Set of Four Botanical Prints: Red Rose Collection #10. Includes four works by Alfred Parsons published in 1914 by Ellen Willmott A Little History… The Genus Rosa was the masterpiece of Ellen Willmott & the culmination of a life times’ study of the species. It ranks with Redoute’s Les Roses as one of the definitive & most beautiful works on roses & remains an important reference for rosarians today. Ellen Willmott was an eccentric & wealthy woman as well as a fanatical horticulturist & landscape designer. Through her wealth, she was able to finance many plant expeditions & was honoured by certain species being named after her. She resided at Warley Place from the age of 17, developing a spectacular garden over the course of many years. Active in the Royal Horticultural Society, she was awarded the Medal of Honour in 1907. At one time, she employed as many as 100 gardeners for properties stretching from Warley Place to France & Italy. Always eccentric, she scattered seeds of the sea holly, Miss Willmott’s Ghost, wherever she traveled, including friend’s gardens. Sadly, in later life, she became penniless & increasingly eccentric, booby trapping her garden against plant thieves & carrying a revolver. Her beautiful home & garden at Warley Place was sold to pay her debts when she died in 1934 & ultimately demolished. Today, her land is leased to the Essex Wildlife Trust & all traces of her magnificent garden are gone. The Genus Rosa, published in 1914, & now a very rare work indeed, is her remarkable legacy to print & rose-lovers of today. The superbly artistic renderings of each rose are the work of Alfred Parsons (1847-1920), an English landscape painter & illustrator, & demonstrate a sensitivity offline & form rarely equaled in the illustration of the rose. OUR PRINTS ARE SOLD UNFRAMED. The frames shown are to allow you to see what the prints would look like if they were framed. Paper & Printing Process… Our prints are produced using archival, Giclee inkjet printing. We use the highest quality fine art reproduction services in the business. Our smooth matte paper: 140 lb. 100% Cotton Rag Smooth, No Optical Brighteners. A beautiful paper for high resolution photography & detailed art prints. Acid & lignin free, with top tier Dmax & color gamut, you will find our smooth matte paper to be supple, generous, & forgiving. It is the perfect weight for perfect prints. Our watercolor paper: 140 lb. 100% Cotton Rag Textured, No Optical Brighteners. It is a traditional mould-made watercolour paper with a coating that is ideal for fine art applications. The white cotton paper does not contain optical brighteners & is characterised by its unique tactile feel & surface texture. The fine yet highly pronounced felt structure of the genuine mould-made paper gives photographs & art reproductions a striking depth & three-dimensional effect. The premium matt inkjet coating guarantees excellent print results with outstanding reproduction of colour & detail,
