1805
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Pomona Britannica: No. 33 - Peaches is a 1805 by George Brookshaw, a Romanticism work, depicting Peach, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a single, perfect peach resting on a plain surface, its fuzzy skin and soft blush painted so real you almost feel it. Brookshaw made this as part of a book meant to teach rich landowners how to grow and name fruits. The peach isn’t just pretty—it’s a science lesson, drawn from royal gardens. Every vein in the leaf and shadow under the stem is exact. If you like this kind of careful, lifelike fruit painting, look up the technique called *chiaroscuro*.
This color aquatint etching is one plate from George Brookshaw’s 1812 illustrated volume Pomona Britannica . Named after the Roman goddess of fruit trees, gardens, and orchards, Brookshaw intended the volume to be the English “country gentleman’s” guide to the science of classifying and identifying fruits (pomology). Many of Brookshaw’s models came from the Royal Gardens at Hampton Court and Kensington Gardens. Each print featured one fruit, often life-size, including detailed depictions of its flower and leaves. Printed in color with hand-painted highlights, this and other illustrated…
Peaches were not introduced to England until the 17th century, apparently from its North American colonies.
Read the full account in the museum source.
George Brookshaw (c. 1751–1823), also known as G. Brown, was an English painter and illustrator from London. His early career was spent as a London cabinet-maker specializing in painted furniture, often with floral…
See the richer artist page
