About the Work
Elisabeth Christina Matthes, née Höll, was a native of Nuremberg and learned to draw there, possibly from the Dietzsch family (cf. Obj. No. 1394). After her marriage in 1773, she lived in Hamburg, where she was active as a flower illustrator. Some of her surviving works bear very close resemblance to examples by Barbara Regina Dietzsch. Obj. No. 1393 was long considered a work by Dietzsch; of the works by the latter, it is comparable to Obj. No. 1394. Matthes also imitated the styles of other flower and plant artists with great precision.