Botanical watercolor drawing of a stem of the laurel plant, a butterfly, and close-up of the plant’s blossom.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A laurel stem shows eight elliptical leaves fanned out around the stem, dark green color, one is overturned revealing its medium green underside. Five brown pods grow along the stem, five smaller green buds at the top. The plant’s delicate blossom in the upper right features five small white petals surrounding a yellow center, with front, profile, and closed bud views. A brown and yellow spotted butterfly, with dots of blue and red, faces away, open-winged in lower left. A shadow underneath all gives dimensionality, the background is antique white. Manuscript of the Latin names in the lower right.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
4.1965.2
People
Unidentified Artist
Previously attributed to Josef Abel, Austrian (1764 - 1818)
Title
Plant and Insect Study: Laurel; Machanoides butterfly
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
18th-19th century
Culture
Austrian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/311949

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Transparent and opaque watercolor with black ink, gum additions and traces of graphite on off-white modern laid paper
Dimensions
37 x 23.9 cm (14 9/16 x 9 7/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • watermark: countermark: IV

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Loan from the Collection of Edouard Sandoz
Object Number
4.1965.2
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 2240 18th Century, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/22/2019 - 02/25/2020

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu