Ehret, Georg Dionysius.

a superb depiction of the prickly pear cactus, also known as the Indian Fig and Mission cactus. This represents Ehret at his greatest; the depiction is so real one can almost feel the fleshy leaves and the sharp thorns.

The plant is prized for its fruit, hence the name prickly pear and Indian fig. It is believed to have originated in Mexico although it is only known now as a cultivar. It created a sensation in European gardens when introduced in the late sixteenth century; it was first depicted life-size in Besler’s Hortus eystettensis (1613).

An earlier and much smaller representation by Ehret is found in an album of watercolours, formerly in the Bute collection, and now in the Radcliffe Science Library, Oxford (see Shirley Sherwood A New Flowering; 1000 year of botanical art, The Asmolean, pp. 94-95 and plate 1). “Inst. R. H.” refers to Joseph Pitton Tournefort’s Institutiones rei herbariae (1700, although Ehret is probably referring to the third edition of 1719).

“Opuntia ficus-indica is a crop species that figures prominently in the modern folklore of ethnobotany. Opuntioid cacti are recognized as ideal crops for arid regimes because they are extremely efficient at converting water into biomass. Opuntia ficus-indica, one of several long-domesticated cactus species, is the most widespread and economically important of these cactus crops, as important as corn and tequila agave in the agricultural economy of modern Mexico. The facile hybridization of Opuntia is very well documented; this genus is among the most interspecifically promiscuous plants, perhaps rivalled only by Quercus (oak) in this regard. The relative ease of vegetative propagation of Opuntia is demonstrated by its occasional clonal dominance of certain areas. This aspect of Opuntia marks it as a noxious weed in some places. This ease of clonal propagation was probably not lost on the very early human population of the New World. Evidence exists for the use of Opuntia as human food at least 9,000 years before the present or even as early as 12,000 years ago, probably before cultivation” (Wikipedia).

Georg Dionysius Ehret (1708–1770) was one of the greatest botanical artists of his or any age. His exquisitely rendered studies certainly equal those of, for example, Pierre-Joseph Redouté.

The group offered here, which we understand were formerly in the collection of Otto Schaeffer at Schweinfurt, show Ehret at the peak of his powers. They are of the same size and quality as the two vellums offered in these rooms on 13 November 2003 (lot 50) and 13 May 2004 (lot 12). By the time the following drawings were made, Ehret, now resident in London, had become well-known as a master of flower painting: “now firmly established as a botanical artist of distinction, Ehret spent his winters teaching ladies of the nobility and his summers painting, often travelling to record the first flowering of a new or exotic plant… He fulfilled many commissions for wealthy patrons, such as… Sir Richard Mead, royal physician… Taylor White, lawyer and treasurer of the Foundling Hospital… [and] Ralph Willet FRS FRA” (ODNB). As well as this, Ehret famously contributed illustrations to magnificent botanical works such as C.J. Trew’s sumptuous works Hortus nitidissimus floribus (1750–1786) and Plantae selectae (1750–1773).