Australian Beaufortia decussata Paxton botanical antique print c1835

$220.00

Antique print of distinctive Australian flora, Beaufortia decussata.

Original aquatint, drawn and engraved by F.W. Smith for Paxton's Magazine of Botany & Register of Flowering Plants published in London c1838 by Joseph Paxton.

Joseph Paxton (1803-1865) started garden work when he was 15. Unlike many gardeners of his time, he could read and write, and his skill, enthusiasm and hard work were rewarded by promotion at the age of 23 to Head Gardener of the Duke of Devonshire’s Chatsworth estate, one of England’s finest gardens. More often considered a landscape gardener, Paxton’s abilities gained him a reputation as both architect and engineer, particularly for his design of glasshouses. Paxton's design for a very large glass house conservatory at Chatsworth served as a model for his even larger design of the Crystal Palace for the London Exhibition of 1851. Using radical preconstructed similar sized modules 2,000 men built it within 8 months. Both Paxton and the building manager were knighted by Queen Victoria.

Size of page 230 x150mm (9 x 6 inches). Mounted between 'antique white' conservation ragmat with green-painted bevel-cut edge to the window beautifully complimenting this finely illustrated botanical specimen the accompanying descriptive text is hinged to the rear. It is covered in cellophane for presentation and protection until framed. External measurement for frame window is 350 x 270mm (13 3/4 x 10 5/8 inches).