Vintage Berry Prints
Berries, painted from life a century ago. Our berry archive comes from the USDA Pomological Watercolors (1886–1942) — over a hundred heirloom strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and gooseberries, each documented in watercolour from a single ripe specimen, many of them varieties no longer grown. Restored plate by plate at fine-art resolution and offered full-bleed or as a framed specimen on a deep forest ground. Printed museum-quality on heavyweight matte paper — made for the kitchen wall.
104 prints · printed to order on heavyweight matte paper · framed or unframed
A deep berry archive
Most shops carry one strawberry print and one blueberry. We have over a hundred berries — 67 named strawberry varieties alone, plus raspberries, blueberries and gooseberries — because they come from the USDA's watercolour archive, which documented American fruit variety by variety between 1886 and 1942. Each was painted from life by a staff artist, and many of the varieties have since vanished from cultivation. It's the difference between a berry motif and a real botanical record.
The kinds of berries
Strawberries dominate — dozens of heirloom varieties from Alpha and Beauty to Rough Rider and Ruby. Alongside them: cane raspberries (Cardinal, Cuthbert, Marlboro), blueberries (Catawba, Weymouth, Atlantic) and gooseberries (Industry, Poorman, Perfection). Each carries its variety name, botanical name and the USDA artist who painted it.
Where they work
Berries belong in the kitchen and dining room. A single ripe-red strawberry or raspberry specimen warms a breakfast nook; three of one berry hung together — three strawberries, three gooseberries — is the classic gallery-wall move, and three or more prints take 10% off automatically. The forest-ground specimen edition suits a dark green dining room; the full-bleed edition is looser and more painterly. Framed or unframed, on heavyweight matte or gallery-wrapped canvas.
ReadEvery strawberry the USDA painted, 1891–1916 — the varieties, years and painters