Ridgway Geranium Studies | Set of Four

As a two-by-two block, allow roughly 98cm wide by 128cm tall.

As a block of four, two across and two down with an 8cm gap, the group spans about 98cm wide and 128cm tall. Allow a clear wall of at least 120cm across.

In a single row of four, with the same 8cm gaps, the run is about 204cm. That suits a long wall above a sideboard or a run down a staircase.

Keep the gaps even and tight. 5cm to 8cm between frames is what makes four pieces read as one arrangement. Wider than 15cm and they become four separate pictures on the same wall.

Centre the group at about 145cm from the floor, which is standard gallery eye level. Above furniture, leave 20cm to 25cm between the top of the piece and the bottom of the lowest frames.

Lay them out on the floor first and measure the finished block before you mark the wall. On a set of four, an error in the first hole compounds three times over.

These are reproductions of real botanical plates, and the evidence is printed on them.

Look closely at the foot of each image and you will find the original credit line: published by J Ridgway of 169 Piccadilly, July 1835, with the engraver's signature opposite. That is a genuine nineteenth-century botanical plate rather than a modern illustration made to look old, and the difference shows in the drawing.

The hand-coloured quality is the tell. Deep crimson and dusty pink petals over dark green foliage, with the fine engraved line still visible beneath the colour. Underneath each specimen sits an uncoloured outline study of a single leaf, which is how botanical plates were drawn: the plant recorded, then its parts noted separately.

The paper tone carries through, warm and slightly foxed, with the plate numbers still in the upper corners. Nothing has been cleaned up to look new.

The frames are deliberately aged, in a dark timber with a distressed finish rather than a flat modern black. On a botanical plate that matters: a sharp contemporary frame fights the paper, where an aged one lets the whole thing read as something inherited.

• Four prints in one purchase, so the wall is solved in a single decision
• Genuine 1835 botanical plates, with the original credit lines intact
• Hand-coloured character, with the engraved line visible beneath
• Deliberately aged frames rather than flat modern black
• 60 x 45cm each, substantial enough to hold a wall properly
• Deep crimson and green against warm paper, which flatters neutral rooms
• Hangs as a block or a row, so it adapts to the wall you have
• Related but not identical, which is what makes a set look collected

A two-by-two block has more presence than a row and suits most walls better. Save the single row for a long wall above a sideboard or a staircase where a block would not fit.

Botanical plates on warm paper look best against something with depth behind them. Deep olive, sage, soft charcoal or a clay tone makes the crimson sing. Against brilliant white the warm paper can read as dingy.

Four related pieces is already a collection. Adding a fifth unrelated frame nearby undoes the coherence that makes the set work.

A single lamp to one side lights two of four unevenly. Either light the wall properly or rely on daylight, because half-lit botanical detail is worse than none.

Something living or faux below, a stem of greenery in a stoneware vessel, picks up the foliage without repeating the flowers.

Spray the cloth, not the glass. Cleaner running down into an aged timber frame will mark the finish and can work into the joint between glass and frame.

Dust the frames with a dry cloth or a soft brush. Nothing wet and nothing abrasive on a distressed finish, which is a surface treatment rather than a deep stain.

Keep them out of direct sunlight. This matters more on a set of four, because if one hangs in a sunbeam and three do not, the difference will show in a few years.

Away from steam. Not a bathroom, and not directly above a radiator where rising heat and moisture reach the paper.

Check the fixings once a year and straighten anything that has drifted. On a block of four, one crooked frame spoils the group.

What to expect. The frames are deliberately aged, so the distressing varies from frame to frame. Printed colour also varies slightly from what a screen shows.

The set ships packed together for glass. Current timescales and charges are set out on our delivery page.

Send us the width of the wall you have in mind and we will tell you whether a block or a row suits it better. Reach us via our contact page or live chat.

If they are not right once they are up, our returns process is straightforward, and everything is covered by our guarantees and warranties.

Our price match promise stands if you find the same piece for less elsewhere. Dressing a holiday let or a restaurant? Ask about trade accounts.