Le Jardinier Fleuriste (The gardener).

item details

NameLe Jardinier Fleuriste (The gardener).

ProductionJean-Charles Levasseur; etcher; 1749-1797; France
David Teniers the Younger; artist

Classificationprints, etchings, engravings, stipple engravings, works on paper

Materialsink, paper

Materials Summaryetching, engraving and stipple engraving

Techniquesengraving, etching, stipple engraving

DimensionsPlate: 198mm (width), 263mm (height)

Registration Number1869-0001-535

Credit lineGift of Bishop Monrad, 1869

Overview

This etching/engraving is after a painting by the Flemish artist David Teniers the Younger (1610-90), then in the impressive collection belonging to Gilbert-Antoine Ligier de la Prade, in Paris. Teniers was famous for his luminous - and often humorous - depictions of local peasantry. Te Papa has four such prints in the series, all of which were presented to the Colonial Museum by Bishop Ditlev Monrad in 1869.

'Le jardinier fleuriste' can be translated as simply 'The gardener'. His speciality is flowers rather than herbs or vegetables, and we see him here as he carefully carries a small shrub in a pot, walking to the left. Behind him we see several figures busily working on an ornamental garden. The humorous verse beneath the image can be translated as follows:

‘If we want to know why Gregory the gardener/ Is so robust and happy with his (piffling) little lot in life/ It’s because of the care he gives to his drinking/ As much as, and more often than, to the plants in the garden.’

Te Papa's print, made by Jean-Charles Levasseur (1734-1816) testifies to the enduring impact of Teniers over a century after his lifetime. Levasseur was one of the leading Parisian printmakers of his time and was an elected member of the Academy. He is probably best-known for his engravings after Jean-Baptiste Greuze.

Dr Mark Stocker Curator Historical International Art March 2019