Purple Foxglove from the Plants series 1862 - 1869

Editor: So, this is *Purple Foxglove* from the Plants series, dating back to somewhere between 1862 and 1869, by Louis Prang & Co. It’s a drawing made with coloured pencils, which seems amazing given how delicate it looks. There's something so sweetly sinister about it, don't you think? I mean, these drooping blossoms, all polka-dotted inside! What do you see when you look at this piece? Curator: It whispers secrets of a bygone era to me. The Victorian fascination with the natural world, categorized and pinned down, like a beautiful, deadly butterfly. See how the artist renders each vein on the leaf? It’s almost obsessive. And yes, you're right; the “sweetly sinister” feel. Did you notice the inscription? “Juice and Leaves poisonous." Like a little Victorian warning label. I wonder if the person coloring knew it was lethal and how did that change their impression? Editor: That’s so interesting! It’s like they’re romanticizing the danger, acknowledging its dark side but making it pretty for parlor display. What about that really simple, almost clinical composition though? Curator: Right. There’s a tension between the wild, untamed nature of the foxglove itself and the artist's attempt to present it with scientific precision, but its all mediated through aesthetic considerations, colour, composition, the flat presentation… I love that tension! But you know, in reality the foxglove loves wild hedgerows, its much more romantic there, growing wild and tall and nodding it’s spotted purple heads at startled birds! Did this drawing meet your initial impressions? Editor: Absolutely. I had no idea it would draw on such detailed history to look at the sinister. I can see a little bit more.