Passion Flower 1799

Sydenham Teak Edwards made this watercolor of a passion flower, sometime before his death in 1819. The image is of a plant specimen but, in a more important sense, it reflects a set of social relations and expectations in England. This was the time of the rise of scientific societies and the expansion of knowledge due to increased contact with the wider world, especially through the machinery of empire. The botanical illustration was not simply a neutral transcription of nature. Edwards was likely connected to a wealthy patron or scientific institution who would use images like these to classify plants and lay claim to new knowledge. In his composition, we find an aesthetic appreciation of a foreign plant, as well as an implicit sense of the power relations that made its study possible. Historians consult a wide range of sources, including letters, financial records, and the publications of scientific societies, to fully understand the social life of art.