Pancratium 1738 - 1770

Georg Dionysius Ehret made this watercolor on paper of a Pancratium, or sea daffodil, sometime in the mid-18th century. The image is a product of the Enlightenment, when a new scientific culture produced detailed botanical studies and collections. These were made possible by imperial expansion and global trade, as Europeans gained access to new plants from around the world. Ehret was one of the foremost botanical artists in Europe, working for wealthy patrons such as the Duchess of Portland and also illustrating books for doctors and botanists. He was part of a scientific network based in London, where the Royal Society played a key role in gathering and circulating knowledge. What’s easy to overlook is that the creation of such images was thoroughly entangled with colonial exploitation. Only by examining original documents from the period can we reveal the complex social and institutional conditions that enabled their making.