USDA Pomological Paintings: History and Uses

Join us June 24th for an evening of discussion about the USDA Pomological Watercolors. NAFEX Board Members will discuss their history and usefulness beyond their aesthetic value. We will provide some tips on how to use the paintings to support your own fruit exploration efforts or just how to enjoy and understand these treasures.

Between 1886 and 1942, USDA’s Division of Pomology commissioned artists to create illustrations of thousands of fruits and nuts. A historic botanical resource, the Pomological Watercolor Collection, which is housed at the National Agricultural Library in Beltsville, Maryland, contains 7,497 watercolor paintings, 87 line drawings, and 79 wax models created by approximately 21 artists.

USDA botanists introduced thousands of plants and fruits through exploration around the globe in an effort to advance agricultural endeavors in the United States. Additionally as people across the country created new cultivars, or varieties, through hybridization, the US Department of Agriculture set out to document them with a national register of fruits. The paintings indirectly became a way of patenting discoveries and inventions through breeding before a formal patent system existed in the US.

In order to ensure color accuracy, watercolor—rather than photography—was the preferred medium. These technically precise paintings were used to create lithographs illustrating USDA bulletins, yearbooks, and other series distributed to growers and gardeners across America.
These valuable paintings represent the rich history of fruit development and introduction to the US. Today the pomological watercolors are used by historians and fruit explorers to identify fruit based upon phenotypical characteristics in an effort to identify fruit trees and possibly rediscover lost heirlooms.

The meeting will be held on ZOOM and by phone from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Central time. This virtual NAFEX Townhall Meetup is FREE with your $19 NAFEX membership. Find the ZOOM link and call-in numbers in your inbox or on our member Interest Group page. Plan to join us!

Not a member yet? Join for $19/yr and get access to this ZOOM meetup and all past recorded meetings and conference settings! www.nafex.org