Matilda Conyers (1753-1803)

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Matilda Conyers (1753-1803) is an example of an increasingly rare phenomenon: a virtually unrecorded 18th-century botanical artist of the first order. She was born into the wealthy Essex land-owning family whose main country seat was Copped Hall near Epping in Essex. The families wealth came from their extensive estates in Britain and the West Indies. An ability to draw and paint competently had come to be an expected female accomplishment by the mid to late-18th century, but Matilda Conyers abilities were clearly recognized as being exceptional and were encouraged to a degree that was unusual for the time. The greatest botanical artist of the period was Georg Dionysius Ehret (1708-1770) who specialised in the instruction of pupils from English upper class families. Matilda Conyer's drawings do exhibit some similarities with his work, both in style and her use of veluum. Vellum was a medium particularly favoured by botanical artists for its smooth and even texture: a surface which allowed for the details of plants, flowers and foliage to accurately depicted. Matilda Conyers, in the following selection, demonstrates her mastery of the subject matter, its placing on the page, the materials she has chosen to use and the medium on which the images are presented. Her work apparently remained unknown outside her family circle, but the following selection should go some way towards gaining her work the recognition it so clearly deserves.

細節

Matilda Conyers (1753-1803)

Alstraemeria pelegrina

watercolour and bodycolour over pencil, on vellum, inscribed lower left 'Alstraemeria pelegrina'

11¾ x 9 inches (298 x 227mm)

[With:]
Alaea rosea and cabbage white butterfly

watercolour and bodycolour over pencil, on vellum, inscribed lower right 'Hollyhock'

11½ x 9¼ inches (295 x 236mm)
(2)

注意事項

This lot will be subject to VAT at the rate of 17.5% on the buyer's premium.