Antique French Framed Herbarium Specimen - Legumineuses (Pea Family)

Antique French framed herbarium specimen, or herbier: a pressed and dried leguminous plant hand-labelled in brown ink as a member of the Legumineuses, the pea and bean family, mounted with paper stays on blue-grey laid paper behind glass in a moulded wood frame. From a 19th- or early-20th-century French botanical study collection.

Framed herbier sheets are a designer staple for good reason. They bring paper, plant and handwriting into one composition, they read as both scientific and decorative, and they hang beautifully in a run. This one is part of a matching series in this collection, and the group has real presence hung together.