The RHS Applebee Collection
An extensive collection of early nineteenth-century watercolours of flowers from the RHS Lindley Collections, beautifully painted in a set of over three hundred paintings, by Caroline Maria Applebee (c. 1787 – 16 September 1854), the eldest daughter of the Rev. John Applebee, have been adapted into a Moorcroft Collection of seven pieces by Moorcroft designer, Nicola Slaney. Her subjects span over forty-years, and feature in three albums, held in family ownership following her death.
In the nineteenth-century botanical painting by women was encouraged by the likes of George Brookshaw in his New Treatise on Flower Painting (1816) at a similar time as James Whatman produced the first woven papers especially for use with watercolours, with some of Applebee’s watercolours bearing his watermark. Born in c.1787, Applebee was not a published artist, but was, nonetheless, a member of the horticultural society in her hometown of Colchester, and a prize exhibitor of the Eucomis comosa or pineapple flower at the local show in 1850.
With reverence, Nicola noted that each Applebee watercolour was superbly executed and composed while representing some of the most fashionable plants of the early nineteenth century. The RHS Applebee Collection is historically exciting as well as enchanting in its own right as the Moorcroft designer takes Applebee’s watercolours into multi-faceted forms under glaze.
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Limited Edition
Blue lupin
JU4
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Numbered Edition
Christmas Rose Reborn
80/6
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Numbered Edition
Champagne Anemones
PLQ11
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Numbered Edition
Iris Japonica
41/4
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Limited Edition
Lilium Tigrinum
99/11
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Limited Edition