Description
Cotton Floral Artwork Tea Towel
Your chance to purchase one of our Badminton Editions Cotton Floral Artwork Tea Towels. Printed with the Thistle from Volume I of the 1st Duchess of Beaufort’s florilegium.
The caption in the florilegium describes this thistle as “Carduus tomentosus Acanthium dictus arabicus”, referring to the name given by Leonard Plukenet, Royal Botanist to William and Mary. This plant has since been identified as ‘Onopordum illyricum’, a type of thistle native to southwestern Europe. Although the stems of a thistle can be eaten by humans, ‘Onopordum’ comes from the Greek word, onos, meaning donkey, a creature more often associated with thistle eating.
In 1703, Mary Somerset, first Duchess of Beaufort, commissioned Everard Kik, a Dutch botanical artist, to create a series of paintings. These showcased the extraordinary variety of plants she had grown from seeds sent to her from all over the world. They later bound the final collection of 178 paintings into a two-volume album, a “florilegium.” Badminton House holds the album, where Mary lived and grew many of her plants.
Our tea towels showcase detailed botanical illustrations that bring the beauty of the outdoors into your home.
Size: 47.5cm width x 69cm length
100% cotton floral artwork tea towel
Made in England
