Artwork
Pomona Britannica: No. 17 - Plums
Pomona Britannica: No. 17 - Plums is a print by the Romanticist artist George Brookshaw. It dates from 1806 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
About this work
Overview
This print, numbered 17 in the series *Pomona Britannica*, depicts a single branch laden with ripe plums set against a deep, velvety backdrop. Executed in the late 18th century, the image forms part of a larger illustrated catalogue that celebrated the finest fruit varieties cultivated in England, particularly those grown in the gardens of Hampton Court Palace.
Subject & Meaning
The composition focuses on the plums themselves, rendered with meticulous attention to texture and surface detail. Tiny droplets of water cling to the skin of each fruit, suggesting the freshness of early morning harvest and emphasizing the natural beauty of the produce that the book sought to document.
Technique & Style
The work is an aquatint print, a method that allows for soft, grainy tonal washes. Brookshaw employed a dark aquatint ground to create a rich, almost black background, against which the luminous plums stand out in stark contrast, employing chiaroscuro effects to model form and depth.
History & Provenance
Created by the English artist and engraver Peter Brookshaw for the 1790 publication *Pomona Britannica*, the volume comprised roughly ninety plates illustrating England’s most esteemed fruit. The series was intended as a horticultural reference for growers and connoisseurs, and copies of the book are now held in major research libraries and museum collections.
Artist & collection
Artist
George Brookshaw (c. 1751–1823), also known as G. Brown, was an English painter and illustrator from London. His early career was spent as a London cabinet-maker specializing in painted furniture, often with floral…
