Lot Essay
The flowers depicted on this unusually large casket include commonly found specimens of roses, carnations, daisies, marigolds, sweet william, narcissus, asters, daffodils and anemones as well as the more exotic Guernsey Lily and Rose of Sharon. On the top of the box is a rare Crown Imperial, the soft orange petals of the clustered flower shown beneath a crown of green leaves. The depiction of the blosson is almost identical to the Fritillaire Imperiale as engraved and colored by Pierre Joseph Redouté in his Choix des plus belles Fleurs published in Paris in 1829 - leading one to speculate that the other flowers painted on the chest are also based on renderings by the renowned botanic artist.