A Florilegium E-Book

Valerie Oxley

• Herausgeber: The Crowood Press
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

This lavish book highlights a selection of the wonderful illustrations held in the archive of The Florilegium Society at Sheffield Botanical Gardens. Each illustration included in the book is accompanied by a plant profile, stating where the plant was found in the wild and explaining something of its history, uses and botany. The book also gives an introduction to florilegia dating from the early herbals, and a history of the Society's Herbarium and the Gardens themselves. Featuring over 100 colour illustrations and 67 plant profiles, it is a book for everyone to enjoy, whatever the season. The Botanical Gardens are in the heart of the City of Sheffield and are a much-loved venue enjoyed both by the people of Sheffield and visitors to the City. This book has been written by the Society's founding chair Valerie Oxley. Valerie developed the diploma in Botanical Illustration with colleagues at the University of Sheffield.

Leseprobe

A FLORILEGIUM

Sheffield’s Hidden Garden

Arum italicum 'Marmoratum’. Artist: Rosalind TimperleyGraphite pencil and watercolour. Accepted to the Archive 2013.

A FLORILEGIUM

Sheffield’s Hidden Garden

VALERIE OXLEY

First published in 2021 byThe Crowood Press LtdRamsbury, MarlboroughWiltshire SN8 2HR

[email protected]

This e-book first published in 2021

© The Florilegium Society at Sheffield Botanical Gardens

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 78500 895 5

Cover design: Peggy & Co.Design Pen and ink logo design: Jenny KirklandCrinodendron hookerianum Elaine Shimwell. Coloured pencil. Accepted to the Archive 2004

DedicationThis book is dedicated to the members, past and present, of The Florilegium Society at Sheffield Botanical Gardens, whose enthusiasm and generosity have enabled the Society to compile an important archive of drawings and paintings of the planting at the Gardens for everyone to enjoy.

Illustrations from the Archive of The Florilegium Societyat Sheffield Botanical Gardens © the artist in each case.

Lathraea clandestina Anne Dent. Graphite pencil and watercolour. Accepted to the Archive 2003

Contents

Preface

Foreword LUGENE BRUNO

What is a florilegium?

The history of The Florilegium Society at Sheffield Botanical GardensVALERIE OXLEY AND JILL HOLCOMBE

The Florilegium Society’s HerbariumJULIE MASON AND SERENA MARNER

The history of Sheffield Botanical Gardens 1833–2020ALISON HUNTER

The plants and their profiles

Biographies of the artists

Acknowledgements and information sources

Rosa moyesii Arnolda Beynon. Graphite pencil and watercolour.Accepted to the Archive 2003

Preface

The Botanical Gardens in Sheffield are a much-loved public space. Just sitting quietly on a sunny day one can observe how people use and enjoy the Gardens, each in their own unique way. Some simply use the Gardens to get from A to B: a conduit from a busy shopping area to a quiet residential one. Some people walk briskly through, rucksacks hauled onto their backs, hurrying to school or to attend a lecture at the University. Others, mums or dads, walk at a more leisurely pace with young children in tow, going to meet other young parents at the café or to sit on the grass whilst the children play. Then there are the school visits; eager young children, chattering happily, skipping and dancing through the gardens with their teachers. Older children arrive, questionnaires in hand, looking for a particular tree or herbaceous plant to make a sketch or answer a question. These visitors are followed by those who simply come because they love the place and always have done.

Helleborus x hybridus Jill Holcombe. Graphite pencil and watercolour. Accepted to the Archive 2005

But this is more than a pleasure garden full of beautiful trees and colourful plants; it is a collection of gardens where one can study plants from all round the world. There are amazing plants, some originating from rainforests where their existence is threatened, plants that in the wild would be found clinging to a mountain side or at the bottom of a deep ravine. Plants that are especially adapted to grow in arid areas and those that have been saved from extinction. Plants that grow in the restored pavilions, a special place, where they are protected from the rigours of the winter months. Each plant is unique and each one has a story to tell.

It was not difficult to persuade local botanical artists that on their doorstep was a wonderful resource for botanical art: a whole garden full of interesting and unusual plants just waiting for their portraits to be painted, and for their botanical secrets and histories to be written.

The naming of plants is constantly changing: scientists argue about taxonomy and DNA has played its part in adding to the confusion, so it is a struggle to keep up. Scientific names are either unknown, misunderstood or difficult to pronounce; we have become disconnected and ignorant about their importance. But as you will discover when reading this book, they tell us a great deal about the plant, very often in just two words.

This book is a tribute to the artists, past and present members of The Florilegium Society, who have generously given of their time and artistic expertise to record in detail a selection of the plants at Sheffield Botanical Gardens. The artists have attempted to explain through drawing and painting how a plant works, its habit and life cycle. The plant’s collecting history has been added to complete the profile.

The Committee and members of The Florilegium Society hope you will enjoy your journey through this florilegium. Please take time to linger by the plants and discover, as we have done, the secrets of Sheffield’s ‘Hidden Garden’.

Foreword

In July 2001 Dr James Joseph White, who was Curator of Art and Principal Research Scholar at the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, wrote a letter enthusiastically supporting the establishment of a florilegium society at Sheffield Botanical Gardens and became one of its first Patrons. After Dr White’s retirement his assistant Lugene B. Bruno became the Curator of Art. The members of The Florilegium Society at Sheffield Botanical Gardens were delighted when, after the sad death of Dr White, Lugene Bruno agreed to represent the Hunt Institute and become a Patron of the Society.

In the seventeenth century, exotic plants were arriving in Europe through correspondents and voyages of exploration. Admired for their beauty and interesting characteristics, these unusual plants were avidly collected for university botanic gardens and the pleasure gardens of wealthy owners.

Along with this abundance of exotica was a desire to document these plant collections in beautifully illustrated publications known as florilegia. The development of the printmaking processes of etching and engraving on metal plates and the embellishment of these prints with hand colouring made it possible to achieve remarkable results. A magnificent example from this period is Basilius Besler’s Hortus Eystettensis (1613), which includes 367 engravings of plants from the Prince-Bishop of Eichstätt’s garden in Germany, which are arranged by the season.

The popularity of florilegia continued through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but these vied with the illustrated scientific texts, which focused on floras and monographs of specific regions and families. These publications are still relevant, not only for their beauty but because they document the history of the native and introduced species of each period.

Schisandra rubriflora Judyth Pickles. Graphite pencil and watercolour.Accepted to the Archive 2013

By the late twentieth century, the importance of the history and future of this art form was recognized and culminated in exhibitions of historical and contemporary botanical art.

It is only natural that this renewal of interest in plants and gardens led to a desire to once again create florilegia that document the native and cultivated plants of a specific place or garden. The Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society was the first to establish a focused group of artists in 1995, and the simultaneous interest for a group in the north of the UK was realized in 2002 as The Florilegium Society at Sheffield Botanical Gardens.

The formation of florilegium societies around the world and the relationships developed between artists, horticulturalists and botanists have bolstered the combination of aesthetically compelling and scientifically accurate representations of plants. While the florilegia of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries documented the new and unusual introductions, the twenty-first-century florilegia encompass collected plants that are native, endangered, medicinal, economic and of global interest, each with an important story to tell. I applaud the dedication of these artists who have chosen to create a permanent record of our time through their extraordinary paintings and drawings.

Lugene B. Bruno,Curator of Art and Senior Research Scholar,Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation

What is a florilegium?

A florilegium, or collection of flowers, usually takes the form of an illustration accompanied by a plant profile.

The earliest collections were made for medicinal purposes and contained descriptions of plants and their medicinal properties: these books were known as herbals. The descriptions were illustrated with a drawing of the plant. Unfortunately, the plants were often copied from previous drawings without reference to the living plant and over time the plant illustrations became distorted and unrecognizable.

A step forward was made in 1542 when Leonhart Fuchs, a German physician and botanist, published a herbal in which over 490 plants were described in Latin. Fuchs was keen that the accompanying 500 woodcuts were from living specimens.

Jacques Le Moyne, a French illustrator and cartographer, worked from living plants instead of copying from previous florilegia. His work shows naturalness and attention to growth detail, such as the development of fruit and the twist and turn of leaves, that show close observation from nature.

Callistemon citrinus Cathrine Allsopp.Graphite pencil and coloured pencil. Accepted to the Archive 2006

The early florilegia of cultivated plants contained illustrations of plants grown for interest and beauty rather than for their medicinal properties as previously. New printing methods were available and artists could choose engraving or etching as a method of reproduction.

Very often the books were divided into the four seasons, such as Hortus Floridus. In this florilegium the engraved copperplates were completed by Crispijn van de Passe in 1614, helped by his sons Crispijn, Simon and Willem.

Alexander Marshall, an English gardener and botanical artist, compiled a florilegium consisting of over 160 folios of plant drawings. The collection was presented to George IV in the 1820s and is the only seventeenth-century florilegium to survive to the present day.

One of the most influential artists in the history of botanical art was a Dutch painter, Gérard van Spaendonck, who was influenced by Dutch flower painters. He produced naturalistic paintings of living flowers, and contributed over fifty paintings on vellum to the collection at the Jardin du Roi in Paris between 1781 and 1785. His work was an inspiration to the artists who followed him and his reputation as a teacher was renowned. One of Spaendonck’s pupils was Pierre-Joseph Redouté.

Redouté frequently drew in the Botanical Gardens in Paris. He became known to the botanist Charles Louis L’Héritier who encouraged him to follow a scientific approach and introduced him to dissection techniques. The pinnacle of his success was a flora called Les Roses.

Another important botanical artist was Georg Dionys Ehret, who was commissioned by a Nuremberg physician, Christoph Jacob Trew, to produce several illustrations for Plantae Selecta and Hortus Nitidissimi. During his travels Ehret met Carl Linnaeus and engraved a table for his system of classification. In his memoir Ehret wrote, ‘Linnaeus explained to me his new method of examining the stamens which I could easily understand, I resolved privately to bring out a tabella of it.’

The Banks’ Florilegium is a collection of copperplate engravings of the plants found by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander on a voyage round the world with James Cook. The illustrator, Sydney Parkinson, did not survive the voyage and the Florilegium was not printed in Banks’s lifetime.

Franz and Ferdinand Bauer were born in Austria and they both became meticulous botanical illustrators. Whilst Franz worked at Kew, Ferdinand accompanied Professor John Sibthorpe on a voyage to Greece, where their mission was to prepare a scientific work called Flora Graeca. They returned with over 1,500 sketches of flowers, animals and birds, as well as landscapes. Ferdinand prepared colour charts and numbered all parts of his sketches so the drawings could be completed after his return. Sadly, the ambitious work was not completed in the lifetime of either man and other artists finished the illustrations using Ferdinand’s colour charts comprising over 1,000 colours.

Flora Londinensis was compiled by William Curtis and printed in 1777. It is a collection of plants growing wild in the London area in the mid-eighteenth century. A number of different artists prepared the copperplates, including Sydenham Edwards, James Sowerby and William Kilburn.

The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala, written by James Bateman and illustrated by Augusta Withers and Sarah Drake, is a magnificent elephant-size folio printed in 1845. It captures the obsession with orchids in the Victorian period when wealthy enthusiasts employed plant collectors to find new and rare specimens.

The Rhododendrons of the Sikkim Himalaya was compiled by Joseph Dalton Hooker with drawings and descriptions made ‘on the spot’. He was the first European to collect in the Sikkim area. He suffered many setbacks and was often dispirited and weary at the end of the day. His faithful collecting companion was his dog Kinchin, who lost his whiskers in an avalanche!

A florilegium is not just a collection of meticulously drawn and painted plant illustrations: it is a lesson in history, a scientific treatise. It introduces us to a map of the world, encounters with kings and princes, intrepid plant collectors, botanists, gardeners, medics and monks!

Viburnum davidii Sheila Stancill. Graphite pencil and watercolour. Accepted to the Archive 2013

The history of the Florilegium Society at Sheffield Botanical Gardens

The idea of forming a society whose members would record the planting at Sheffield Botanical Gardens by botanical illustration was first suggested in 1995. The establishment of the Society coincided with the re-opening of the restored pavilions and the extensive restoration and replanting programme in the Gardens.

Valerie Oxley chaired a steering committee that undertook the preliminary work to set up the Society. A report was prepared for the Trustees of the Botanical Gardens asking for permission to form an independent society at the Gardens. It was envisaged that the Archive of drawings would provide a scientific and historical record of the Gardens’ plants that would become a valued source of reference.

Early in the new millennium the idea became a reality, resulting in the successful launch of The Florilegium Society at Sheffield Botanical Gardens in April 2002. Supportive letters were received from the Vice-Chancellor of The University of Sheffield, Professor Robert Boucher; the Director General of the Royal Horticultural Society, Dr Andrew Colquhoun; the Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Professor Sir Peter Crane; and the Curator of Art and Principal Research Scholar at the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Pittsburgh, Dr James White. The supporters became the Society’s first Patrons.

Professor Stephen Hopper succeeded Sir Peter Crane and agreed to become a Patron of the Society. In 2007 Judith Magee, Collections Development Manager at the Natural History Museum, London and Dr Brent Elliott, Historian to the Royal Horticultural Society, both accepted invitations to become Patrons. Lugene Bruno followed Dr White on his retirement in 2011 and agreed to become a Patron. Andrea Hart, Library Special Collections Manager at The Natural History Museum, also became a Patron in 2015 when she succeeded Judith Magee.

Dipelta floribunda Barbara Munro. Graphite pencil and watercolour.Accepted to the Archive 2016

Over the years the Society has very much appreciated the support it has received from all the Patrons and the important institutions they represent.

From the start it was agreed that anyone interested in botanical drawing could join the Society as an Associate Member. In order to become a Full Member a piece of botanical artwork had to be submitted and accepted to the Archive by a Selection Panel which would be chaired by the Society’s Chairman. Other members of the panel would consist of the Curator of the Gardens, an invited botanist/horticulturalist and an artist/art historian with an interest in botanical illustration. To honour the commitment of preparing and donating work to the Archive it was decided that if a member had three artworks accepted, they would become a Fellow of the Society, an achievement to be marked by the presentation of a certificate.

In 2009 three original artworks from the Florilegium Archive were selected by Museums Sheffield for a major exhibition called ‘Can Art Save Us?’. The exhibition, which explored John Ruskin’s ideas about sustainability and the environment, was funded by the Guild of St George and held at the Millennium Gallery, Sheffield. The artworks were shown alongside a florilegium from the Ruskin Collection called Flora Londinensis (1798).

In June 2011 the Society mounted an exhibition of archival work called ‘What is a Florilegium?’ at the Royal Highland Centre at Ingliston in Scotland; the display was also shown at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh for the enjoyment of the Garden’s summer visitors. That same year, at The University of Sheffield, selected prints were displayed alongside florilegia from the University library’s archive of books. In July 2016 the Society was invited by Lady Edward Manners to exhibit the print collection in the wonderful environment of medieval Haddon Hall in Derbyshire, and in the summer of 2017, the Society was pleased to accept another invitation to exhibit the collection when the Royal Horticultural Society held its first show in Derbyshire at Chatsworth House. In 2019 selected prints were displayed at Cusworth Hall Museum, Doncaster, alongside botanically related artefacts from the museum’s collections.

The Society has a strong educational remit. The aim is to continue to help all members to develop their artistic skills through practical sessions and workshops. Understanding the botany and the naming of plants is included in the programme, with time given to the preparation of artworks for the Archive during designated painting days. A lecture programme, including nationally recognized speakers, is open to non-members.

Many members have been awarded Royal Horticultural Society medals and some have received recognition for their work worldwide. A number of members have been able to pass on their skills through teaching.

Abutilon megapotamicum Barbara Munro. Watercolour and graphite pencil. Accepted to the Archive 2009

Affiliation, in the form of friendship and mutual support, was set up with the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society in May 2001. A similar association was established with Brooklyn Botanic Garden Florilegium Society in 2003, followed in 2009 by societies at Hampton Court Palace and the Filoli Gardens, California. Affiliation was agreed with societies at the Eden Project and the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney in 2010. The Society is proud and delighted to be part of a family of similar organizations around the world, whose common aim is to illustrate the plants growing in interesting and important gardens.

The Sheffield Botanical Gardens Trust and the Friends of the Botanical Gardens, Sheffield (FOBS) have supported the Society from the beginning. FOBS members assist by leading tours of the Gardens and help with the selection of cuttings for members to draw.

The botanical journey, learning about the plants and illustrating them for the people of Sheffield and beyond to enjoy, has been an absolute delight for all the members. Whether experienced artists or those just setting out, sharing knowledge and skills has been an important part of the Society’s aims and commitment.

Valerie Oxley (Founding Chairman)and Jill Holcombe (Founding Secretary)

The Florilegium Society’s Herbarium

A herbarium is a collection of preserved plant material. Each specimen is a historical document originating from a particular time and place; the majority of specimens in university and the larger national herbaria are from plants found in the wild around the world. Many herbaria specimens are used for identification purposes and collections are being digitized to widen access. The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and Edinburgh and the Natural History Museum, London house important herbaria. The universities of Oxford and Cambridge have significant collections, as well as the Royal Horticultural Society at Wisley.

The Florilegium Society’s Committee decided to pursue the idea of developing a herbarium to complement the Society’s Archive of drawings of cultivated plants at Sheffield Botanical Gardens. It was thought a herbarium would provide additional information about the planting and become an historical record for the future.

In 2006 members of The Florilegium Society’s Committee visited the Oxford University Herbaria to discover if something similar could be undertaken in Sheffield. The Herbarium Manager, Serena Marner, demonstrated different methods of preserving plant material and discussed how storage of specimens could be achieved. Serena offered to visit the Society and tutor a practical workshop for members based on the preparation of material for preservation. The proposed visit became a reality in 2007 when members were introduced to the art of preserving plant material, which involved a session stitching a pressed plant onto a sheet of thin card, using special thread and knots. This gave everyone the encouragement they needed to start planning for a herbarium to support the Archive of drawings.

In 2009 the Florilegium Society welcomed a new member, Julie Mason, who had recently completed the Society of Botanical Artists’ Distance Learning Programme. Julie showed particular interest in the proposal to compile a herbarium and discussions commenced in earnest to move the project forward.

Serena Marner returned to Sheffield in 2013 to give a second workshop on preparing plant specimens, including advice on where to locate herbarium equipment. Two members, botanist Barbara Munro helped by Janice Scott, organized the purchase of materials and equipment required. This was a huge step forward; a commitment had been made. Julie started work with enthusiasm.

The majority of specimens in the Society’s Herbarium are dried and pressed. Large fruits and seeds unsuitable for pressing are placed in plastic storage boxes when dried. Each plant specimen is labelled before it is placed in a press so that it is easily identified when it is removed. Once dried the plant material is stitched onto white acid-free, archival-quality herbarium sheets with white linen thread. Neutral pH adhesive is used to help attach fine petals and leaves which might otherwise become detached when handled. Papers used for drying at the pressing stage, such as blotting paper or newspaper, are changed regularly to avoid mould developing. The dried specimens are placed in a freezer for three days to ensure there are no insect infestations; this is a process which can be repeated at any time should there be concerns about pests. All the herbarium sheets are labelled with the name of the plant, the name of the collector, the date it was collected and its location in the Gardens. Important features and growth habits are also recorded on the label. The sheets are placed in folders and stored in ‘Kew-style’ herbarium boxes kept in an airtight cupboard.

Adiantum capillus-veneris Julie Mason. Graphite pencil and watercolour. Accepted to the Archive 2016

Herbarium specimen of Adiantum capillusveneris. Prepared by Julie Mason.

The Herbarium has become an important addition to the Society’s Archive of plant illustrations. In 2019 a major exhibition was held at Cusworth Hall Museum, Doncaster, where specimens from the Society’s Herbarium were shown to the public for the first time, alongside matching artwork from the Society’s print collection. Herbarium specimens are displayed in a similar way for members to see at the December meeting of the Society. This annual exhibition of botanical artwork from the Archive alongside a pressed specimen of the plant has become a highlight of The Florilegium Society’s year and much enjoyed by members and friends.