Studies of three insects

Ann Lee (1753 – 1790) was a British artist best known for her drawings of plants. The collection at RAMM also includes birds, insects and a wildebeast. She was the youngest daughter of the Hammersmith nurseryman and botanist James Lee (about 1715–1795) who was employed for a while by botanist Joseph Banks. She had access to her father’s living plant collections and his museum of pinned insects from around the world. James engaged Sydney Parkinson (about 1745-1771) to tutor his daughter in drawing at the age of 14 or 15 years old. Under his direction Ann’s work developed to produce naturalistic images which included a shadow effect that added depth of field.

Read a guest blog post by E. Geoffrey Hancock of The Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow for more information of the life and works of Ann Lee. https://rammcollections.org.uk/research-blog/

Object Summary

Accession Loan No.
107/1973/70
Collection Class
Drawings
Medium
watercolour on paper
Common Name
Studies of three insects
Simple Name
drawing
Inscription Transcription
6
Period Classification
George III (1760-1811)
Production Town

Production Person Initials
Ann
Production Person Surname
Lee
Production Year Low
1770
Production Year High
1800

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Studies of three insects (Megasoma Elaphus centre)