Pecans in Watercolor by the USDA Division of Pomology

While we anxiously await the first hard frost leading us into a robust winter harvest, here you will find copies of watercolor representation of our tree nut of choice, pecans.

A Las Cruces Digest Report
Source: USDA National Agricultural Library

Despite the lingering warm weather, it remains pecan harvest season in our broader community. While we anxiously await the first hard frost leading us into winter, here you will find copies of watercolor representation of our tree nut of choice, pecans. The originals were painted in watercolor and recreated as lithographs.

In 1887 the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Division of Pomology began hiring artists to render illustrations of fruit varieties for lithographic reproduction in USDA articles, reports, and bulletins.

Use of color lithography was critically important to enable the farmer to visualize and comprehend the subjects and principles covered in a particular publication.

As a historic botanical resource, this collection documents new fruit and nut varieties, and specimens introduced by USDA plant explorers from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The collection spans the years 1886 to 1942. The majority of the paintings were created between 1894 and 1916.

The plant specimens represented by these artworks originated in 29 countries and 51 states and territories in the U.S. There are 7,497 watercolor paintings, 87 line drawings, and 79 wax models created by approximately 21 artists.

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Levi Gwaltney

Levi Gwaltney is the Editor In Chief of Las Cruces Digest. The Editor makes editorial and posting decisions regarding content published on this site. In most cases, the Editor makes little if any contribution to content published, and takes no credit for the content of republished posts. If available, the source or author of posts is provided at the top of the article.