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Botanical, Art, Mushrooms, Cape Cod, Marcia Gaylord Norman, Vintage Watercolors

$450

Marcia Gaylord Norman (act. c. 1950-1979)
Cape Cod Mushrooms and Fungi
American: 1950s-1970s
Watercolors on paper
14.25 x 10.25 inches to 11 x 8.5 inches overall (sizes vary)
$450 each

Group of original watercolor paintings of mushrooms and fungi by the New England botanical illustrator Marcia Gaylord Norman. The paintings each show the plant in its habitat and have been executed in a straightforward natural history illustration style with meticulous attention to detail. All are signed either with her full name or initials, and most are titled on the front. Some have additional handwritten inscriptions on the front and back with notes about where and when the specimens were collected, botanical features and colors, or the guidebook used for identification. Given the locations noted, most depict mushrooms found in the Cape Cod area, especially Chatham and Brewster, Massachusetts. They represent a wide variety of genera, including Boletus, Mycena, Russula and Tricholoma.

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Description

Marcia Gaylord Norman was primarily a botanical artist, although she also contributed illustrations to at least one bird guide. She lived in Chatham, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, and illustrated a number of natural history guidebooks to the area including Treasures of the Shore: A Beachcomber’s Botany (1963, rev. 1968), The Birds of Cape Cod (1965), Seaweeds of Cape Cod and the Islands (1969), A Guide to the Atlantic White Cedar Swamp Trail (1969), A Sampler of Wayside Herbs (1974) and The Sandy Shore, Seasons of the Salt Marsh (1975).

Condition: Generally very good with the usual light toning and wear. Some occasional scattered spotting or foxing, unobtrusive. Image size and paper size often vary, but most can be framed as a set, with uniform outer dimensions. Gauge of paper varies from thin to heavier card.

Additional information

Century

20th Century