Italian School (late 16th/early 17th century) A group of 18 botanical studies,including pines, bracken, thyme, a Jerusalem artichoke, and others, pencil and watercolours, some heightened with body white, v.s., on laid paper, all sheets laid onto paper support, 5 of the support sheets with 16th century arrow watermark [cf. Heawood 40], each c.450 x 340mm. (17 3/4 x 13 1/4 in), one trimmed, original pen and brown ink numbering recto and verso, some spotting and browning, surface dirt, some minor loss, loose, in contemporary limp vellum folder, worn (18)

***The relatively early date of these botanical studies, places them in a period when scientific and botanical research methods were beginning to undergo a significant change. Scientific illustrations of this kind were assembled by collectors into archives, who not only employed many artists to create visual scientific documentations, but also actively collected earlier examples of such work..