Framed Millennial Grapes. D.G. Passmore colour-printed lithograph c1904

by Passmore, Deborah Grisscom

Grapes lithograph in gorgeous antique-style gilt-edged wood-veneered frame.

Original chromolithograph by Deborah Grisscom Passmore (1840-1911). Printed in New York circa 1904 by The Sackett and Wilhelms Company for the Yearbook of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Prior to photography, between 1897 and 1925, artists were employed by USDA to create watercolours and lithographs of fruit and vegetables that were growing in the U.S. These charming illustrations were printed to promote cultivation of crops, but as there was not a large circulation they are rarely seen today.

D.G. Passmore received a strict Quaker education prior to moving from Delaware to study at the School of Design and Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. She was a fine botanical artist, worked in the U.S.A. Division of Pomology for 19 years and became principal artist. Most of the accomplished botanical artists were women as art was considered an acceptable female pursuit, and government illustrator was one of the few employments available to women artists.

Image, 23 x 14cm (9 x 5.5 inches). The definition of scan through glass is rather poor. Grape colour is more similar to the Millennial Grapes image below.