Jesse | The Pre-Raphaelite Pleasaunce

An artist & gardener influenced by the ethereal realm of the Pre-Raphaelites, Victorian craftsmanship, and the language of flowers.

[Jesse | The Pre-Raphaelite Pleasaunce @preraphgarden]

———
German greetings cards from 1850-1880. Victoria and Albert Museum

[Jesse | The Pre-Raphaelite Pleasaunce @preraphgarden]

Right when I think J.J. Grandville’s illustrations from ‘The Flowers Personified’ (1846) couldn’t be anymore perfect, I find them framed in Victorian embossed paper lace in the Victoria and Albert Museum collection!

Take a closer look at these illustrations on my Substack!

[Jesse | The Pre-Raphaelite Pleasaunce @preraphgarden]

———
Anna Lea Merritt, Study for Eve, c.1885. Victorian Treasures exhibition at Leighton House © Scott Thomas Buckle collection. Image courtesy of Jaron James

Eve by Anna Lea Merritt, 1885. Christie’s

[Jesse | The Pre-Raphaelite Pleasaunce @preraphgarden]

One of my favorite pieces included in Leighton House’s Victorian Treasures from Cecil French and Scott Thomas Buckle exhibition would have to be this Anna Lea Merritt study. 𓇗

[Jesse | The Pre-Raphaelite Pleasaunce @preraphgarden]

How it feels to be in the garden.

Midsummer Eve by Edward Robert Hughes, 1908

[Jesse | The Pre-Raphaelite Pleasaunce @preraphgarden]

The Salutation of Beatrice by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1859

[Jesse | The Pre-Raphaelite Pleasaunce @preraphgarden]

@i_hamerton Thank you so much for sharing this. I’ve come back to zoom in on the details and colors countless times. Edward Burne-Jones is my favorite artist. This tapestry design is a great reminder why.

I found a neat photograph of Frances Horner working on her embroidery today.

[Jesse | The Pre-Raphaelite Pleasaunce @preraphgarden]

"Ask me why I send you here,
This firstling of the infant year;
Ask me why I send to you
This Primrose all bepearled with dew ;
I straight will whisper in your ears,
The sweets of love are washed with tears."

𓇬 The Primrose, Thomas Carew 𓇬

[Jesse | The Pre-Raphaelite Pleasaunce @preraphgarden]

A few of my favorite things: clematis, a wild rambling rose, Martagon lilies, and beardless and bearded irises, seen through Cedric Morris’ eyes.

Can you spot the blue tit? 🪺

Benton Blue Tit by Cedric Morris, 1965. Private Collection

[The Pleasaunce @inthepleasaunce]

Iris ‘Sanskrit’ (Marky Smith, 2009)

[The Pleasaunce @inthepleasaunce]

Iris ‘His Royal Highness’ (Monty Byers, 1988), the latest to bloom. 👑

By accident, I’ve formed a small collection of Byers’ irises, which I seem naturally to gravitate toward at society sales, beginning with his ethereal ‘Thornbird’ in 2022.

[Jesse | The Pre-Raphaelite Pleasaunce @preraphgarden]

I’ve added over 100 historic and rare bearded irises to my collection this year. Many more introductions to come!

[The Pleasaunce @inthepleasaunce]

Iris ‘Plumeri’, introduced in 1830 by London hybridizer Thomas S. Ware. I had to bring these blooms indoors to capture the “coppery rose” over “velvety claret” as described by renown irisarian Bertrand Farr (1848-1924).

[Prof. Ian Hamerton @i_hamerton]

@preraphgarden We visited Mells yesterday after lunch. The Burne-Jones tapestry design, executed by Frances Horner is just breathtaking. Just look at the treatment of the feathered wings - sublime.

[Jesse | The Pre-Raphaelite Pleasaunce @preraphgarden]

The Primrose by James Scott Stewart, 19th-century. Christie’s

Primroses, a bird's nest and butterflies on a forest floor by English School, 19th-century. Bonhams

[Jesse | The Pre-Raphaelite Pleasaunce @preraphgarden]

Today’s Pre-Raphaelite visions lead us through the bluebell wood and to the garden gate, where we find maidens in springtime scenes awash in bluebird blue and russet-tulip accents.

[Jesse | The Pre-Raphaelite Pleasaunce @preraphgarden]

Today's Pre-Raphaelite pairing on Substack highlights Walter Crane’s depiction of lions entwined with climbing roses. Click the link in my bio for a closer look 𓇗
———
Cover design for Spenser's Faerie Queene, 1895-1897

Lion and Dove by Walter Crane, 1900. V&A Museum

[Jesse | The Pre-Raphaelite Pleasaunce @preraphgarden]

I found a lovely visual parallel between Georg Flegel’s 17th-century still life with the botanical pairing of a bearded iris and anemones featured in Marie Spartali Stillman’s Renaissance-style painting, A Florentine Lily.
More research discussed in my recent Substack note!

[Jesse | The Pre-Raphaelite Pleasaunce @preraphgarden]

Link in bio if you would like to read my post on Rossetti's Water Willow. Unfortunately, X downgrades posts with links.

[Jesse | The Pre-Raphaelite Pleasaunce @preraphgarden]

Jane and her youngest daughter, May Morris, both sat for Rossetti, holding a single pansy, a symbol of love and remembrance. You may recognize the similarities between Jane’s chalk study and the final painting, where she instead caresses a willow bough.

[Jesse | The Pre-Raphaelite Pleasaunce @preraphgarden]

Interestingly, while the Water Willow was Jane’s favorite painting, it disturbed May Morris as a child.