Yale Center for British Art

Creator:
Luigi Balugani, 1737–1770, Italian

after James Bruce, 1730–1794, British
Title:
Cyperus papyrus L. (Papyrus Sedge): finished drawing of steam and flowering head, with details of inflorescence left and right
Date:
undated
Materials & Techniques:
Watercolor, gouache, and graphite on medium, slightly textured, cream laid paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 20 1/2 × 13 3/4 inches (52.1 × 34.9 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:
Inscribed on verso in pen and brown ink, upper left: "[...] Papyrus"; lower center: "This drawing as it cannot be reduced without making its head too small is therefore to be divided in the stalk & the sections placed side by side as gracefully as possible."
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1977.14.8903
Classification:
Drawings & Watercolors
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Currently On View:
Not on view
Publications:
James Bruce, Travels to discover the source of the Nile, in the years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, and 1773 , Edinburgh, 1790, Precedes p. 1-15, DT377 B88 1790+ Oversize (YCBA Rare Books)

Paul Hulton, Luigi Balugani's drawings of African plants, From the collection made by James Bruce of Kinnaird on his travels to discover the source of the Nile 1767-1773 , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 1991, p. 107, pl. 40, QK98.183 B2 H85 1991 (YCBA)
Link:
https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:15437