Roses, poppies and marigolds in a glass vase

Holland was born in Burslem to a family of pottery painters and designers. He was an extremely accomplished flower painter, partly as a result of his background knowledge of pottery decoration. In 1819, he came to London and in 1831 (the year after he made the watercolour offered above), visited France where he came under the spell of Bonington, who had died there two years earlier.