Malus pumila

Considering the sheer number of her illustrations of apples and pears, these fruits seemed to be Sarah Matilda Parry’s favorite subjects: she drew over 80 apple varieties and 42 pears in The fruits from the gardens of Summer Hill. She illustrated her subjects with great precision, including their blemishes and accurate coloring. In this piece, the small Golden Harvey even includes the detail of a wormhole. An interesting characteristic of Parry’s work is the recognition of her father’s efforts in tending to the orchard that produced her subjects. A note at the bottom of the page reads, “My dear father did not live to see the produce of either of these, being among the last he planted in autumn of 1820.” The artist refers to her father, Cheltenham doctor Caleb Hillier Parry. Unwed for her entire life, Parry was devoted to her father and inherited the bulk of his wealth. In 1822—the year of his death—she records multiple times on the pages of her artwork that the last collection of fruit from his orchard comes from his 1820 planting.