia Boyd (her niece?), and 18 further watercolour drawings or sketches of flowers and views by unknown artists. Tipped in to later half black morocco, gilt, marbled paper boards album. Provenance: By descent from the artist to the Boyd family. The family portraits are identified as William Brewster Twining and Charles Twining, sons of George Twining (Elizabeth's nephew), "My maternal Grandfather, WB" one on paper watermarked 1834. Elizabeth Twining was the second of nine children of Richard Twining (1772-1857) the celebrated tea-merchant and banker. "She was a talented portraitist of plants and flowers as well as being a competent botanist. The two-volume folio edition of her 'Illustrations of the Natural Orders of Plants' (2 vols., 1849) is considered to have a place among the finest lithographic flower books of the mid-nineteenth century. The 'natural order' is that of Alphonse de Candolle, who rejected the Linnaean or 'artificial' classification. The emphasis on the appearance of mature plants and their habitat rather than their physiology is echoed not only in her art but also in her lectures on plants, which as well as having a strong geographical theme also discussed how plants were used, particularly by women. She believed botany had a place in the education of women of all social classes and her approach was that of 'mother educator', whether she was encouraging the poor to grow plants for flower shows or promoting the cultivation of window boxes in institutions such as workhouse wards, where the glory of plants could be shared by sick inmates and staff alike" (Theresa Deane for DNB). The portraits of plants by Elizabeth Twining are: Cypryipedium calceolus, Arnecliffe 1838; Epipactis palustris, Arnecliffe: Italy. 1838; Epipactis; Epipactis latipolia; Ophrys muscifera. June 1841; Posey of spring flowers; Saxifraga granulata, Arnecliffe Churchyard May 1841; Saxifraga tridactylites, May 1841; Saxifraga hypnoides, 1841; Saxifraga umbrosa, Hesleden Gill; Geranium robertianum and Cistus helianthemum, 1839; Geranium pratense; Geranium sanguineum, Arncliffe 1839; Polemonium caeruleu, 1839; Convallaria polygonatum, 1841; Trollus europaeus, 1841; Vaccinum myrtillus, 1841; Menyanthes trifoliata; Primula farinosa; Cistus helianthemum; Colchicum autumnale, Arncliffe 1839; Rubus chamaemorus, 1841; Dryas octopetala, 1839; Parnassia palustris, Arnecliffe 1839; Pinguicula vulgaris; Galeopsis vericolor, August 1839; Butonius umbellatus, June 1846; Pyrola media, 1846; Campanula latifolia (folding, spotted); Geranium pratense, Arnecliffe July 1839; Apple "Grown at Sheen", 1841. For more information about this watercolour, please contact Lori Cohen at Arader Galleries.