'The Fern Gathererers' once more

摘要

In Pteridologist Volume 4, part 1, I discussed a picture by Charles Lidderdale, probably painted in the 1870s with the title "Fern Carrier" but appearing in a printed reproduction in 1992 with the title "The Fern Gatherer". This was not the first timethat this title had appeared on a painting. At a recent auction, I bought a print called "The Fern Gatherers" that had been published in 1799. It is a mezzotint engraving by John Raphael Smith of a painting by George Morland. The print is 603mm x 447mm,and printed beneath it is: " Painted by G. Morland. London. Published May 1 1799 by THE FERN GATHERERS I.R.Smith, King Street, Covent Garden. Engraved by J.R.Smith Mezzotint Engraver to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales." It appears to be an original print (some of the plates were re-used at a later date) with contemporary colouring. The Lidderdale painting was, according to the artist's diary, a 'pot-boiler' in a style popular at the time, and a variant of his oft-repeated "Wood Carrier". There appears to have been little or no pteridological significance in the subject matter, beyond perhaps the all-pervading Victorian interest in ferns. The Morland painting, however, is probably recording a way in which ferns played a part in the rural economy.