Lot 169: Smith, Edwin Dalton

4 fine original watercolors of varieties of ranunculus (each, 9 3/4 x 7 3/4 in.; 248 x 198 mm), extracted from an album, each numbered in ink in the upper right corner. Floated and glazed in handsome gilt frames.

Blunt, The Art of Botanical Illustration, p. 212

The four watercolors, are numbered 111 ["Nonpareil"], 126 ["Laodice"], 136 [unidentified], and 170 ["Tiara"]. Edwin Dalton Smith (1800-83) executed these fine watercolors to serve as originals for the engravings included in Robert Sweet's The Florist's Guide and Cultivator's Directory (1827-29), a lavishly illustrated and important contribution to the array of splendid color-plate books devoted to the subject of botany in nineteenth-century England. As long ago as 1950, Wilfrid Blunt recognized the quality of these watercolors, singling them out for praise: "These little miniatures, rich and jewelled in colour, are executed with great finesse; the plates in the printed work, pleasant though they are, give no idea of the quality of the originals." Smith, for many years attached to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, was one of the finest botanical artists of the time. Accomplished in both botanical and portrait painting, Smith specialized in miniatures, a fact that accounts for the intricate detail of these watercolors. He lived in Chelsea, exhibiting much of his work from 1816-47. He exhibited at least 66 works at the Royal Academy and an additional 13 at the Suffolk Street Galleries. Robert Sweet, Smith's, collaborator was an enterprising horticulturist rather than a scientific botanist or a botanical artist. As such, he devoted himself to new species with an eye to their suitability for growing in British gardens and hot-houses. Most of the plants he included in his publications were provided by fellow nurseryman. The partnership between Smith and Sweet resulted in a series of important flower books.