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Title:
A Few Leaves from the Newly-Invented Process of "Nature-Printing"
Object name(s):
Print
Brief description:
Tilia x vulgaris, printed in black and two shades of green
Collection:
Victoria and Albert Museum
Associated concept:
Gardens & Gardening
Associated concept:
Printmaking techniques
Associated concept:
Prints
Associated concept:
Books
Content - concept:
botany
Content - concept:
linden
Current reproduction location:
https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AN6906/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg
Location type:
Thumbnail
Dimension:
Height
Dimension measured part:
sheet
Dimension measurement unit:
cm
Dimension value:
57
Dimension:
Width
Dimension measured part:
sheet
Dimension measurement unit:
cm
Dimension value:
37.9
Dimension:
Height
Dimension measured part:
platemark
Dimension measurement unit:
cm
Dimension value:
41.6
Dimension:
Width
Dimension measured part:
platemark
Dimension measurement unit:
cm
Dimension value:
26.2
Inscription content:
TILIACEAE, (Juss.) / Tilia Europae'a, L. / COMMON LIME TREE.
Inscription interpretation:
Lower centre
Inscription content:
PRINTED IN COLOURS BY / BRADBURY & EVANS, PATENTES, WHITEFRIARS, LONDON.
Inscription interpretation:
Lower right corner
Inscription content:
Nature Printing,
Inscription interpretation:
Lower left corner
Material:
paper (fiber product)
Material:
printing ink
Object name:
Print
Object number:
14765:19
Object production date:
1854
Date - association:
made
Date - earliest / single:
1854-01-01
Date - latest:
1854-12-31
Object production organisation:
Bradbury & Evans
Organisation's association:
publisher
Object production person:
Bradbury, Henry
Person's association:
printer
Object production place:
London
Place association:
published
Object status:
Limited edition
Physical description:
Tilia x vulgaris, printed in black and two shades of green
Reproduction number:
2006AN6906
Responsible department/section:
PDP
Technique:
Nature printing
Technique:
Nature printing
Text reason:
Collections online record
Text:
Henry Bradury's first efforts in nature printing were issued in 1854 as a volume of 21 plates entitled 'A few leaves represented by 'nature printing' showing the application of the art for the reproduction of botanical and other natural objects with a delicacy of detail and truthfulness unobtainable by any other known method of printing...'. The 'book' had no text and seems to have been intended as an advertisement for the potential applications of nature printing. It was quickly followed by Moore's 'Ferns of Great Britain and Ireland' (1855), and Johnstone and Croall's 'Nature-Printed British Sea-weeds (1859). Although modelled on the actual plant, nature prints lack the illusion of three dimensions conveyed by a conventional illustration, and in fact resemble flattened herbarium specimens. The image was printed in three colours applied à la poupée (on the same plate and printed together); the colours blend where they meet rather than overlap. Henry Bradbury (1829-1860) issued his first efforts in nature printing in 1854 as a volume 'showing the application of the art for the reproduction of botanical and other natural objects with a delicacy of detail and truthfulness unobtainable by any other known method of printing...' He had studied under Alois Auer (1913-1869) at the Imperial Printing Office in Vienna and seen the new technique there.
Text reason:
Summary description
Text:
Photography Centre (2018-20): Henry Bradbury (1829–60), printed and published by Bradbury and Evans (founded 1830) Common lime or linden (Tilia x vulgaris) 1854 Nature printing was one of several image technologies that became popular in the mid 19th century that, like photography, aimed for a more direct capturing of the natural world. The artist would make a mould from the plant, ink it with colours and pass it through a roller press with paper. The resulting embossed impression of the plant often resembled a flattened herbarium specimen, like this example of lime tree leaves. Nature print Museum no. 14765:19
Text reason:
Gallery label text
User's reference:
Reference:
Bradbury, Henry (1831-1860). A Few Leaves from the Newly-Invented Process of "Nature-Printing". London: Bradbury & Evans, 1854.

Persistent shareable link for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/21a92746-a777-3798-ab8c-97e28c479c30

Use licence for this record: CC BY-NC

Attribution for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/21a92746-a777-3798-ab8c-97e28c479c30, Victoria and Albert Museum, CC BY-NC

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