The Hillsborough Spring Antique, Art + Design Showcase is right around the corner! Please join us this weekend for an amazing selection of the finest  Bay Area Art and Antiques at the San Mateo Event Center.

We will be displaying our renowned collection of Audubon Quadrupeds, California maps and views, as well as botanicals from Pierre-Joseph Redoute, and Mercator and Ortelius Maps to name a few.

Tickets are $10.00 and can be purchased online. 

April 29- May 1

Friday April 29^th        11am-7pm

Saturday April 30^th     11am-6pm

Sunday May 1^st           11am-5pm

For further gallery inquiries and purchases please contact us at (415) 788-5115, or visit Arader Galleries 432 Jackson Street, San Francisco, Ca 94111.

Zoological Illustrations by Cuvier and Saint-Hilaire

Cuvier and Saint-Hilaire

 Mandrill Male

Lithograph

20"x13"

The works from Histoire Naturelle Des Mammiferes, Avec Les figures Originales.d'aprs Des Animaux Vivians, 1824-42 was crafted by a friendship that introduced the French zoological and natural history community with the finest illustrations of exotic mammals. These lithographs captured the movement and personality of the animal while depicting scientifically accurate compositions. Similar innovation as to the design and depiction of mammals could be compared to the works of acclaimed American ornithologist John James Audubon (1785-1851).

Frederic Cuvier (1769-1832) was a French zoologist and paleontologist who worked for the Museum d'histoire Naturelles in Paris, while  Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1772-1844) was a French naturalist and evolutionary theorist. The two met in 1794 and formed a close friendship shortly after. This friendship lead to the creation of a great feet, the production of Five memoirs on natural history, one of which was a study on the classification of mammals. 

Cuvier and Saint-Hilaire

Renard Argente

Lithograph

18"x12"

The original publication of  Histoire Naturelle Des Mammiferes, Avec Les figures Originales.d'aprs Des Animaux Vivians was intended to have 72 parts to be bound in 7 volumes. This publication was made in conjunction with the Museum d'Histoire Naturelles in Paris. Most of the animals were drawn from life at the Paris Zoo Jardin de Plantes. Cuvier provided descriptions for each mammal while Hilaire edited the work and  provided additional articles.  

Cuvier and Saint-Hilaire

Kiodote

Lithograph

20"x13"

For purchase inquiries please call 415-788-5115, or feel free to stop by Arader Galleries, at 435 Jackson Street, San Francisco. 

Ackermann's Repository: Allegorical Textile Woodcuts from Regency England

R. Ackermann

No.16

 c.1810-1813

Woodcut engraving with Fabric Samples

One of the many people who took advantage of England's industrial age was a printmaking entrepreneur named Rudolph Ackermann (1764-1834), an Anglo-German bookseller, inventory, lithographer and publisher. Among other things he was also a successful shop owner, his store the Repository of Arts opened in 1797 and became a spot for the English elite to socialize and shop for prints, illustrated books, decorative objects, art supplies, old master paintings and miniatures.

Ackermann extended his shop and created a yearly publication that showcased British manufacturing, in 1809 he began publishing his serious The Repository of Arts, Literature, Commerce, Manufacturers, Fashions ad Politics.  Ackermann's Repository, as it was also known, influenced English fashion, tastes, architecture, politics and literature throughout the Regency period and into the Georgian Era.

 R. Ackermann

No. 17

 c.1810-1813

Woodcut engraving with Fabric Samples

In an effort to boost British manufacturing and commerce, Ackermann included textile samples from premiere manufacturers. These woodcut engraving showcased real fabric samples that were adhered to the engraving. These fabric swatches appealed to fashion lovers and those who furnishing and designing their homes. On the next page the fabric swatches are described and note its designed cultural influences. The pieces of fabric stand out again an allegorical background, featuring a woman at her loom, a bust of Athena and her shield of Medusa near the Freemason's symbol the compass and square. And to the far right  a library filled with busts, books, and other minute cultural references. Mast sails peak out of the background, floating around a German Imperial Crown. Below features the symbol of the prince of whales, an emblem of the British Monarchy, a crown with silver ostrich feathers. Perhaps these crowns are featured because of Ackermann's cultural heritage.

Interestingly The Repository's last issue in 1829 was a dedicated fashion issue. Though Ackermann's shop closed and his Repository issues ended, his print making legacy was carried on by his decedents till the late 20th century.

A selection of Ackermann's Repository Textile Woodcuts will be featured in our under $300 section at the Hillsborough Spring Antique Show April 29-May 1. These works will be accompanied by our magnificent Audubon quadrupeds, Redoute flowers, Double Hemisphere projections, and California maps.

Feel free to can contact the gallery at (415)-788-5115.
Aader Galleries 432 Jackson Street, San Francisco, Ca, 94111

The Oakes Ames Orchid Watercolor Collection Exhibited at Filoli April 5th-June 12th

Charles Storer

Cypripedium Curtisii, 1898

Original Watercolor

13 7/8" x 9 7/8"

We are excited to announce our presence at Filoli's Annual Botanial Art Exhibition from April 5th-June 12th showcasing the gallery's fine original watercolor works from Oakes Ames' Orchid Collection.

Artist Reception

Thursday, April 7, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm

For ticket and reservations: Click Here

Filoli is a "654–acre property, including the 36,000 square foot Georgian country house and spectacular 16–acre English Renaissance garden. Admission to Filoli allows visitors to explore the historic House and Garden at their leisure. The Filoli Botanical Art Exhibit has long been an essential part of our Botanical Art Program’s mission to interpret and preserve this historically significant art form. With its exquisite formal Garden, heirloom orchard and nature preserve, Filoli is a unique and fitting venue for this historical art form that has rendered plants throughout history and from around the world.  In the historic House a collection of botanical illustrations will be on display in the elegant Ballroom and select pieces will be displayed in the Trophy Room."

Orchids and Oakes Ames

Blanche Ames

Cypripedium Kimballianum, 1900

Original Watercolor

14" x 10"

The incredible Oakes Ames collection of watercolor orchids was gifted to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society by famed botanist Oakes Ames (1874 - 1950). Through his life’s work on the orchid family, he and his wife Blanche unveiled the mysteries of this strangely beautiful plant species to the rest of the world. These gorgeous and delicate watercolors were part of Ames’ personal collection of orchid paintings, featuring works by the botanist himself, his wife Blanche, Charles Storer, J.L. Macfarlane, Putzys, and several by unidentified artists.  As part of his exhaustive research on orchids, Ames made expeditions to Florida, the Caribbean, the Philippines, and Central and South America with his wife, creating scientific drawings and watercolors of each plant they cataloged. The Ames' work was published in the seven-volume Orchidicae: Illustrations and Studies of the Family Orchidicae. 

To purchase Ames' watercolors you see at Filoli  please call 415-788-5115. 
Arader Galleries, at 435 Jackson Street, San Francisco.