Grape vines
Date
1854
Creator
Joseph James Forrester (1809 - 1861, British) , Topographer
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Dimensions
height (painting): 380mm
width (painting): 276mm
width (painting): 276mm
Subject
Content object
Description
Botanical studies of grape vines Vitis vinifera. Nine figures, showing sections of vine from the Douro wine region of Portugal.
Detail of an original illustration from the manuscript version of the paper ‘On the vine-disease in the port-wine districts of the Alto-Douro in April 1854. With a supplementary note on the proposed remedies for its eradication’, by J.J. Forrester. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, vol.7 (1854), pp.156-164.
The grape variety ‘The Bastardo’ is given in the plate’s heading and the date appears lower right, ‘Regua 3rd April 1854’. The accompanying text states that the variety produces ‘a red cluster grape in large quantities – the wine made from which is light, high flavoured & delicious.’ The history of the specimen inn the plate is also related: ‘The plate The Bastardo displays a very old vine which ought to have been cut down but which nevertheless bore its fruits well until August last year when it succumbed to the prevailing disease’. The subject of the paper, the impact of the grape disease commonly called phylloxera, was devastating for European wine production in the nineteenth century.
Joseph James Forrester (1809-1861) British wine merchant and topographer was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, best known for his survey of the Duoro wine-growing region of Portugal.
Detail of an original illustration from the manuscript version of the paper ‘On the vine-disease in the port-wine districts of the Alto-Douro in April 1854. With a supplementary note on the proposed remedies for its eradication’, by J.J. Forrester. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, vol.7 (1854), pp.156-164.
The grape variety ‘The Bastardo’ is given in the plate’s heading and the date appears lower right, ‘Regua 3rd April 1854’. The accompanying text states that the variety produces ‘a red cluster grape in large quantities – the wine made from which is light, high flavoured & delicious.’ The history of the specimen inn the plate is also related: ‘The plate The Bastardo displays a very old vine which ought to have been cut down but which nevertheless bore its fruits well until August last year when it succumbed to the prevailing disease’. The subject of the paper, the impact of the grape disease commonly called phylloxera, was devastating for European wine production in the nineteenth century.
Joseph James Forrester (1809-1861) British wine merchant and topographer was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, best known for his survey of the Duoro wine-growing region of Portugal.
Associated place