{"product_id":"set-of-four-cork-backed-coasters-after-william-hooker-the-royal-horticultural-society-collection-english-c-1970-2000","title":"Set of Four Cork-Backed Coasters after William Hooker, The Royal Horticultural Society Collection, English, c. 1970–2000","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eFour round coasters, each carrying a different fruit study reproduced from a botanical painting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eThe subjects are an \u003cstrong\u003eapple\u003c\/strong\u003e, three \u003cstrong\u003eplums\u003c\/strong\u003e on the branch, a cluster of \u003cstrong\u003eapricots\u003c\/strong\u003e, and a spray of black \u003cstrong\u003echerries\u003c\/strong\u003e, each drawn with the leaves and the cut stem still attached, on a warm cream ground.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eThe borders are what lift them. Working inward from the edge: a broad emerald green band, a fine gold line, a second green band, another gold line, and then a wreath of foliage printed in mottled greens and blues with the texture of marbled endpaper. The whole thing is finished under a high gloss.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003ePrinted within each image, in small letters, are the artist's signature \u003cstrong\u003eW. Hooker\u003c\/strong\u003e and the line \u003cstrong\u003eTHE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY COLLECTION\u003c\/strong\u003e curving around the lower edge.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eThe backs are faced in natural cork. Three of the four still carry a small circular gold-and-red foil maker's label at the centre.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003ch3\u003eHistory \u0026amp; Provenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eThe signature on these is real and worth knowing, because most people read it as decoration.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWilliam Hooker (1779–1832)\u003c\/strong\u003e was the \u003cstrong\u003eofficial artist of the Royal Horticultural Society from 1812 until he retired in 1820\u003c\/strong\u003e. He trained under Franz Bauer, one of the finest botanical draughtsmen in Europe, and he became known above all for painting fruit — work collected in \u003cem\u003ePomona Londinensis\u003c\/em\u003e, his record of the most esteemed fruits then grown in British gardens. These four images come out of that body of work, which the RHS still holds and still licenses.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eHe is also the reason for something on a great many painters' palettes today. \u003cstrong\u003eHooker invented Hooker's green\u003c\/strong\u003e, mixing Prussian blue with gamboge to get a dark, true leaf colour that nothing then available could give him. He made it to paint foliage accurately. Two centuries later it is still manufactured under his name — which is a rare kind of immortality for a man most people have never heard of, and it is very likely the green in the leaves on these coasters.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eThe coasters themselves are \u003cstrong\u003elater reproductions\u003c\/strong\u003e, not antique objects, and that is stated plainly. They are printed board faced with cork in the English manner — the standard construction for licensed table mats and coasters produced in Britain through the later twentieth century, where the RHS collection was a mainstay of the giftware trade.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eThe \u003cstrong\u003emaker's foil label is present on three of the four but has worn illegible\u003c\/strong\u003e, and no printed manufacturer's name appears anywhere on the faces or the cork. The set is offered \u003cstrong\u003eunattributed as to manufacturer\u003c\/strong\u003e, with the artist and the source collection both named on the pieces themselves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eDated on the construction and the licensing rather than the images, which are two hundred years old: \u003cstrong\u003ec. 1970–2000\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003ch3\u003eProduct Details\u003c\/h3\u003e\n  \u003ctable border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"8\" cellspacing=\"0\" style=\"width:100%; border-collapse:collapse;\"\u003e\n    \u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\" style=\"text-align:left; vertical-align:top;\"\u003eField\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\" style=\"text-align:left; vertical-align:top;\"\u003eDetail\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\u003c\/thead\u003e\n    \u003ctbody\u003e\n      \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eObject\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eSet of four round drinks coasters\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n      \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eSubjects\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eApple, plums, apricots and black cherries — four different fruit studies, no image repeated\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n      \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eAfter\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eWilliam Hooker (1779–1832), official artist of the Royal Horticultural Society 1812–1820 and the inventor of Hooker's green. Signed \u003cem\u003eW. Hooker\u003c\/em\u003e within each print.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n      \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eSource\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003ePrinted \u003cem\u003eThe Royal Horticultural Society Collection\u003c\/em\u003e within each image\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n      \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eDecoration\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eCream ground within a marbled foliate wreath, bordered by two emerald green bands divided by fine gold lines, under a gloss finish\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n      \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eMaterial\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003ePrinted and lacquered board with a natural cork backing\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n      \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eMarks\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eA small circular gold-and-red foil label to the cork of three coasters, worn illegible. No printed manufacturer's name.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n      \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eEra\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003ec. 1970–2000. Later reproductions of early nineteenth-century paintings; the coasters are not antique.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n      \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eCondition\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eFair to good, with honest use. All four are flat, sound and structurally intact, the cork backings are fully attached with no lifting or delamination, and all four images are complete and bright with strong unfaded greens and gold. \u003cstrong\u003eExpect wear to the printed edges\u003c\/strong\u003e — rubbing and small losses through to the board around the rims on every coaster, heaviest on two of them — along with light surface scratching to the gloss and scattered small foxing-type spots and specks across the cream grounds. The foil label is missing from one coaster and worn on the other three. No warping, no water swelling, no stickiness. Condition Guaranteed.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n      \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eAvailability\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eOne of a Kind — 1 Available\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003c\/tbody\u003e\n  \u003c\/table\u003e\n  \u003ch3\u003eWhy It Belongs in Your Home\u003c\/h3\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eCoasters are bought reluctantly and used constantly, which makes them worth getting right. These are green and gold and cream, which is about as easy a palette as exists — they sit on walnut, oak, painted furniture, marble, leather or linen without looking like they were chosen to match anything.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eFour different fruits rather than one repeated image is the detail that matters at a table. Everyone can tell which glass is theirs, which is the entire practical point of a coaster set and something a matched set fails at.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eThey also work as small pictures. Propped on a shelf, stood in a plate rack, or simply left out on a side table, a Hooker fruit study reads as a botanical print at a fraction of the price and the wall space — and there is a genuine two-hundred-year-old painting behind each one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eFor a gift they are easy and specific: a gardener, a fruit grower, a cook, a housewarming, or anyone who has been to Wisley. And the story about Hooker's green is the kind a person repeats.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eA note on care, and it is the same rule that kills most coasters. \u003cstrong\u003eDo not soak these and never put them in a dishwasher.\u003c\/strong\u003e They are printed board under a lacquer with a cork facing glued on, and water that gets past the edge will swell the board, lift the cork and cloud the print — permanently. The printed rims on this set are already worn through in places, which means the board is exposed there and will drink up anything it is left sitting in.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eWipe them with a barely damp cloth and dry immediately. Use no abrasive pad, no scouring cream and no solvent-based cleaner, all of which cut straight through a printed lacquer surface.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eLift a wet glass off rather than dragging it, keep them out of direct sunlight, which fades printed colour faster than anything else, and stack them dry with a piece of paper or felt between each one so the cork does not mark the face beneath it.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Viridian Eclection","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48037571592297,"sku":"VE-0695","price":80.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0651\/0093\/9369\/files\/653850A5-8D0D-417B-8BF1-DF6BB5D41617.jpg?v=1789099927","url":"https:\/\/viridianeclection.com\/products\/set-of-four-cork-backed-coasters-after-william-hooker-the-royal-horticultural-society-collection-english-c-1970-2000","provider":"Viridian Eclection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}