Early Plum - Botanical poster 50x70cm

Prunus pictorum Poit. et Turp. - Early Monsieur Plum

In the 19th century, distinguishing the Early Monsieur from the ordinary Monsieur required an expert eye: one had to observe both trees side by side to grasp the nuances that separated them.

This early variety, with a more open habit, pubescent and grooved branches, was mainly recognized by its narrower leaves, of a less intense green, bordered with large teeth. About fifteen days before its ordinary cousin, it offered its fruits in mid-July, a treasure of dry and sandy soils.

The Early Monsieur boasts a generous bloom: milky white flowers, 27 millimeters wide, bloom in threes from each bud on short yellowish peduncles.

Its oval fruits, measuring 34 to 41 millimeters, have a dark red skin tinged with blue, covered with an abundant azure bloom that detaches easily at maturity.

The flesh, yellowish-green, firm and melting, yields a sweet, fragrant, and pleasant juice. The stone separates easily. Poiteau notes that when cultivated as an espalier, where he recommended planting one or two trees, this beautiful plum ripened even earlier, offering its flavors from the first days of summer.

This plate is taken from the Traité des Arbres Fruitiers by Pierre-Antoine Poiteau and Pierre Jean François Turpin, a botanical encyclopedia published between 1807 and 1835, a major reference in 19th-century naturalist 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.

As an anecdote, this plate was used by Salvador Dali for his lithography series 'Flordali, the Fruits' in 1969.

Printing, media, shipping

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