Mangifera indica - Sandersha
1910
Luscious and ripe, this 'Sandersha' mango looks good enough to eat, but it's actually a vital piece of scientific history from 1910. Artist Elsie Lower created this watercolor as part of a massive USDA effort to document fruit varieties before they were lost to time. The handwritten notes at the bottom, referencing 'Mayaguez P.R.' (Puerto Rico) and 'Prof. C. F. Kinman,' reveal its origins in tropical agricultural research. These illustrations served as a visual library for botanists and farmers, capturing the precise gradient of green to red skin that photographs of the era couldn't quite match.
- Technique
- Watercolor
- Material
- Paper
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