William Henry Prestele
Encyclopedia
Wilhelm Heinrich Prestele (or William Henry Prestele) (October 13, 1838 - August 16, 1895) was a botanical artist known for his lithographs and watercolor work commissioned by the US Department of Agriculture.
Prestele was born in Hesse-Darmstadt
, Germany
, to Franz Joseph Martin Prestele (also a painter and lithographer of flowers and fruits) and Karoline Russ and raised in the Amana Colonies
in Iowa
.
In 1867, at the age of 29, he was hired to make a series of nurserymen’s plates
by an Illinois nursery owner. When this relationship ended in 1871, he went into business with L. B. Littlefield, publishing fruit and flower plates, and later, in 1875, set up as a lithographer in Iowa City, near where he was raised.
On August 1, 1887, he was appointed as the first artist on the staff of the Pomological Division of the United States Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. He was assigned to make life-size watercolors of native grapes intended as illustrations for a monograph by Thomas Volney Munson
of Denison, Texas, a leading authority on native grapes.
He died in Arlington, Virginia on August 16, 1895, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Biography
Grand Duchy of Hesse
The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine , or, between 1806 and 1816, Grand Duchy of Hesse —as it was also known after 1816—was a member state of the German Confederation from 1806, when the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt was elevated to a Grand Duchy, until 1918, when all the German...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, to Franz Joseph Martin Prestele (also a painter and lithographer of flowers and fruits) and Karoline Russ and raised in the Amana Colonies
Amana Colonies
The Amana Colonies are a group of settlements of radical German Pietists in Iowa, USA, comprising seven villages. Calling themselves the Ebenezer Society or the Community of True Inspiration , they first settled in New York state near Buffalo in what is now the Town of West Seneca...
in Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
.
In 1867, at the age of 29, he was hired to make a series of nurserymen’s plates
Lithography
Lithography is a method for printing using a stone or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface...
by an Illinois nursery owner. When this relationship ended in 1871, he went into business with L. B. Littlefield, publishing fruit and flower plates, and later, in 1875, set up as a lithographer in Iowa City, near where he was raised.
On August 1, 1887, he was appointed as the first artist on the staff of the Pomological Division of the United States Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. He was assigned to make life-size watercolors of native grapes intended as illustrations for a monograph by Thomas Volney Munson
Thomas Volney Munson
Thomas Volney Munson often referred to simply as T.V. Munson, was a horticulturist and breeder of grapes in Texas.-Background:...
of Denison, Texas, a leading authority on native grapes.
He died in Arlington, Virginia on August 16, 1895, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.