Vintage Floral Art Deco Pattern, Variation 14 by Édouard Bénédictus Material:400g Cotton Canvas and sense of impossible scale

and sense of impossible scale make this one of the most extraordinary images from the golden age of natural history illustration — where empirical observation met seafarers' myth

Orchid lily specimens are arranged with meticulous care — stems arching

Hobday reduces the drama of an expansive landscape to its barest elements — layered peaks

Against the warm

and the result has the direct

Vintage Floral Art Deco Pattern, Variation 14 by Édouard Bénédictus Material:400g Cotton Canvas and sense of impossible scaleVariation 14 from Bndictus's landmark 1928 portfolio arranges stylised botanical forms into a composition of controlled exuberance. Petals and leaves are flattened into geometric shapes, their curves disciplined by the hard edged logic of Art Deco design yet the overall effect is lush rather than rigid. A warm palette of rust, gold and deep green moves across the surface in repeating rhythms, each element interlocking with the precision of a textile