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'Stewartia malecodendron'

Watercolour on vellum by James Bolton annotated as 'Common Stuartia, native of Carolina and Virginia'. Bolton was born in West Yorkshire, England and was the son of a weaver. He was a self- taught botanist, artist and engraver. His brother Thomas Bolton (1722-1778) was also a naturalist. James Bolton was highly successful as a mycologist and author of several botanical books including the first British book on fungi. James and Thomas Bolton were both sponsored by the art and natural history collector Margaret Cavendish Bentinck, Duchess of Portland (1715-1785). Painting date c.1790s.

The Fountain Court

Watercolour on board of a scene in the gardens at Dyffryn House, South Wales by Edith Helena Adie. Adie was born in London and studied at the Slade School of Art and the Royal Academy. She was a member of the New Watercolour Society specialising in landscapes and garden views. Adie also lived and painted in Bordighera, Italy. Her paintings of the gardens at Dyffryn House designed by Thomas Mawson in 1906, were commissioned by the owner Reginald Cory (1871-1934) a passionate gardener and benefactor to horticultural causes. This painting is dated August 13th 1923.

The Cannon Hall Muscat Grape

Watercolour on paper by Augusta Innes Withers of The Cannon Hall Muscat Grape. This is taken from one of ten volumes known as 'Hooker's Fruits' commissioned by the RHS to help standardise the nomenclature of cultivated fruit. After William Hooker suffered a stroke Withers was one of several artists appointed to complete the paintings. Withers was flower painter to Queen Adelaide and Queen Victoria as well as illustrating works by John Lindley and James Bateman. This painting is dated 1826.