Pomona Britannica: No. 72 - Amicua (Melon)

published 1812

Pomona Britannica: No. 72 - Amicua (Melon), published 1812. George Brookshaw (British, 1751–1823). Aquatint and stipple engraving printed in color and hand colored; platemark: 45 x 37.5 cm (17 11/16 x 14 3/4 in.); sheet: 56.7 x 45 cm (22 5/16 x 17 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.167 This color aquatint etching is one plate from George Brookshaw’s 1812 illustrated volume Pomona Britannica. Named after the Roman goddess of fruit trees, gardens, and orchards, Brookshaw intended the volume to be the English “country gentleman’s” guide to the science of classifying and identifying fruits (pomology). Many of Brookshaw’s models came from the Royal Gardens at Hampton Court and Kensington Gardens. Each print featured one fruit, often life-size, including detailed depictions of its flower and leaves. Printed in color with hand-painted highlights, this and other illustrated botanicals formed an essential part of the cultured English library in the early 19th century. Originally from North Africa, melons are recorded in England as early as the 1500s.