1820 Henriette A. Vincent, Strawberries & Butterflies, large folio, stipple engraving, flowers, botany, entomology

After Henriette Antoinette Vincent; 

Engraver: Lambert l'aine

Fraises. 1. l'Ecaille de Tortue, from Etudes de Fleurs et de Fruits, 

c. 1820.

42 x 29.8 cm

Stipple engraving, printed in color, finished by hand.

Sitwell & Blunt 79

Issued in Etudes de Fleurs et de Fruits, Peints d'apres Nature, (Paris, c. 1820). 

Henriette Vincent (1786–1834) was an early 19th-century botanical painter at the French court. Henriette Vincent's magnum opus was Studies of Flowers and Fruits Painted from Life (original title: Études de fleurs et de fruits: Peints d'après nature). First published in Paris in 1820 with 48 hand-finished color engravings by Lambert the elder, it was republished the same year in London with hand-coloured aquatints by T. L. Busby that reversed the images in the original volume. It was dedicated to "young women", presumably those who might follow in Madame Vincent's footsteps. The subjects of the watercolours included common flowers like tulips, pinks, narcissus, hyacinths, carnations, and anemones; the fruits depicted included grapes, cherries, plums, and strawberries. The finely detailed, naturalistic images typically show clusters of flowers and fruits with their leaves against a plain background and may be further particularised by such details as water droplets, a ladybug sitting on a leaf, or butterflies flitting nearby. Although not notable for scientific exactitude, Vincent's paintings continue to be appreciated as masterpieces of delicacy and beauty from the heyday of the florilegium.

Only five copies of the book are now known to exist; institutions holding copies include the British Museum and the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Very light age spotting. Unusually clean without the browning common to these scarce plates.