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 Pl. 165 FENOUIL.Foeniculum vulgare (Fennel) 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:Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is a flowering plant species in the carrot family, Apiaceae or Umbelliferae, a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus Apium, and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family.It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves.[4] It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean.It is a highly flavorful herb used in cooking and, along with the similar-tasting anise, is one of the primary ingredients of absinthe. Florence fennel or finocchio is a selection with a swollen, bulb-like stem base that is used as a vegetable.Fennel is widely cultivated, both in its native range and elsewhere, for its edible, strongly flavored leaves and fruits. Its aniseed or licorice flavor comes from anethole, an aromatic compound also found in anise and star anise, and its taste and aroma are similar to theirs, though usually not as strong.Fennel was prized by the ancient Greeks and Romans, who used it as medicine, food, and insect repellent. Fennel tea was believed to give courage to the warriors before battle. According to Greek mythology, Prometheus used a giant stalk of fennel to carry fire from Mount Olympus to Earth. Emperor Charlemagne required the cultivation of fennel on all imperial farms.The bulb, foliage, and fruits of the fennel plant are used in many of the culinary traditions of the world. The small flowers of wild fennel (known as fennel "pollen") are the most potent form of fennel, but also the most expensive. Dried fennel fruit is an aromatic, anise-flavored spice, brown or green when fresh, slowly turning a dull grey as the fruit ages. For cooking, green fruits are optimal. The leaves are delicately flavored and similar in shape to dill. The bulb is a crisp vegetable that can be sautéed, stewed, braised, grilled, or eaten raw. Tender young leaves are used for garnishes, as a salad, to add flavor to salads, to flavor sauces to be served with puddings, and in soups and fish sauce. Both the inflated leaf bases and the tender young shoots can be eaten like celery. 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: 46.23 USD
Location: Great Barrington, Massachusetts
End Time: 2024-12-10T06:37:53.000Z
Shipping Cost: 11 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Artist: Pierre Jean François Turpin
Signed By: Turpin
Image Orientation: Portrait
Size: Octavo
Signed: Yes
Title: Pl. 165 FENOUIL (Fennel)
Material: Paper
Region of Origin: Europe
Original/Licensed Reprint: Original
Subject: Biology, Botanical, Flowers, France, Gardens, Still Life, Botanique, Flora
Type: Print
Year of Production: 1814
Item Height: 8-1/4"
Style: Natural History
Theme: Art, Food & Drink, History, Natural History, Nature, Science & Medicine, Botany, Flowers
Features: 1st Edition
Production Technique: Hand-Colored Copperplate Engraving
Country/Region of Manufacture: France
Handmade: Yes
Item Width: 5"
Time Period Produced: 1800-1849