In 1703, Mary Somerset (1630-1715), the 1st Duchess of Beaufort, commissioned Everard Kik, a Dutch botanical artist, to create a series of paintings showing the extraordinary variety of plants she had grown from seeds sent to her from all over the world.
The final collection of 178 botanical paintings, including many by Mary’s footman-turnedartist Daniel Frankcom, were later bound in a two-volume album, a florilegium. It is kept at Badminton House, Gloucestershire, where Mary
