Redcurrant 'Groseille à Grappe Carnée' - Poster 50x70cm

Ribes carneum - Flesh-Colored Currant

In the mid-19th century, this variety of currant was as intriguing as it was disappointing: a delicate pale red, almost flesh-colored, it was appreciated only in the collections of the curious.

Less productive than its white and red cousins, it remained a rarity, cultivated more for its chromatic singularity than for its yield.

Poiteau himself, a rigorous botanist, confesses in his writings that he was never able to identify the famous "pearled currant" mentioned by other authors, convinced that it was merely a very ripe white currant, transfigured by a certain degree of maturity.

The Ribes carneum is distinguished by the particular hue of its clusters: an attenuated, almost pinkish red, which gives it its name "carnée" (flesh-colored). Unlike common varieties, this currant bush offers modest production and fruits deemed of inferior quality by 19th-century gardeners.

Its cultivation requires the same care as other currants—cool soil, semi-shaded exposure—but its limited yield explains why it never conquered commercial kitchen gardens.

It was rarely found outside the hands of rare variety enthusiasts, in botanical gardens, or private collections, where it was preserved more for its botanical interest than for its taste qualities. This discretion makes it a valuable testament today to the fruit diversity cultivated in the 19th century.

This plate is taken from Pierre-Antoine Poiteau’s Traité des Arbres Fruitiers (Treatise on Fruit Trees), a botanical encyclopedia published between 1807 and 1835, a major reference in 19th-century naturalistic illustration.

It combines the rigor of scientific drawing with a rare artistic sensibility, characteristic of the great plates from the golden age of illustrated botany.

• Each poster is produced with 12-color giclée printing, the benchmark for art studios for rendering fine tones, subtle gradients, and the most delicate botanical details.
• 200 gsm paper, soft matte finish, 0.26 mm thickness: a finish close to the original engraving, sharp, non-reflective, designed for hanging.
• Printed on FSC-certified paper, produced individually upon order.
• Shipped in a rigid protective tube.