Robert was the most famous natural history artist of the seventeenth century. This sheet was sold, along with two others in pen and ink, as a preliminary design by Robert for his volume of engravings after his own flower designs, "Variae ac Multiformes Florum Species: Diverses Fleurs," published in Paris in 1660. None of the three drawings corresponds exactly to any of Robert's printed plates. While the linear style is akin to a few examples of Robert's drawings on vellum in his sketchbooks (Austrian National Library) the sheet it is not entirely convincing as a study by the artist.
Inscribed on verso at lower left, in black chalk, "9 [paraphe]"; at lower center, in pencil, "Or. Zeichg v. Nicolas Robert"; at lower right, in pencil, "links unter / nummeriert: 9 / und Signatur?"; at upper left, in pencil, "18 x 26"; at upper right, in pencil, "18.6 x 26".
Hobhouse, Niall, former owner.
Ryskamp, Charles, former owner.
The World Observed: Five Centuries of Drawings from the Collection of Charles Ryskamp. New York: The Pierpont Morgan Library, 2000, no. 19, repr.