Provenance

Image credits

Each picture carries a badge saying what kind of image it is. So far there are 33 historical images, 0 adapted and 2 schematic models. Licenses were checked on the holding institution's own page, linked from each entry.

Historical: A real historical image, unaltered apart from cropping and resizing.
Adapted: A historical image we edited. The entry says what we changed.
Schematic model: Drawn in code from cited measurements, such as the 3D ears.

All images

Historical
Zea Mays L., plate 78 in volume 3
Shows
Zea mays, with details of the male and female flowers and the grain
Creator
Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen (published by Franz Eugen Köhler, Gera)
Date
1898
Held by
Missouri Botanical Garden, digitised for the Biodiversity Heritage Library; file from Wikimedia Commons
License
Public domain. The Biodiversity Heritage Library considers this work no longer under copyright protection.
Changes
Resized. The Commons copy we used already had its background whitened and its margins trimmed.
Historical
Isotype of Zea mays subsp. parviglumis, US National Herbarium sheet 3007398
Shows
Zea mays subsp. parviglumis (Balsas teosinte), a pressed specimen with tassel, leaves and stems
Creator
Specimen collected by Hugh H. Iltis and John F. Doebley; photographed by the Smithsonian Institution
Date
collected 22 September 1977
Held by
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany
License
CC0 1.0
Changes
Cropped to the sheet and resized.
Historical
Maize Deity (Chicomecoatl)
Shows
A Mexica (Aztec) maize deity, Chicomecoatl, holding paired ears of maize
Creator
Mexica (Aztec) sculptor
Date
15th–early 16th century
Held by
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession 00.5.46)
License
CC0 1.0. Open Access, public domain.
Changes
Resized.
Historical
Paccha (ritual vessel)
Shows
An Inca ritual vessel (paccha) modeled with an ear of maize and a jar
Creator
Inca artist, Peru
Date
1400–1535 CE
Held by
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession 1986.383.1)
License
CC0 1.0. Open Access, public domain.
Changes
Resized.
Historical
The Tovvne of Secota, plate XX in Thomas Hariot's A briefe and true report of the new found land of Virginia
Shows
The Algonquian town of Secotan, on the coast of what is now North Carolina, with maize fields at three stages of growth
Creator
Theodor de Bry, after a 1585 watercolor by John White
Date
1590
Held by
John Carter Brown Library, Brown University
License
CC BY 4.0. Courtesy of the John Carter Brown Library.
Changes
Resized. This is an engraving made in Europe from White's painting, not the painting itself.
Historical
Florentine Codex (Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España), Book 4, folio 72r
Shows
Nahua farmers harvesting and husking maize
Creator
Nahua artists working with Bernardino de Sahagún
Date
about 1577
Held by
Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence (Med. Palat. 218); scan from the Library of Congress, World Digital Library
License
Public domain. The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection.
Changes
Cropped to the lowest of three scenes on the page, and resized.
Historical
Turcicum frumentum, page 825 of De historia stirpium commentarii insignes
Shows
A whole maize plant, with one ear opened to show kernels of several colors
Creator
Leonhart Fuchs; drawn by Albrecht Meyer, copied to the block by Heinrich Füllmaurer, cut by Veit Rudolf Speckle
Date
1542
Held by
Wellcome Collection, London
License
Public domain. Public Domain Mark. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Changes
Cropped to the page and resized. The coloring and the handwritten English note belong to this particular copy.
Historical
George and Hugh Clarke with hybrid seed corn. Grundy County, Iowa
Shows
Two Iowa farmers inspecting hybrid seed corn on drying racks
Creator
Arthur Rothstein, for the US Farm Security Administration
Date
October 1939
Held by
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection (LC-USF34-028769-D)
License
Public domain. No known restrictions on publication.
Historical
Maize from Latin America, Germplasm Enhancement of Maize project (image K7743-13)
Shows
Ears of maize from Latin America held in a US germplasm collection
Creator
Keith Weller, USDA Agricultural Research Service
Date
undated
Held by
USDA Agricultural Research Service, Image Gallery
License
Public domain. Photos in the ARS Image Gallery are copyright-free, public domain images unless otherwise indicated.
Changes
Resized. The collection records the ears only as coming from Latin America, without naming the varieties.
Interactive 3D model
Schematic model
Schematic ears of teosinte, an early cob, a Mexican landrace and a modern hybrid, at one scale
Method
Drawn in code from the measurements cited beside each ear. Sizes are to scale; shapes, colors and anything marked as reconstructed are schematic.
Based on
Yang et al. 2019; Piperno & Flannery 2001; Benz 2001; Wellhausen et al. 1952; Tolley et al. 2021; Nielsen 2023
Interactive 3D model
Schematic model
Models of the nine forms of Brassica oleracea, with versions of several (curly and Jersey kale, red and halved cabbage, purple kohlrabi, purple sprouting broccoli, orange, purple and Romanesco cauliflower), at one scale
Method
Built in Blender by a script (scripts/blender/brassica.py) that generates each leaf, head and flower from parameters, and drawn at the heights cited beside each form. Sizes are to scale; leaf counts, shapes, colors and anything marked as reconstructed are schematic.
Based on
Drenckhahn 2017; Vilmorin-Andrieux et Cie 1920; Jansen et al. 1993; van der Vossen 1993; van der Vossen 1993; Sagwansupyakorn 1993; Prendergast & Rumball 2000; Candolle 1824; Royal Horticultural Society 2026; Royal Horticultural Society 2026
Historical
Brassica oleracea, Sea Cabbage, plate 637 of English Botany, volume 9
Shows
Wild Brassica oleracea in flower, titled "Sea Cabbage" in the accompanying text, drawn from a plant on the coast of south-west England
Creator
James Sowerby (drawing and engraving); text by James Edward Smith
Date
1799
Held by
Wellcome Collection, London
License
Public domain. Public Domain Mark. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Changes
Cropped to the plate and resized. The plate is dated September 1, 1799. Its text says the plant grows "on cliffs by the sea-side" and that Sowerby drew this one at King's Cove.
Historical
Red cabbage, from an album of flowers, object RP-T-BR-2017-1-9-56
Shows
A red cabbage plant, inscribed "Brassica rubra", "Rooden Cauwel" and "Choux rouge"
Creator
Anselmus Boëtius de Boodt (attributed) and Elias Verhulst
Date
1596–1610
Held by
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
License
Public domain. Public Domain Mark 1.0, as shown on the museum's record for the object.
Changes
Cropped to the framed drawing and resized.
Historical
White cabbage, from an album of flowers, object RP-T-BR-2017-1-9-54
Shows
A head cabbage, inscribed "Brassica alba sessilis glomerata aut capitata", "Witte Cauwel" and "Choux blanc"
Creator
Elias Verhulst and Anselmus Boëtius de Boodt
Date
1596–1610
Held by
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
License
Public domain. Public Domain Mark 1.0, as shown on the museum's record for the object.
Changes
Cropped to the framed drawing and resized. The drawing is some sixty years later than Fuchs's description of 1542.
Historical
Cauliflower, from an album of flowers, object RP-T-BR-2017-1-9-55
Shows
A cauliflower, inscribed "Brassica florida Botritis", "Bloem Coole" and "Choux-fleur"
Creator
Anselmus Boëtius de Boodt and Elias Verhulst
Date
1596–1610
Held by
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (on loan from a private collection)
License
Public domain. Copyright: Public domain (Public Domain Mark 1.0), as shown on the museum's page for the object.
Changes
Cropped to the framed drawing and resized.
Historical
Cross Section of a Red Cabbage with a Beetle and Caterpillar with Geometric Border, folio 45 recto of a Florilegium (1963.594.45.a)
Shows
A red cabbage in cross section, with a beetle and a caterpillar
Creator
Unknown artist, France
Date
1608
Held by
Cleveland Museum of Art
License
CC0 1.0. Open Access, CC0. "You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission."
Changes
Cropped to the page and resized.
Historical
Half-Dwarf Brussels Sprouts and Dwarf Brussels Sprouts, page 156 of The Vegetable Garden, edited by William Robinson
Shows
Half-dwarf and dwarf Brussels sprouts, with a single sprout
Creator
Vilmorin-Andrieux et Cie; the engraver is not named
Date
1920 (an edition of a work first published in English in 1885)
Held by
Library of Congress, Washington
License
Public domain. The books in this collection are in the public domain and are free to use and reuse.
Changes
Cropped to the two figures and their captions, and resized.
Historical
Common White Kohl-Rabi, page 165 of The Vegetable Garden, edited by William Robinson
Shows
Common White Kohlrabi
Creator
Vilmorin-Andrieux et Cie; the engraver is not named
Date
1920 (an edition of a work first published in English in 1885)
Held by
Library of Congress, Washington
License
Public domain. The books in this collection are in the public domain and are free to use and reuse.
Changes
Cropped to the figure and its caption.
Historical
Japanese agricultural workers packing broccoli near Guadalupe, California
Shows
Japanese agricultural workers packing broccoli in a field near Guadalupe, California
Creator
Dorothea Lange, for the US Farm Security Administration
Date
1937
Held by
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection (LC-USF34-016130-C)
License
Public domain. No known restrictions.
Changes
Cropped to remove the black edge of the negative.
Historical
Triticum vulgare L., plate 46.I
Shows
Bread wheat, Triticum aestivum (labeled Triticum vulgare, Kolbenweizen, a beardless form), with details of the flowers and grain
Creator
Walter Müller (plates), for Otto Wilhelm Thomé's Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz (Gera)
Date
1903 edition; the Flora first appeared in 1885
Held by
Biodiversity Heritage Library; file from the Wikimedia Commons copy of the library's own upload
License
Public domain. Marked Public Domain Work (Public Domain Mark 1.0) on the Biodiversity Heritage Library's photostream.
Changes
Resized.
Historical
Triticum monococcum subsp. aegilopoides, specimen BM000086044
Shows
Wild einkorn, Triticum monococcum subsp. aegilopoides (collected as Triticum boeoticum), pressed plants with roots and ears
Creator
Collected by Benedict Balansa; photographed by the Natural History Museum, London
Date
collected 7 May 1854
Held by
Natural History Museum, London, Department of Botany
License
CC BY 4.0. The museum's Data Portal record gives the image license as CC BY 4.0, rights holder The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London. (The scale bar in the photograph, which we cropped away, is printed "copyright reserved".)
Changes
Cropped to remove the scale bar and color chart.
Historical
Familie Gräser (Gramineae), plate 17
Shows
Ears of bread wheat (4), spelt (5), emmer (6) and einkorn (7), with rye, two-rowed barley, oats, millet and maize
Creator
Hoffmann's Botanischer Bilderatlas, edited by E. Dennert (Stuttgart, Schweizerbart)
Date
1911
Held by
Biodiversity Heritage Library; file from the Wikimedia Commons copy of the library's own upload
License
Public domain. Marked Public Domain Work (Public Domain Mark 1.0) on the Biodiversity Heritage Library's photostream.
Changes
Resized.
Historical
Harvest Scenes, Tomb of Menna
Shows
The measuring of a standing grain crop and the recording of the harvest, from the tomb of Menna at Thebes (Theban Tomb 69). The museum does not name the cereal.
Creator
Charles K. Wilkinson (painted copy), after the tomb painting
Date
original about 1396–1347 BCE; copy painted for the museum by 1930
Held by
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession 30.4.44)
License
CC0 1.0. The museum's Open Access record marks the object as public domain; images so marked are released under CC0.
Changes
Cropped to remove a thin black border, and resized.
Historical
Cuneiform tablet: administrative account concerning the distribution of barley and emmer
Shows
A proto-cuneiform account of the distribution of barley and emmer, from southern Mesopotamia
Creator
Unknown scribe, southern Mesopotamia
Date
about 3100–2900 BCE
Held by
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession 1988.433.2)
License
CC0 1.0. The museum's Open Access record marks the object as public domain; images so marked are released under CC0.
Changes
Cropped to the tablet and resized.
Historical
Evolution of sickle and flail – 33 horse team harvester, cutting, threshing and sacking wheat – Walla Walla, Washington
Shows
A horse-drawn combined harvester cutting, threshing and sacking wheat near Walla Walla, Washington
Creator
Underwood & Underwood (publisher; the photographer is not named)
Date
1902
Held by
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division (LC-USZ62-71468)
License
Public domain. No known restrictions on publication.
Changes
Cropped to one half of the stereograph, without its card mount and printed caption.
Historical
Close-up of stem rust on wheat (image K11192-1)
Shows
Stem rust, the fungus Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici, on wheat stems
Creator
Yue Jin, USDA Agricultural Research Service
Date
published 2004
Held by
USDA Agricultural Research Service, Image Gallery
License
Public domain. Photographs in the ARS Image Gallery are copyright-free, public domain images unless otherwise indicated.
Changes
Resized.
Historical
Rice, Ser. 1042, vol. 16, page 2, from the Seikei Zusetsu agricultural encyclopedia
Shows
Oryza sativa, two Japanese varieties, labeled 早稉 (an early-ripening rice) and 中稲 (a mid-season rice)
Creator
Unknown Japanese artist, for the Seikei Zusetsu
Date
1793–about 1804
Held by
Leiden University Libraries (the copy given to Philipp Franz von Siebold)
License
Public domain. The rights status of this resource is public domain. Citing the Leiden University Libraries as a source is appreciated.
Changes
Cropped to the printed frame and resized.
Historical
Herbarium specimen L.1277089, Oryza rufipogon Griff.
Shows
Oryza rufipogon, wild rice, a pressed specimen with an open, long-awned panicle. An older label on the sheet calls it Oryza fatua
Creator
Specimen collected by B. Balansa; photographed by Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Date
collected 31 October 1886
Held by
Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden
License
CC0 1.0. Naturalis open data record for L.1277089: license CC0 1.0.
Changes
None.
Historical
Herbarium specimen WAG.1242684, Oryza glaberrima Steud.
Shows
Oryza glaberrima, African rice, a cultivated plant with narrow panicles and awnless grains. The label says it is cultivated swamp rice from Sokoto, grown at Samaru
Creator
Specimen collected by H. C. Sampson; photographed by Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Date
collected 19 December 1929
Held by
Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden (Wageningen herbarium, a duplicate from Kew)
License
CC0 1.0. Naturalis open data record for WAG.1242684: license CC0 1.0.
Changes
None.
Historical
Ritual object (cong)
Shows
A jade cong, a ritual object of the Liangzhu culture of the lower Yangtze. It shows no rice
Creator
Liangzhu culture
Date
about 2400 BCE
Held by
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession 2004.52)
License
CC0 1.0. Open Access. The museum's collection record marks the object as public domain.
Changes
Resized.
Historical
Rice cultivation: four men transplanting rice seedlings (?) in a paddy field, while behind them two men irrigate the field. Woodcut, 1696
Shows
Work in a flooded rice field, from the Kangxi emperor's printed Pictures of Tilling and Weaving. The museum catalogues it, with a query, as transplanting. The heading of the poem reads 一耘, the first weeding
Creator
Designed by Jiao Bingzhen for the Kangxi emperor
Date
1696
Held by
Wellcome Collection, London (571282i)
License
Public domain. Public Domain Mark.
Changes
Resized.
Historical
Rice Culture, or Sowing and Reaping (detail)
Shows
Raising water into a rice field with a treadle chain pump and a well sweep, from a Chinese handscroll of the farming year
Creator
Unidentified Chinese artist
Date
before 1353
Held by
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession 2005.277)
License
CC0 1.0. Open Access. The museum's collection record marks the object as public domain.
Changes
None. This is the museum's own detail photograph.
Historical
Spring in the Rice Fields
Shows
Transplanting rice seedlings in spring, Japan
Creator
Katsushika Hokusai
Date
about 1795
Held by
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession JP2546)
License
CC0 1.0. Open Access. The museum's collection record marks the object as public domain.
Changes
Cropped to the print, leaving out the museum's color bar, and resized.
Historical
Indische boeren aan het werk op een rijstveld, op de achtergrond de bergen van Sumatra
Shows
Transplanting rice in flooded fields (sawah) in the Padang Highlands of Sumatra, below the volcano the album caption calls "de Merapi"
Creator
Christiaan Benjamin Nieuwenhuis
Date
about 1900–1920
Held by
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (RP-F-F01149-DA)
License
Public domain. Copyright: Public domain.
Changes
Cropped to the photograph, leaving out the album page and its handwritten caption, and resized.
Historical
Rice culture on the Ogeechee, near Savannah, Georgia
Shows
Rice growing on the Ogeechee River near Savannah, Georgia, in January 1867: hoeing, ditching, reaping, flood gates and a threshing mill
Creator
Alfred R. Waud, for Harper's Weekly
Date
5 January 1867
Held by
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division (LC-DIG-ds-07365)
License
Public domain. No known restrictions on publication.
Changes
Cropped to the page and resized.

The base map

Coastlines, borders and rivers are from Natural Earth, which is in the public domain. The engraved look (water lines, hatching, paper and washes) is drawn by the site's own code and is not a historical map.