Pierre-Joseph Redouté (Belgian, 1759-1840)
Watercolor for plate 77: “Bird of Paradise” Strelitzia reginae
Prepared for Les Liliacées ca. 1802-1816
Watercolor and graphite on vellum
Completed: ca. 1802-1816
Vellum size: 18 1/2 x 13 in.
Frame size: 23 1/4 x 18 1/8 in.
Signed ‘P.J. Redouté’ lower left

Strelitzia Reginae, commonly known as the crane flower or bird of paradise. It is a species of flowering plant native to the Cape Provinces and KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Common names such as “crane flower” and “bird of paradise” reference the open flower’s resemblance to the head and beak of a colorful exotic bird.

Joseph Banks described the species in 1788. The specific epithet Reginae means “of the queen”, and commemorates the English Queen Charlotte Sophia (1774-1818), wife of George II (1738-1820), former Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who gave birth to fifteen royal children.

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