Paper collage of white flowers with pink stripes on their petals.

International touring exhibition

The botanical world of Mary Delany

British Museum Unseen

Tour schedule

Available to tour from 2025

Contact us

Email: [email protected]

This exhibition package presents 50 images of English artist Mary Delany's pioneering and inspirational 'paper mosaiks' of plants and flowers, displayed side by side in a way not possible in real life, due to their fragility and existence in bound volumes.

The display encompasses high-resolution photography of some of Delany's most spectacular works and details the inspiration and drive behind her output, including her original technical process and the legacy she has left. The visually stunning images reveal Delany's incredible precision in creating scientifically accurate representations of botanical specimens. Visitors are able to explore and appreciate the delicacy and skill that Delany employed, throughout her impressive oeuvre of work, which she only began at the age of 72.

The British Museum Unseen series is a new touring offer that explores a variety of stories about the British Museum collection, loaned as a digital package to provide partners with maximum flexibility for presentation in their own venues. This package includes 50 high-resolution images, pre-designed and ready-to-print panel and label text, plus a short film.

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