Geog Dionysius Ehret (1708-1770)

Mespilus Orientalis/Acer Orientatlis (Turkey, Greece)

Original Copper-plate engraving designed and engraved by Georg Dionysius Ehret. Hand coloured.

Published London c.1745

Ehret was a botanist & entomologist celebrated for his botanical illustration.In the 1700’s the Old World was discovering the wealth of new exotic plants arriving in Europe as trading and colonization opened up the world providing an abundance of material worthy of illustration as well as deriving medicinal knowledge. Many of the finest botanical artists have been guided by eminent botanists & physicians: Ehret established a firm friendship with Johann Beurer, renown apothecary and botanist, who was related to eminent Nuremberg physician, Christopher Jacob Trew. Dr.Trew, a keen botanist and benefactor of natural history, recognized Ehret’s talent and, realizing his lack of botanical knowledge, encouraged him to study the structure and form of his subjects. Ehret applied himself to the task to such effect that he has made himself valuable to modern botanists as a means to identifying exotic plants. He was thus well equipped to do exact botanical work by the time he met Carl Linnaeus in Holland . Linnaeus demonstrated his new method of examining stamens of flowers for the purpose of classification and Ehret designed a table showing the Linnaean Sexual System of classification that became famous.

Paper Size 10 x 16.4 (25 x 41cm) / Plate-mark = 7.8 x 12.2 inches (19.5 x 30.5cm)