Two-coloured Collinsia. Paxton Collinsia bicolor antique botanical print c1836

by Paxton, Joseph

Californian showy climber, Chinese Lanterns Collinsia antique print. ".. beautiful hardy annual sent to the Horticultural Society of London by the late Mr. David Douglas from California."

Original aquatint, drawn and engraved by Frederick W. Smith and published in London c.1836 by Sir Joseph Paxton for Paxton's Magazine of Botany & Register of Flowering Plants.

Sir Joseph Paxton (1803-1865) was a hugely talented man. Starting as a gardener at 15 years of age, with little education, his enthusiasm, ability and application were rewarded by his promotion at the age of 23 to the position of Head Gardener on the Duke of Devonshire’s Chatsworth Estate - one of England’s finest gardens. Although today better known as a landscape gardener, Paxton’s diverse talents gained him a reputation also as an architect and engineer, particularly for his design of glasshouses. His design for the glass house conservatory at Chatsworth served as a model for Paxton’s design of the Crystal Palace for London's Great International Exhibition of 1851 (for which he received his knighthood). Apparently Paxton sketched his idea on blotting paper, and within 9 days had finalized his intricate design for the enormous innovative structure of wrought iron and glass.

Size: 23 x 15cm (9 x 6 inches).