Botanical Expressions
https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18339929/
- Designed by William Morris
- Manufactured by Morris & Co.
- cotton
- Gift of Edith Parsons Morgan
At the turn of the 20th century, the intersection of botanical study with design practice stimulated an array of plant forms and motifs in furnishings, glassware, ceramics, textiles, and more. Botanical Expressions reveals how designers, inspired by nature and informed by scientific knowledge, created vibrant new designs in America, Britain, France, and the Netherlands. Blossoming vases, plantlike stuctures, fanciful garden illustrations, and a diversity of vegetal and floral patterns reveal how nature and design dynamically merged. An increasing number of designers, trained as botanists, advocated for the beauty and order of nature’s systems, colors, and patterns. Many manufacturers operated in proximity to gardens for natural study and stocked books of botanical illustrations as resources for their designers. These primary sources, on loan from Smithsonian Libraries, appear alongside the objects they influenced. Since the 19th century, the garden was often seen as a refuge from industry and a natural source of plenty and pleasure. This history of botanical expressions in design illuminates a reflection on the critical role of nature within our world.
May Morris learned to embroider from her mother and aunt before enrolling at the National Art Training School in London in 1881. Her studies included life drawing with and botanical sketches in the wild, a design practice she continued throughout her life. Such careful observations helped her to capture what she describes as “the garden tangle” of honeysuckle in this design.
Morris believed that a garden should be both "orderly and rich." This duality governed the Pimpernel pattern as vines of large limp poppies interlocked over a blanket of leaves and delicate pimpernel blossoms. Morris has tamed these dense naturalistic elements into a near symmetrical arrangement. The designer used this wallcovering to decorate his own dining room at his London home of Kelmscott House.
Although May Morris’s wallpapers were generally well received, she dedicated her efforts entirely to embroidery after completing this last wallpaper design. The name Arcadia refers to an imagined pastoral ideal in which humans live in harmony with nature, seen here through the balanced composition of hawthorn leaves overlain with flowers.
Gallé’s experiments with color mixing for his glass batches involved a process of scientific exploration. The designer’s colors and textures sought to emulate the qualities of precious and hard stones, among other natural effects. At its height, Gallé’s glass workshop employed 300 workers whose skills made the sophistication of the designs possible
Walter Crane looked to nature as a model to explain how appearance and structure can form an organic and inseparable unit. Here, peacocks, tulips, and acanthus leaves combine in lively arabesques, identified in 1890 by one journalist as resembling “Japanese motives” as well as displaying the “vigor” of gothic design.
The Morris & Co. workshop looked to nature for inspiration in patterns, colors, and material aspects of textile production. William Morris pursued the use of plant matter to make dyes more visually harmonious and less toxic than the aniline dyes common to the market in the latter half of the 19th century. Color would have been a selling point for these two textile samples that survived with their original inventory labels.
A leading producer of artistic wallpapers, Jeffrey & Company commissioned designs from Walter Crane. In 1872, the company introduced the horizontal division of the wall into three sections: a frieze (such as this design) at the top, a filling below, and a dado that ran from skirting level almost to the floor. This block-printed example, created by Albert Warner, son of the company’s founder, shows stylized rose bushes overlapping an inverted heart.
A leading producer of artistic wallpapers, Jeffrey & Company commissioned designs from Walter Crane. In 1872, the company introduced the horizontal division of the wall into three sections: a frieze (such as this design) at the top, a filling below, and a dado that ran from skirting level almost to the floor. This block-printed frieze, featuring large stylized trees with a band of clouds above and bluebells below, received praise in articles on home decoration.
The form of this Favrile glass vase suggests a flower with flared bloom and narrow stem. Tiffany coined the word “favrile” from the Latin fabrilis (relating to a craftsman), to imply handwork for his mold-made glass. His experiments with minerals resulted in an iridescence suggesting the surface of excavated ancient Roman glass.
The Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory, established in London in 1745, was a short walk from the Chelsea Physic Garden, where the firm’s painters had access to an abundance of plants for in-person study. This book Figures of the Most Beautiful… contains drawings of more than 300 specimens of plants from the Chelsea Physic Garden, which were referenced for the decoration on these ten plates. While fashionable in subject matter and style, flowers, insects, and leaves also played a practical role to disguise flaws and imperfections in the plates’ delicate porcelain and glaze
The Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory, established in London in 1745, was a short walk from the Chelsea Physic Garden, where the firm’s painters had access to an abundance of plants for in-person study. This book Figures of the Most Beautiful… contains drawings of more than 300 specimens of plants from the Chelsea Physic Garden, which were referenced for the decoration on these ten plates. While fashionable in subject matter and style, flowers, insects, and leaves also played a practical role to disguise flaws and imperfections in the plates’ delicate porcelain and glaze
The Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory, established in London in 1745, was a short walk from the Chelsea Physic Garden, where the firm’s painters had access to an abundance of plants for in-person study. This book Figures of the Most Beautiful… contains drawings of more than 300 specimens of plants from the Chelsea Physic Garden, which were referenced for the decoration on these ten plates. While fashionable in subject matter and style, flowers, insects, and leaves also played a practical role to disguise flaws and imperfections in the plates’ delicate porcelain and glaze
The Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory, established in London in 1745, was a short walk from the Chelsea Physic Garden, where the firm’s painters had access to an abundance of plants for in-person study. This book Figures of the Most Beautiful… contains drawings of more than 300 specimens of plants from the Chelsea Physic Garden, which were referenced for the decoration on these ten plates. While fashionable in subject matter and style, flowers, insects, and leaves also played a practical role to disguise flaws and imperfections in the plates’ delicate porcelain and glaze
The Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory, established in London in 1745, was a short walk from the Chelsea Physic Garden, where the firm’s painters had access to an abundance of plants for in-person study. This book Figures of the Most Beautiful… contains drawings of more than 300 specimens of plants from the Chelsea Physic Garden, which were referenced for the decoration on these ten plates. While fashionable in subject matter and style, flowers, insects, and leaves also played a practical role to disguise flaws and imperfections in the plates’ delicate porcelain and glaze
The Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory, established in London in 1745, was a short walk from the Chelsea Physic Garden, where the firm’s painters had access to an abundance of plants for in-person study. This book Figures of the Most Beautiful… contains drawings of more than 300 specimens of plants from the Chelsea Physic Garden, which were referenced for the decoration on these ten plates. While fashionable in subject matter and style, flowers, insects, and leaves also played a practical role to disguise flaws and imperfections in the plates’ delicate porcelain and glaze
The Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory, established in London in 1745, was a short walk from the Chelsea Physic Garden, where the firm’s painters had access to an abundance of plants for in-person study. This book Figures of the Most Beautiful… contains drawings of more than 300 specimens of plants from the Chelsea Physic Garden, which were referenced for the decoration on these ten plates. While fashionable in subject matter and style, flowers, insects, and leaves also played a practical role to disguise flaws and imperfections in the plates’ delicate porcelain and glaze
The Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory, established in London in 1745, was a short walk from the Chelsea Physic Garden, where the firm’s painters had access to an abundance of plants for in-person study. This book Figures of the Most Beautiful… contains drawings of more than 300 specimens of plants from the Chelsea Physic Garden, which were referenced for the decoration on these ten plates. While fashionable in subject matter and style, flowers, insects, and leaves also played a practical role to disguise flaws and imperfections in the plates’ delicate porcelain and glaze
The Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory, established in London in 1745, was a short walk from the Chelsea Physic Garden, where the firm’s painters had access to an abundance of plants for in-person study. This book Figures of the Most Beautiful… contains drawings of more than 300 specimens of plants from the Chelsea Physic Garden, which were referenced for the decoration on these ten plates. While fashionable in subject matter and style, flowers, insects, and leaves also played a practical role to disguise flaws and imperfections in the plates’ delicate porcelain and glaze
The Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory, established in London in 1745, was a short walk from the Chelsea Physic Garden, where the firm’s painters had access to an abundance of plants for in-person study. This book Figures of the Most Beautiful… contains drawings of more than 300 specimens of plants from the Chelsea Physic Garden, which were referenced for the decoration on these ten plates. While fashionable in subject matter and style, flowers, insects, and leaves also played a practical role to disguise flaws and imperfections in the plates’ delicate porcelain and glaze
The Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory, established in London in 1745, was a short walk from the Chelsea Physic Garden, where the firm’s painters had access to an abundance of plants for in-person study. This book Figures of the Most Beautiful… contains drawings of more than 300 specimens of plants from the Chelsea Physic Garden, which were referenced for the decoration on these ten plates. While fashionable in subject matter and style, flowers, insects, and leaves also played a practical role to disguise flaws and imperfections in the plates’ delicate porcelain and glaze
At a time when it was fashionable to plant rare, exotic species, Morris believed that native and naturalized British plants, trees, and flowers, such as roses and tulips, were enough to create a beautiful composition. Both his garden and textile designs drew inspiration from medieval and Tudor-style patterning and motifs. In Tulip and Rose, the flowers’ pattern of growth appears as organic strapwork.
Tiffany and his staff sometimes used photographic studies in the design process to render the movement of plants and flowers realistically. Here the trailing movement of the vine has been studied carefully as it falls across the glass.
Tiffany invented the term “favrile,” from the Latin fabrilis (handmade) to describe all of the blown glass produced by his firm. Nature was Tiffany’s primary inspiration, as shown beautifully in these three floraform vases. The designer cultivated a variety of flowers and plants in his gardens at Laurelton Hall and used them for study and inspiration.
In addition to his work in glass and ceramics, Louis C. Tiffany was a landscape designer and gardener who studied plant life extensively in all its seasonal variety and stages of evolution. Tiffany was outspoken on the richness of nature as a design resource. His philosophy was, “Nature is always right—that is a saying we often hear from the past; and here is another: Nature is always beautiful.” Tiffany owned botanical design texts such as Owen Jones’s Grammar of Ornament and Eugene Grasset’s La Plante et ses Applications Ornementales (both of which are on view nearby) that guided him in his design philosophy.
At his Corona, New York factory, Tiffany encouraged continuous experimentation in glass color and surface effects. On the top shelf is an example of agateware [1979-84-1] in which a colorful mix of opaque glass simulates the laminated pattern and ridged texture of stone. A wide-mouthed vessel [1966-55-29] shows flame-like decoration and a goblet and vase [1966-55-9-a and 1977-83-1] are covered with plant-like patterning.
The rustic furniture trade grew in the Catskill mountains because of access to an abundance of suitable natural materials. The work required only basic tools—saws, clippers, penknives, hammers, and measures. The dramatically curved profile of this chair shows the sophistication and skill of its maker while revealing the natural qualities of the wood.
In 1891, Daum Frères, a prominent glassworks in Nancy, France, operated by brothers Auguste and Antonin Daum, opened a decoration studio to augment their fine glassware. Daum’s chief decorator of 30 years, artist Henri Bergé (French, 1870-1937), made hundreds of watercolor studies from plants in Nancy’s botanical gardens for use by designers at the factory as well as in his teaching. In 1897, a formal drawing school was established at the factory with courses taught by Bergé and fellow designer Jacques Gruber
Charles Francis Annesley Voysey’s wallpaper and textile designs were known references for painters working at the Rozenburg Pottery and Porcelain Factory in the Netherlands, whose designs can be seen in the case nearby. Voysey adapted nature into flat designs that appealed to biological and botanical interests of the era. Here, tulips and acanthus leaves are interlaced in a dynamic composition.
In her book Decorative Needlework, May Morris recommended several key qualities to distill from nature into embroidery designs. These included contrast, varied repetition, symmetry, and radial balance, all displayed in this cushion design. She writes, “When the design that is being worked is, as is usual, some treatment of flowers and other natural growths, the stitches also radiate outward from a common centre.” Utilizing Morris’s preferred chain stitch throughout, the floral shapes are flattened appropriately to suit their medium
Tiffany invented the term “favrile,” from the Latin fabrilis (handmade) to describe all of the blown glass produced by his firm. Nature was Tiffany’s primary inspiration, as shown beautifully in these three floraform vases. The designer cultivated a variety of flowers and plants in his gardens at Laurelton Hall and used them for study and inspiration.
Morris believed that a garden should be both “orderly and rich.” This duality governed the Marigold pattern as leafy vine-like stems of floppy marigolds interlock and climb over a blanket of leaves and blossoms. Morris tamed these dense naturalistic elements into an orderly arrangement. The pattern used a dotted background, a decorative effect also employed by his daughter May in her wallpaper designs, to add a density to the imagery.
Like many Arts & Crafts practitioners, William Morris’s daughter May Morris believed that good design must be inspired by nature but not be absolutely imitative of it. Horn Poppy, with its stylized curling flowers and foliage, was one of three wallpapers designed by May before she dedicated her efforts entirely to embroidery production. The pattern used a dotted background, a decorative effect also employed by her father in his wallpaper designs.
In 1889, designer Paulding Farnham’s enameled and bejeweled orchids for Tiffany & Co. created a sensation at the Paris Exposition Universelle. The choice of orchids coincided with these flowers being sought for the gardens of the wealthy, who were also the jewelry firm’s patrons. Designers consulted botanical texts at the studio and made watercolor sketches to devise life-like enameling schemes. The book Orchids and How to Grow Them in India and Other Tropical Climates, found in the studio’s library, likely served as a reference for the design of this jewelry
In 1889, designer Paulding Farnham’s enameled and bejeweled orchids for Tiffany & Co. created a sensation at the Paris Exposition Universelle. The choice of orchids coincided with these flowers being sought for the gardens of the wealthy, who were also the jewelry firm’s patrons. Designers consulted botanical texts at the studio and made watercolor sketches to devise life-like enameling schemes. The book Orchids and How to Grow Them in India and Other Tropical Climates, found in the studio’s library, likely served as a reference for the design of this jewelry
In 1889, designer Paulding Farnham’s enameled and bejeweled orchids for Tiffany & Co. created a sensation at the Paris Exposition Universelle. The choice of orchids coincided with these flowers being sought for the gardens of the wealthy, who were also the jewelry firm’s patrons. Designers consulted botanical texts at the studio and made watercolor sketches to devise life-like enameling schemes. The book Orchids and How to Grow Them in India and Other Tropical Climates, found in the studio’s library, likely served as a reference for the design of this jewelry
This side chair and the folding desk nearby are examples of French art nouveau furniture sold to American shoppers at Chicago’s department store Marshall Field & Co. Gallé opened a small woodworking shop in 1884–85 where these pieces were created. The designer was attracted to the variety, figure, grain, color, and transparency of different woods, whose diversity he featured in his marquetry work
Morris held a fondness for birds, to the dismay of his gardener. Attempts at growing strawberries and blackberries were hindered by Morris’s declaration that the birds must be protected over the fruit. This pattern depicts Morris’s own view of the garden at Red House, where he watched birds dart through the rose trellises. Philip Webb, Morris’s collaborator on the design for the garden at Red House, drew the birds in this piece.
In the medieval era, a period that Crane studied and evoked in his work, the senses were perceived as windows to the soul. Crane’s lyrical illustrations aimed to bring alive the senses and emulated archaic styles to do so. The allegorical figure of smell, seen here sniffing a bouquet of flowers, was an often-repeated motif in his work
For much of his career as an industrial designer, Christopher Dresser believed that symmetry was the perfect expression of natural order. Visits to Japan led to a new appreciation of asymmetry. Below this copper kettle, intertwined vine-like forms curl around the stand. This spontaneous line breaks from the rigidity of Dresser’s earlier style, as seen in the toast rack nearby.
Artist Richard Redgrave was the headmaster of the Government School of Design in London where he trained designers for industry and taught “art botany” to Christopher Dresser. Redgrave designed this carafe for Felix Summerly’s Art Manufactures, a company run by Henry Cole, who would work with Paxton on the Great Exhibition a few years later. The decoration follows the principles of design reform and thus reflects the functionality of the object—the painted plants seem to emerge from a spring when the carafe is filled with water.
The decoration on Rozenburg porcelain was designed by a few master painters including Samuel Schellink, who is responsible for most objects in this case. His designs were applied in pencil and then other painters would complete the decoration. In 1900, there were 60 painters and 10 apprentices working at Rozenburg.
The decoration on Rozenburg porcelain was designed by a few master painters including Samuel Schellink, who is responsible for most objects in this case. His designs were applied in pencil and then other painters would complete the decoration. In 1900, there were 60 painters and 10 apprentices working at Rozenburg
Like many of the Pre-Raphaelites he admired, Walter Crane favored mythological subjects. Flora, the goddess of flowers, whose retinue is featured here, had been depicted in botanical and horticultural books since the 16th century. By the 19th century, a personified Flora no longer appeared in scientific texts, yet the goddess and her myths continued as favorite subjects for Victorian artists and designers.
Like many of the pre-Raphaelites he admired, Walter Crane favored mythological subjects. Flora, the goddess of flowers, whose retinue is featured here, had been depicted in botanical and horticultural books since the 16th century. By the 19th century, a personified Flora no longer appeared in scientific texts, yet the goddess and her myths continued as favorite subjects for Victorian artists and designers.
Like many of the Pre-Raphaelites he admired, Walter Crane favored mythological subjects. Flora, the goddess of flowers, whose retinue is featured here, had been depicted in botanical and horticultural books since the 16th century. By the 19th century, a personified Flora no longer appeared in scientific texts, yet the goddess and her myths continued as favorite subjects for Victorian artists and designers.
In 1891, Daum Frères, a prominent glassworks in Nancy, France, operated by brothers Auguste and Antonin Daum, opened a decoration studio to augment their fine glassware. Daum’s chief decorator of 30 years, artist Henri Bergé (French, 1870-1937), made hundreds of watercolor studies from plants in Nancy’s botanical gardens for use by designers at the factory as well as in his teaching. In 1897, a formal drawing school was established at the factory with courses taught by Bergé and fellow designer Jacques Gruber.
Gallé’s experiments with color mixing for his glass batches involved a process of scientific exploration. The designer’s colors and textures sought to emulate the qualities of precious and hard stones, among other natural effects. At its height, Gallé’s glass workshop employed 300 workers whose skills made the sophistication of the designs possible
During the 1880s and 1890s, Gallé developed original techniques for creating and decorating glass vessels, including marqueterie-sur-verre, a technique inspired by inlaid decoration, or marquetry, in wood. Gallé pressed shaped pieces of hot glass into the pliable body of an object as it was being made; once the flat surface had cooled, it could be engraved, carved, or embellished with additional applications of glass. This range of techniques allowed Gallé to translate biological life into design and show a variety of flora and fauna in detail as they transformed throughout the seasons.
During the 1880s and 1890s, Gallé developed original techniques for creating and decorating glass vessels, including marqueterie-sur-verre, a technique inspired by inlaid decoration, or marquetry, in wood. Gallé pressed shaped pieces of hot glass into the pliable body of an object as it was being made; once the flat surface had cooled, it could be engraved, carved, or embellished with additional applications of glass. This range of techniques allowed Gallé to translate biological life into design and show a variety of flora and fauna in detail as they transformed throughout the seasons.
Daum produced layered glass similar to that of Emile Gallé’s, and gradually perfected several original and difficult techniques, such as using colored glass powder, wheel cutting, martelage (producing a hammered texture), mold-blowing, and acid etching. These techniques resulted in stunning decorative effects when combined on a single piece of glass.
Charles Francis Annesley Voysey’s wallpaper and textile designs were known references for painters working at the Rozenburg Pottery and Porcelain Factory in the Netherlands, whose designs can be seen in the case nearby. Voysey adapted nature into flat designs that appealed to biological and botanical interests of the era. Here, tulips and acanthus leaves are interlaced in a dynamic composition
When writing to his wife in 1910 about his ideal family home in Bohemia, Alphonse Maria Mucha made his desires for living near nature clear: “You know my conditions . . . woods nearby, the town nearby, a garden as big as possible—so that I can build a studio there.” Mucha prioritized access to natural resources in order to attain a good quality of life and work. His textile designs celebrate the spontaneous freeform curves of flowers and plants.
When writing to his wife in 1910 about his ideal family home in Bohemia, Alphonse Maria Mucha made his desires for living near nature clear: “You know my conditions . . . woods nearby, the town nearby, a garden as big as possible—so that I can build a studio there.” Mucha prioritized access to natural resources in order to attain a good quality of life and work. His textile designs celebrate the spontaneous freeform curves of flowers and plants.
Harry Powell’s designs from the 1880s and 1890s are characterized by wavy rims and subtle tints resulting from careful color experiments. Here botanical elements both decorate the piece and determine the shape of the final design.
Harry Powell’s designs from the 1880s and 1890s are characterized by wavy rims and subtle tints resulting from careful color experiments. Here botanical elements both decorate the piece and determine the shape of the final design
Dresser’s only works in glass were manufactured by Glasgow-based company James Couper and Sons and sold under the trade name Clutha, meaning “cloudy” in Gaelic. This line of art glass shows great experimentation with form and colors in earth tones. Dresser approached glass blowing as a science and achieved multicolor, or “solifleur” effects by adding colored particles into the glass while it was hot.
In addition to his work in glass and ceramics, Louis C. Tiffany was a landscape designer and gardener who studied plant life extensively in all its seasonal variety and stages of evolution. Tiffany was outspoken on the richness of nature as a design resource. His philosophy was, “Nature is always right—that is a saying we often hear from the past; and here is another: Nature is always beautiful.” Tiffany owned botanical design texts such as Owen Jones’s Grammar of Ornament and Eugene Grasset’s La Plante et ses Applications Ornementales (both of which are on view nearby) that guided him in his design philosophy.
Dresser believed in an underlying order, unity, and symmetry derived from nature, and the stems and rivets of this toast rack are remarkably similar to his studies on branch growth, as seen in the facsimile drawing nearby. This is one of many silver and electroplated wares Dresser designed for Birmingham silversmiths Hukin & Heath. Dresser’s functional objects reveal not only his scientific background, but also his concern with limiting ornamentation to make objects affordable and suitable for serial production
The Furniture Journal of October 10, 1904 reported that, with respect to his work in wood, Gallé believed in copying trees, leaves, and flowers in detail. The article states, “In the course of a morning walk he may be struck by the branch of a tree, or a chance grace in a blossom. The design follows at once, and in the woods which appear in some of the decorative panels by this great French master.” Gallé featured the visual qualities of many different woods through his work with inlay
When writing to his wife in 1910 about his ideal family home in Bohemia, Alphonse Maria Mucha made his desires for living near nature clear: “You know my conditions . . . woods nearby, the town nearby, a garden as big as possible—so that I can build a studio there.” Mucha prioritized access to natural resources in order to attain a good quality of life and work. His textile designs celebrate the spontaneous freeform curves of flowers and plants.
Daum produced layered glass similar to that of Emile Gallé’s, and gradually perfected several original and difficult techniques, such as using colored glass powder, wheel cutting, martelage (producing a hammered texture), mold-blowing, and acid etching. These techniques resulted in stunning decorative effects when combined on a single piece of glass
This folding desk and the side chair nearby are examples of French art nouveau furniture sold to American shoppers at Chicago’s department store Marshall Field & Co. Gallé opened a small woodworking shop in 1884–85 where these pieces were created. The desk showcases Gallé’s inlay work and passion for nature, while also highlighting the piece’s utility, shown by two small folddown shelves to support inkwell and pens.
Written toward the end of Morris’s life, The Wood Beyond the World is a fantasy novel closely informed by medieval romances. The historical English identities and characters that Morris sought to revive were connected closely to the woods and, in particular, to oak trees. Here, oak leaves form a border around both the text and Edward Burne-Jones’s figure of a young woman bedecked in floral garlands
Furniture made from abundant local hickory has been a strong Amish tradition in Indiana since the 19th century. This graceful form was achieved by bending and nailing long, straight, fresh branches around a frame. Through the use of local materials, the rustic style of this chair links it to the landscape, lessening the boundary between indoors and outdoors.
In 1871, Morris acquired a joint tenancy lease at Kelmscott Manor, the family’s country home in southern England. He found ideas for his designs while exploring the surrounding countryside. Willow trees filled Morris’s walks and were a frequent subject of his wallpapers and textiles.
In 1871, Morris acquired a joint tenancy lease at Kelmscott Manor, the family’s country home in southern England. He found ideas for his designs while exploring the surrounding countryside. Willow trees filled Morris’s walks and were a frequent subject of his wallpapers and textiles.
In 1871, Morris acquired a joint tenancy lease at Kelmscott Manor, the family’s country home in southern England. He found ideas for his designs while exploring the surrounding countryside. Willow trees filled Morris’s walks and were a frequent subject of his wallpapers and textiles.
In 1871, Morris acquired a joint tenancy lease at Kelmscott Manor, the family’s country home in southern England. He found ideas for his designs while exploring the surrounding countryside. Willow trees filled Morris’s walks and were a frequent subject of his wallpapers and textiles.
Tiffany produced objects that married decorative appeal and utility, such as this desk set individually created in small batches from sheets of etched metal and pre-cut favrile glass. The Grapevine pattern became one of Tiffany’s most recognizable motifs; the trellis, fruit, and curling vines have a flattened aesthetic reminiscent of Japanese stencil designs.
This commemorative handkerchief for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876 features the Horticultural Hall, designed as a tribute to Joseph Paxton’s building for the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. Popular exhibits at The Horticultural Hall included ornamental trees, shrubs, flowers, hot houses, conservancies, garden tools, and garden design, construction, and maintenance. The orange and lemon trees bearing fruit attracted particular interest.
Encyclopedias and periodicals were important sources of botanical research for an increasing number of scientists and enthusiasts. Paxton’s Magazine of Botany, the third title Paxton developed, ran from 1834 to 1849. With detailed articles and lavish color illustrations, the magazine shared the newest developments in botany for amateur and professional gardeners alike.
The composition of this napkin celebrates the natural resource of water, giving life to the grass and trees through their roots and to the fish swimming around this textile’s border. The Tree of Life was a common motif in the visual language of art nouveau, popular for its symbolism of strength, rebirth, and beauty. This textile depicts nature as an active and connected ecosystem, with trees and plants central to the story.
The Encyclopédie Artistique et Documentaire de la Plante was one of the most ambitious publications produced in the late 19th century to provide designers with studies of plants. Relying on the talents of a dozen contributors, it provided a comprehensive overview of 100 species of plants through photographs, artistic sketches, and botanical drawings. Its plates were intended to highlight both the formal properties of each plant and the principles controlling its growth and structure.
Christopher Dresser’s first published works were drawings, such as this one with leaves and vines, that he contributed to The Grammar of Ornament. The presence of botanical plates in his teacher Owen Jones’s guide to design reinforced the author’s belief that nature in its beauty and underlying order provided the best source of design inspiration.
Edited by French designer and educator Eugène Grasset, this book features patterns conceived by his design students. Aimed at furniture makers and manufacturers of decorative objects, it promotes the use of stylized natural imagery in design as an alternative to copying historical patterns. Grasset links the proposed designs directly back to nature with the inclusion of botanical studies, a feature of many French pattern books from the period. Here the botanical study at left is an inspiration for the design drawing at right
In addition to his work as a glass artist, Louis C. Tiffany was also an architect, who designed both landscapes and interiors. In 1902, Tiffany began construction of a large house and country estate called Laurelton Hall near Oyster Bay, Long Island, which features prominently in the pages of this biography. The Laurelton Hall complex was a complete aesthetic environment that encouraged a close relationship with nature, both outside, with loggias giving view to 60 acres of carefully planned gardens, and inside, with hanging potted plants and fountains throughout the rooms
A. W. N. Pugin was a key figure of British design reform and a vocal admirer of the medieval gothic style. Floriated Ornament, a collection of original designs for stenciling, was intended to demonstrate the beauty achievable through the gothic approach of stylizing botanical forms based on direct observation. The Government School of Design, where Dresser was a student, advanced the teachings of Pugin’s Floriated Ornament.
The Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory, established in London in 1745, was a short walk from the Chelsea Physic Garden, where the firm’s painters had access to an abundance of plants for in-person study. This book Figures of the Most Beautiful… contains drawings of more than 300 specimens of plants from the Chelsea Physic Garden, which were referenced for the decoration on these ten plates. While fashionable in subject matter and style, flowers, insects, and leaves also played a practical role to disguise flaws and imperfections in the plates’ delicate porcelain and glaze
Studies in Design aimed to “help the decorator” and the “manufacturer of decorated objects” judge the “merit of ornament around them.” Dresser promoted the practice of drawing to understand the symbolism of ornament and its visual impact. The text encourages students to undertake in-person study of flowers, including the lotus, a form that Dresser advises could “give knowledge of historic ornament.” Dresser also pointed students toward the water-tanks at Kew Gardens and Crystal Palace, Syndenham for observation
Maud Lawrence and Caroline Sheldon, the authors of The Use of the Plant in Decorative Design, were art teachers based in the Midwest region of the United States. Their book was written for grade school and high school students, providing exercises in creating patterns from nature studies with simple stencils.
One of Crane’s most well-received books, Flora’s Feast tells the story of goddess Flora waking all the flowers in a garden for their blooming, to form a great ceremonial spring procession. It was the first of a series of books by Crane that featured flowers imitating human activities. The designer’s playful depiction of nature contrasted with the highly technical language of illustrations for the period’s scientific texts on botany but nurtured the same enthusiasm for the natural world
It is believed that Emile Gallé used Les Fleurs Animées to learn how to read. Along with Gallé, renowned illustrator and cartoonist J. J. Grandville was born in Nancy, but he later established himself in Paris. In these two volumes, Grandville draws fashionable French ladies as beautiful, wilting wildflowers or threatening poisonous herbs
It is believed that Emile Gallé used Les Fleurs Animées to learn how to read. Along with Gallé, renowned illustrator and cartoonist J. J. Grandville was born in Nancy, but he later established himself in Paris. In these two volumes, Grandville draws fashionable French ladies as beautiful, wilting wildflowers or threatening poisonous herbs
Crane often united natural motifs with medieval or folk imagery. Whether in his children’s books or in his graphics for the socialist movement, these pastoral, pseudo-historic scenes presented a vision of a utopian society. In A Floral Fantasy, an angel wearing a Phrygian cap—a symbol of revolution—leads the author through a garden in which humanized flowers live in an idealized, medieval society.
In the introduction of his treatise The Bases of Design, Crane characterizes design as a "living tree" with "vital veins and nerves … springing from connected and collective roots." This analogy is represented in the cover image, in which the tree of design grows from root-words including, "symbolic," "architectural," "graphic," and "collective." Crane advises readers that, "it is most important to keep in mind the real fundamental connection and essential unity of art."
Charles Francis Annesley Voysey’s wallpaper and textile designs were known references for painters working at the Rozenburg Pottery and Porcelain Factory in the Netherlands, whose designs can be seen in the case nearby. Voysey adapted nature into flat designs that appealed to biological and botanical interests of the era. Here, large golden tulips and dainty berry sprigs grow against a deep yellow-orange background.
