Plums: Drap d'Or, White Gage, Blue Gage and Green Gage plums.

George Brookshaw retired as a cabinet maker to become a successful teacher, artist and publisher of botanical subjects. Brookshaw’s magnus opus, Pomona Britannica, was ten years in the making and depicted over two hundred and fifty-six varieties of fruit grown in some of London’s most celebrated gardens, and in particular, the Royal Gardens at Hampton Court.

Engraved in aquatint and stipple, printed in colour and finished by hand, Pomona Britannica depicted fruit in a stylized composition against an aquatint background for a striking contrast and dramatic effect. At a time when folio flower-books were having difficulty finding purchasers, Brookshaw’s work proved a resounding success in 1812, and in 1817 a fine quarto edition was published with little expense spared.

Brookshaw followed up his masterpiece with further publications but none would truly match the grandeur of Pomona Britannica, which may be considered one of the finest colour plate books ever published.