Accession No
6662.20
Brief Description
Folder of 31 paintings/drawings labelled "Vegetables," no. 20 of 35, by Dr W. A. R. Dillon Weston, English, 1930s
Origin
England; Cambridgeshire
Maker
Dillon Weston, W. A. R.
Class
natural history
Earliest Date
1932
Latest Date
1938
Inscription Date
Material
paper
Dimensions
365mm x 250mm
Special Collection
Dr W. A. R. Dillon Weston Collection
Provenance
Inscription
Many pages have typed notes; see Description Notes.
Description Notes
Folder of 31 paintings/drawings labelled "Vegetables," no. 20 of 35, by Dr W. A. R. Dillon Weston, English, 1930s
NOTE: all objects have been transferred into archive folders for conservation purposes; original folders were photographed (see Images) and are stored separately.
6662.20.a -- "White Blister of Brassicae = White Rust. Cystopus candidus (Pers) de Bary."
A page of typed notes describing the disease, its progression in certain farms, hosts, and articles for further reading.
6662.20.b -- "White Blister. Cystopus candidus"
Watercolour of a cress plant with typed notes on the farm of origin, dated May.
6662.20.c -- "Cress White Rust. Cystopus candidus."
Watercolour of a cress plant with typed notes on the farm of origin, dated 12 June 1934.
6662.20.d -- "White Blister of Brussels Sprouts. Cystopus candidus (Pers) de Bary."
Four watercolours of brussels sprouts leaves. Dated April 1935.
6662.20.e -- "White Blister of Brussels Sprouts. Cystopus candidus (Pers) de Bary."
Watercolour drawing of an infected brussels sprouts plant. Dated April 1935.
6662.20.f --
Watercolour of a cauliflower (?) plant with illegible pencil writing in bottom right corner.
6662.20.g --
Unlabelled drawing of a seedling.
6662.20.h -- "Ring Spot of Brassicae. Mycosphaerella brassicicola."
Half-finished watercolour of an infected kale leaf.
6662.20.i --
Unlabelled drawing of a seedling.
6662.20.j -- "Cabbage."
Drawing of an eaten cabbage leaf damaged by larvae; dated August 1934.
6662.20.k --
Unlabelled drawing of an infected leaf.
6662.20.l --
Unlabelled watercolours of infected leaves and stem sections (?)
6662.20.m --
Unlabelled drawing of an infected leaf.
6662.20.n -- "Cabbage. Parasitized Aphids."
Watercolour of an infested cabbage leaf with typed notes describing the date (October 1934) and prevalence in various years.
6662.20.o -- "Brussel Sprout. Aphis Damage."
Watercolour of a damaged brussel sprout leaf, dated 7 August 1934.
6662.20.p -- "Savoy. Aphis damage. (Brevicoryne brassicae)
Watercolour of a damaged cabbage. Dated 7 August 1934.
6662.20.q -- "Chicory. Violet Root Rot. Rhizoctonia crocorum."
Watercolour of an infected chicory root. Farm of origin anad date (30 November 1933) noted.
6662.20.r -- "CHICORY. Cutworm damage."
Watercolour of an infected chicory plant, dated 5 January 1934.
6662.20.s --
Watercolour of a parsley plant and two detailed sections.
6662.20.t -- "Spinach. Moisaic."
Watercolour of an infected spinach plant, with notes on the prevalence and damage at farm of origin, and status of the specimen. Dated October 1934.
6662.20.u --
Unlabelled drawing of an infected leaf.
6662.20.v -- "Radish. Flea beetle damage."
Several watercolours of radish seedlings and leaves. Dated 20 April 1935.
6662.20.w --"Radish. Flea beetle damage."
Several watercolours of radish seedlings and leaves. Dated April 1935.
6662.20.x -- "Marrow. Non-pathogenic condition."
Large watercolour of a large marrow.
6662.20.y -- "Marrrow Rot Botrytis cinerea."
Watercolour of a rotting marrow with typed description. Dated September 1934.
6662.20.z -- "Marrow Powdery Mildew. Erysiphe Cichoracearum, DC."
Watercolour of a marrow flower and leaf. Typed notes describe the mildew.
6662.20.aa --
Four unlabelled watercolours of seedlings. Cucumber.
6662.20.bb -- "Cucumber. Sun Scorch Damage."
Watercolour of a damaged cucumber leaf.
6662.20.cc -- "Cucumber. Red Spider Damage."
Watercolour of a cucumber leaf, dated April 1935 with farm of origin noted.
6662.20.dd -- "Cucumber. Red Spider Damage."
Watercolour of a cucumber leaf, dated April 1935 with farm of origin noted.
6662.20.ee - "Cucumber. Red Spider Damage."
Watercolour of three cucumber leaves.
References
Events
Description
Dr. W.A.R. Dillon Weston spent all of his professional life in Cambridge. After obtaining his degree in Natural Sciences at St. Catharine’s College, Dr. Dillon Weston gained employment as a mycologist (an expert in the study of fungi) at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. Ministry Pathologists at that time were stationed at universities, where teaching and supervision of students were included as part of their duties.
During the 1930’s, Dillon Weston produced nearly 1,000 watercolour paintings of plants suffering from a wide variety of afflictions: mostly various fungal infections, but also pest attacks, nutrient deficiencies, and bad farming practices. These drawings were produced in connection with his position at the Ministry, which he described as forming a “link between the farm and the research station.” Farmers would send samples of afflicted crops to the Ministry, and Dillon Weston would diagnose the problem and offer solutions. This work was an example of the emerging school of “New” or “Economic” Botany, in which economically important plant diseases were studied with an eye to increasing crop yields.
Typed notes accompanying the paintings suggest that many of them were depictions of samples received by Dillon Weston at the Ministry, though it is unclear why he made them. Like his glass fungi models, also held by the Whipple (Wh.5826), the paintings may have been a hobby undertaken during bouts of insomnia. Some of the paintings are demonstrative or didactic in nature, and Dillon Weston may have used them in his lectures at the university, which he endeavoured to make “as interesting as possible,” according to a 1952 profile in Varsity, the Cambridge student newspaper.
The paintings demonstrate a careful attention to detail and a desire for accurate representation, which sometimes led Dillon Weston to push up against the limits of flat, two-dimensional representation. For example, he used painted cotton stuffing underneath layers of paper to imitate spores bulging up underneath a scab on an apple tree (Wh.6662.28, Wh.6662.29), and splashes of blue watercolour paint to demonstrate how far fungal spores can be spread by raindrops (6662.10).
12/09/2018
Created by: Matthew Green on 12/09/2018
FM:47344
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