Accession No
6662.29
Brief Description
Folder of 36 paintings, drawings and paper models labelled "Apple scab," no. 29 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; canvas
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 36 paintings, drawings and paper models labelled "Apple scab," no. 29 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.
6662.29.a -- First of a set of ten models, made of hard card-backed canvas and painted with watercolours and acrylic.
A bud with the flower just emerging, with black paint at the tips representing spores.
6662.29.b -- Second of a set of ten models, made of hard card-backed canvas and painted with watercolours and acrylic.
A bud with the flower just emerging, but hidden behind a flap of paper, with black paint at the tips representing spores.
6662.29.c -- Third of a set of ten models, made of hard card-backed canvas and painted with watercolours and acrylic.
A fruitlet with black paint around its body, representing contamination.
6662.29.d -- Fourth of a set of ten models, made of hard card-backed canvas and painted with watercolours and acrylic.
A flower-shaped model with black paint in its centre.
6662.29.e -- Fifth of a set of ten models, made of hard card-backed canvas and painted with watercolours and acrylic.
A bloomed pink flower.
6662.29.f -- Sixth of a set of ten models, made of hard card-backed canvas and painted with watercolours and acrylic.
A closed bud with black paint at its tip.
6662.29.g -- Seventh of a set of ten models, made of hard card-backed canvas and painted with watercolours and acrylic.
A spur of a (apple?) tree, with various black scabs along its length.
6662.29.h -- Eighth of a set of ten models, made of hard card-backed canvas and painted with watercolours and acrylic.
Model of an end of a spur, with several small protrusions and three flowers at its tip. The centre flower has a black, umbrella-shaped projection from its centre, very fragile and almost ripped off.
6662.29.i -- Ninth of a set of ten models, made of hard card-backed canvas and painted with watercolours and acrylic.
A spur of an apple tree wit black scab and several green tendrils extending from its end.
6662.29.j -- Tenth of a set of ten models, made of hard card-backed canvas and painted with watercolours and acrylic.
A large group of four buds, labelled "FRUIT BUD. GREEN FLOWER STAGE." in type.
6662.29.k -- "APPLE SCAB"
Watercolour of an apple spur, with flower buds. The watercolour has been pasted on the page, with sections of it cut open to reveal the material beneath, simulating the open pustules. Some material (cotton?) has been stuffed between the two pages in order to create a bulge where the scab is. There are also two small watercolours of flower (?) shapes. Typed notes describe the sample and the farm of origin, dated 10 June 1933.
6662.29.l -- "APPLE SCAB."
Watercolour of an apple leaf with typed notes describing the sample and the farm of origin.
6662.29.m -- "SCAB PUSTULES. Pustules on the spur wood."
Several watercolours pasted on the page representing apple spurs infected with spores. The watercolour has been pasted on the page, with sections of it cut open to reveal the material beneath, simulating the open pustules. Some pieces of paper have been pasted on the spur in order to stimulate spores, along with a pen drawing (possibly of cell structure of the conidia).
6662.29.n -- "APPLE SCAB. Egremont bud."
Watercolour of an infected bud. The watercolour has been pasted on the page, with sections of it cut open to reveal the material beneath, simulating the open pustules. Typed notes describe the specimen, dated 27 March 1933.
6662.29.o -- "INFECTED SPUR WOOD."
A pen drawing of a spur with teal watercolour in blotches around it. Typed notes describing the experiment that this represents, involving rain.
6662.29.p -- "INFECTED LEADER WOOD."
Several pen drawings of leaves with teal watercolour in blotches around them. Typed notes describing the experiment that this represents, involving rain.
6662.29.q -- "INFECTED SPUR WOOD."
Several pen drawings of leaves and spurs with teal watercolour in blotches around them. Typed notes describing the experiment that this represents, involving rain.
6662.29.r -- "APPLE SCAB IN BLOSSOM."
Watercolour of an apple blossom.
6662.29.s -- "APPLE SCAB. The calyx stage."
Watercolour of an apple bud, with typed directions to spray the bud at this stage.
6662.29.t -- "APPLE SCAB. The green marble stage."
Watercolour of an apple fruitlet, with typed notes to spray again at this stage.
6662.29.u -- "APPLE SCAB."
Watercolour of an apple fruitlet with raised seapls.
6662.29.v -- "APPLE SCAB. The pink bud stage."
Watercolour of an apple bud with typed notes giving directions on applying spray.
6662.29.w -- "APPLE SCAB. The green flower (or pre-pink) stage."
Watercolour of an apple bud, with typed description of spraying.
6662.29.x -- "APPLE SCAB One apple bud"
Watercolour of an apple bud with directions to spray.
6662.29.y -- "APPLE SCAB. Fruit Bud Green Flower stage."
Watercolour of an apple flower. Typed directions to spray.
6662.29.z -- "APPLE SCAB. Fruit bud, Mouse-eared stage."
Watercolour of an apple bud.
6662.29.aa -- "APPLE SCAB A fruit bud Dormant stage."
Watercolour of an apple bud with typed description of the specimen and the fungus.
6662.29.bb -- "APPLE SCAB. Egrement bud."
Typed description of specimen, dated 27 march 1933."
6662.29.cc -- "APPLE SCAB Fruit bud Bursting stage"
Watercolour of an apple bud with typed notes describing the spores. The watercolour has been pasted on the page, with sections of it cut open to reveal the material beneath, simulating the open pustules. Some material (cotton?) has been stuffed between the two pages in order to create a bulge where the scab is.
6662.29.dd --
Three watercolour & pen drawings of trees and buds at various stages, cut and pasted onto the page.
6662.29.ee --
Two pen drawings of buds and flowers pasted on the page, with typed descriptions of the stages.
6662.29.ff -- "STAGES IN THE FORMATION OF A TRUSS."
Watercolour and pen drawings of stages of an apple tree bud and flower, with typed directions on spraying to treat the scab.
6662.29.gg --
Watercolour and pen diagram to illustrate the spread of spores during different stages of the apple bud.
6662.29.hh --
Typed page describing control measures for apple scab.
6662.29.ii --
Typed page describing control measures and focusing on spraying the scab.
6662.29.jj --
Page divided into sections with typed description of each section, perhaps an experiment on an orchard.
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:47353
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