Dombeya, Pl. 828 — Encyclopédie Méthodique

The Madagascan flowering tree Dombeya, named for the French botanist Joseph Dombey, drawn by Henri Joseph Redouté with his characteristic attention to floral structure.

After Henri Joseph Redouté; engraved by Robert Bénard. Botanique, Plate 828, from the Encyclopédie Méthodique. Published in Paris, c. 1793.

The Encyclopédie Méthodique expanded upon Diderot and d'Alembert's original Encyclopédie, reorganising knowledge into subject-specific dictionaries with thousands of newly commissioned plates. Henri Joseph Redouté contributed numerous botanical drawings to the project, bringing the observational acuity that distinguished the wider Redouté family of natural-history artists.

Copperplate engraving on laid paper, approximately 29.7 × 21.6 cm. Excellent.