| Method | Mezzotint printed in colour |
| Artist | Robert Dunkarton after Philip Reinagle and Abraham Pether |
| Published | Published in London, May 20, 1800, by Robert Thornton |
| Dimensions | Image 448 x 355 mm, Plate 490 x 360 mm, Sheet 535 x 415 mm |
| Notes |
A stunning impression of The Night-Blooming Cereus (Selenicereus grandiflorus), commonly referred to as the queen of the night, a ceroid cacti that blooms at night, from Robert Thornton's famous 'Temple of Flora'. After an apprenticeship with mezzotint engraver William Pether, Robert Dunkarton (c. 1744-c.1815) initially produced portraits in oils and crayons. He exhibited these at the Royal Academy and the Society of Artists from 1774 until 1779, after which he concentrated on printmaking. Dunkarton worked in a number of areas, including portraits, old master paintings, landscapes, and botanical subjects. Between 1770 and 1811, he produced some forty-five mezzotint portraits, many on a large scale. One of his last commissions was from J.M.W. Turner, for whom he provided the mezzotint ground for five of the plates for his Liber Studiorum, published in 1811-1812. Philip Reinagle (1749-1833) was a British artist. Trained by the painter Allan Ramsay he began his career as a portrait painter, then later specialised in animal and sporting pictures, botanical subjects and landscapes. He became a Royal Academician in 1812. Abraham Pether (1756-1812) was a British painter who, together with artists like Wright of Derby, de Loutherbourg and Turner made the atmospheric effects of moonlight a fashionable pictorial convention during the late eighteenth and nineteenth century. The inspiration for this come from Dutch seventeenth-century painters such as Aert van der Neer. Condition: Excellent impression, light toning to sheet. |
| Framing | unmounted |
| Price | £2,500.00 |
| Stock ID | 42598 |