Description
The Twelve Months of Flowers was first published by Robert Furber in 1730, having twelve plates — one for each month of the year — engraved by Henry Fletcher after Pieter Casteels III (1684-1749). Casteels was one of the greatest bird and flower painters from the golden era of Dutch natural history illustration which was marked by significant advancements in both science and art, with a particular focus on detailed and realistic depictions of the natural world. Furber was a plant nurseryman from Kensington, then a district on the outskirts of London. He was a member of the English Society of Gardeners, a trade organization established in 1724 to protect the reputations of plant growers by mutually agreeing to names for newly discovered species. Accordingly, Furber published The Twelve Months of Flowers, together with a companion work in 1732 — The Twelve Months of Fruit — to provide a common nomenclature for plants to protect against the misrepresentation of plants sold to their clients. The elegantly arranged bouquets depicted in the prints were intended to attract customers to purchase seeds to grow the specimens shown. The prints were issued by special subscription. Follow-up similar editions of The Twelve Months of Flowers by various British publishers were issued in the 18th century such as The Flower Garden Displayed, published in 1732 as an octavo book to reach a wider audience. A slightly reduced size edition of The Twelve Months of Flowers was published in about 1760-1770 in London by Robert Sayer and John King, as
re-engraved by R. Sheppard. Collectively, the 18th Century editions of The Twelve Months of Flowers remain as important historical documents of flower species grown in 18th century English gardens.
Although The Twelve Months of Flowers was published in England, it also was subscribed to by Americans. Thus, prints from the various editions of this work would be a very appropriate addition today to the collections or decor of American historical houses. Indeed, Colonial Williamsburg famously discusses their example of this set relative to John Custis IV (1678-1749) of Virginia:
[Custis] had not only had one of Williamsburg’s most important gardens, but he also had one of the largest art collections in the city. His interests came together in 1730 when a Kensington nurseryman named Robert Furber (c. 1674 – 1756) published twelve engravings of flowers that served as both decorative prints and seed catalogue. Each print features flowering plants in bloom for each month of the year, tastefully arranged in decorative urns. They were at the height of fashion and a must-have for anybody-who-was-anybody interested in gardening at the time John Custis ordered them from London.
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Custis saw himself as the one who had secured “severall” Virginia customers for Furber, having informed fellow members of the Virginia gentry about the fashionable prints. At least one such lucky individual received the subscription sheet, according to the letter — Custis’ friend, Thomas Lee of Stratford Hall in Westmorland County, Virginia, whose probate inventory at the time of his death listed: “19 Flower pieces & old picturs” in the “Green Room.”
Credit legend in lower margin: “Sold by Robt Sayer at the Golden Buck near St. Dunstanes Church Fleetstreet and John King at the Globe in the Poultrey R. Sheppard Sculpt”
Condition: Generally very good with vibrant colors, with the usual light overall toning, wear, handling, particularly in outer margins.
References:
Dunthorne, Gordon. Flower and Fruit Prints of the 18th and Early 19th Centuries, their History, Makers and Uses, with a Catalogue Raisonne of the Works in which they are Found. Washington, DC: author, 1938, reprinted by New York: Da Capo Press, 1970.
“Furbers Flowers.” Colonial Williamsburg. https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/discover/sources/pieces-from-the-collection/furbers-flowers/. (July 8 2025).
Maxted, Ian. “The London book trades 1775-1800, a preliminary checklist of members.” Exeter Working Papers in British Book Trade History. 2001. http://www.devon.gov.uk/library/locstudy/bookhist/lonb.html.
Tongiorgi Tomasi, Lucia. An Oak Spring Flora: Flower Illustration from the Fifteenth Century to the Present Time: a selection of the rare books, manuscripts, and works of art in the collection of Rachel Lambert Mellon. Uppervill, VA.: New Haven, Oak Spring Garden Library, distributed by Yale University Press, 1997. pp.143-146.
