Pair of George II Watercolours of Floral Arrangements

Robert Furber was a nurseryman with gardens near Hyde Park Gate in Kensington, and for many years a churchwarden at St. Mary Abbot’s, Kensington. The Flowers was issued as a luxurious catalogue for his stock: over 400 flowers are illustrated, and each is identified in the key below the picture so that customers could easily order their requirements. The twelve plates were issued on a subscription basis: the thirteenth plate, issued after the floral plates and often not included with the series, lists over 430 subscribers. Following the success of the floral plates, Furber went on to issue the Fruit plates two years later, the same formula was applied: each plate depicts different arrangements of fruit in bowls, plates or on tables with a total of 364 varieties being displayed. Each variety is linked by a small number to the key at the foot of each image. All the plates are based on paintings by Pieter Casteels (1684-1749) who came from Antwerp and settled in London in 1708. Between 1708 and 1735 (when he retired from painting) Casteels enjoyed great success with his paintings of flowers and more particularly birds executed in a style similar to both Francis Barlow and the Hondecoeters.