A Very Victorian Passion

The Orchid Paintings of John Day, 1863 to 1888
from The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
by Phillip Cribb and Michael Tibbs

John Day was a leading 19th-century English orchid grower and collector who painted watercolors of the plants in his own collection and in other major collections in and around Victorian London. His paintings of over 2,300 orchids, bound in 53 "scrapbooks," constitute a unique record of the beautiful flowers introduced into England from around the world when orchidmania was at its zenith.

Day's paintings are not only gloriously beautiful, they are also of real scientific value. The Day archive, used by scientists and horticulturists at Kew, has never before been published. This incomparable archive is now available to a wide audience of orchid lovers, who can view for the first time the early hybrids and spectacular species that have been lost to horticulture.

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