Anon. Pineapple Plant Study

An original 18th-century graphite drawing Pineapple Plant Study.

A fantastic 18th-century horticultural study. Since their introduction to England in the 16th century via Christopher Columbus, pineapples had been viewed as a symbol of wealth and luxury. Aristocratic families strove to obtain them, and due to their rarity, a pineapple would cost around £5000 by today's standards. The first reliable crop of pineapples in Britain was grown between 1714 and 1716. From this point on, the craze for growing them developed into a full-blown pineapple mania, with growers including the poets William Cowper and Alexander Pope and the architect Lord Burlington. The pineapple played an important part in the history of horticulture, with glasshouses developed and refined during the 18th-century to optimise their growth.

In graphite on laid paper, watermarked with Strasbourg lily fleur-de-lis in shield, surmounted by a crown. The same watermark is on a paper used by German artist Philipp Hackert (1737–1807) in a drawing in the collection of the Morgan Library & Museum. The watermark is similar to Heawood no.1857 which is identified as London 1789.

Provenance: From a larger collection of works which included pictures by Paul Sandby, Paul Sandby Munn, Samuel Howitt and George Morland.