4 x Purple Flowering Perennials – 9cm Pots | S251800

Botanical illustration began as scientific documentation, artists translating three-dimensional plants into flat images serving both informational and aesthetic purposes. This exploration traces the journey from pressed herbarium specimens and watercolour expeditions to contemporary wallpaper, examining how printing techniques evolved from copperplate engraving through William Morris' screen printing to digital reproduction whilst maintaining essential character: beauty emerging from accuracy rather than imposed upon it.

Handwoven rugs carry geography in their fibres. The wool came from specific mountains where specific plants fed specific sheep; the dyes derive from regional botanicals; the patterns preserve cultural memory encoded in visual language. From Persian workshop medallions to Berber mountain abstractions to Scandinavian restraint, each tradition represents centuries of accumulated knowledge, techniques refined through generations. This investigation explores how materials shaped by landscape, methods passed like recipes, and patterns carrying meaning beyond decoration create the ground beneath our feet.

Geography shapes what we place on Christmas tables and how we place it. From Scandinavian candlelight to Mediterranean abundance, British formality to French patience explore European traditions that transform December gatherings into rituals worth inheriting, adapting, making yours.