Purple crocuses, cloth of gold crocus, liverwort (double form), poppy anemones and jay, Alexander Marshal, c. 1650-82

A page of watercolours depicting seven plants and a dead jay. The plants include two crocus vernus (hill), crocus susianus (ker gawler), hepatica nobilis( miller 'flore pleno'), and two anemone coronaria (l. ). This sheet of early spring flowers appears near the beginning of marshal’s florilegium, which follows the course of the seasons. The dead jay appears to cast a shadow on the sheet, as though a real bird has fallen onto a page of painted flowers. Provenance: presented to george iv. Date: c. 1650-82. Dimensions: 45.3 x 33.3 cm (sheet of paper). Medium: watercolour. Purple crocuses, cloth of gold crocus, liverwort (double form), poppy anemones and jay (RCIN 924272-1)