An exquisite original stipple engraving from Pierre Joseph Redoute’s finest achievement: LES LILIACEES. This is Plate 134, the Trillium Rhomboideum (Trillium Rhomboidal).
Synonymous with Trillium erectum, also known as red trillium, wake-robin, purple trillium, Beth root, or stinking Benjamin, is a species of flowering plant native to the east and north-east of North America. It is a spring ephemeral, an herbaceous perennial whose life-cycle is synchronised with that of the deciduous forests where it lives.
Only 220 sets of Les Liliacees were produced!! Published in Paris, c. 1802-16.
Redoute, with the immense financial backing of Empress Josephine, produced this masterpiece - “a work that is unsurpassed in the history of botanical illustration. The time-consuming processes of stipple and line engraving, printing in colors and finishing by hand were painstakingly applied by a team of eighteen engravers. No expense was spared in ensuring the quality” (Sotheby's auction 11-10-85).
Faint damp staining in the upper right corner, around the plate number, extending to the edges.
Image size is approximately 20 1/2 x 13 1/8 inches.
Shipped unmatted.
