Botanical plate with a flowering eggplant

These botanical plates (2016.217–.226) were produced by the Chelsea factory around 1755 and are often referred to as Chelsea "Hans Sloane" wares, in reference to the royal physician, traveler, and natural historian who helped transform the Chelsea Physik Garden into a center of botanical knowledge during the British Enlightenment. Several subjects depicted on these plates were taken from botanical illustrations published by Philip Miller, curator of Chelsea Physik Garden. Although flowers and fruits could typically be found on earlier porcelain wares from Meissen, the lively naturalism of the Chelsea botanical plates reflects a broadening public interest in the natural world, and evidence the forms of global commerce that brought exotic species from the Caribbean, the Americas, and Asia to England.

Credit: Purchase, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William Jaffe, by exchange, Gift of James A. Moffett, by exchange, Tomasso Brothers Fine Art Gift, Fletcher Fund, by exchange, Bequest of Annie C. Kane, by exchange, and funds from various donors, 2016