Plate XXXIX.

[Phoenix Apple, Norman’s Beauty]

Fabulous aquatint and stipple engraving from Brookshaw’s,Pomona Britannica; or, A Collection of the Most Esteemed Fruits, the largest, most sumptuous and technically brilliant series of fruit prints ever made.

George Brookshaw’s Pomona Britannica was the most ambitious and is the finest series on fruit and flowers ever produced. Brookshaw a master cabinet maker of inlaid furniture late in his career, and undertook his first publishing endeavour which took ten years to complete.

Brookshaw depicted the best available varieties of fruit found in the Royal gardens at Hampton Court, Kensington Gardens, and the private gardens of the Prince of Wales in Blackheath. He also executed each plate on a dark aquatint and stipple background which resulted in the most startling dramatic effect. These are the most technically complicated and superbly printed images of fruits ever made.

References: Cf. Dunthorne 50; cf. Great Flower Books (1990) p. 81; cf. Nissen BBI 244.

From Brookshaw’s, Pomona Britannica; or, A Collection of the Most Esteemed Fruits at present cultivated in this Country; together with the Blossoms and Leaves of such as are necessary to distinguish the various sorts from each other. Selected principally from the Royal Gardens at Hampton Court, and the remainder from the most Celebrated Gardens round London.