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Title: Clara Mason Fox botanical illustrations
Dates: 1893-2017
Collection Number: P.3
Creator/Collector:
Fox, Clara Mason, 1873-1959
Extent: 0.79 linear feet (2 boxes)
Repository:
California Botanic Garden
Claremont, California 91711
Abstract: The collection contains watercolor illustrations of California native plants by schoolteacher and artist Clara Mason Fox that
were made in the Silverado Canyon area of Orange County in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The collection also includes
a small biographical file and publications by or about Fox.
Language of Material: English
The collection is open to research.
Copyright of the materials in this collection is held by California Botanic Garden.
Clara Mason Fox botanical illustrations. California Botanic Garden
The Clara Mason Fox botanical illustrations were acquired by the California Botanic Garden Herbarium (RSA-POM) at an unknown
date and accessioned and filed as herbarium specimens. In 2010, the illustrations were rediscovered and transferred to the
archives. Additional illustrations may still be located within the herbarium and so further accruals are possible.
Biography/Administrative History
Clara Mason was born in 1873 in Jackson Township, Ohio. In 1887, she moved with her family to Orange County, California and
settled in Silverado Canyon, where she worked as a schoolteacher. During this time, she created watercolor drawings of the
flora of Silverado Canyon, as well as drawing landscapes, animals, and people.
She married George Fox in 1905 and eventually moved to El Toro (Lake Forest). In addition to her artwork, she published poetry
and produced a history of El Toro. She died in Orange, California in 1959.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection contains 147 watercolor botanical illustrations of plants of Silverado Canyon and the surrounding area by Clara
Mason Fox that were made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The illustrations were acquired by the California Botanic
Garden Herbarium (RSA-POM) at an unknown date and each contains a RSA accession number. Most illustrations are undated. Some
illustrations include detailed notes by Fox describing the identifying characteristics of the species, the common name, and
a brief description of the locality. A small number of illustrations contain species annotations by other individuals.
The collection also includes two books by Fox, three publications about Fox by Lorraine Passero, and a file of correspondence
and other biographical information on Fox that was compiled by California Botanic Garden staff.
Endemic plants
Botanical illustrations
Watercolors (paintings)