ART-STUDIES FROM NATURE,
As applied to Design:
_FOR THE USE OF_
ARCHITECTS, DESIGNERS, AND MANUFACTURERS.
COMPRISED IN FOUR PAPERS BY
F. E. HULME, F.L.S., F.S.A.;
J. GLAISHER, F.R.S.;
S. J. MACKIE, F.G.S., F.S.A.;
ROBERT HUNT, F.R.S.
REPRINTED FROM THE ART-JOURNAL.
_WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS ON WOOD._
LONDON:
VIRTUE & CO., 26, IVY LANE, PATERNOSTER ROW.
1872.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY VIRTUE AND CO.,
CITY ROAD.
PREFACE.
Nature may be studied in many aspects; her wealth of service and beauty
is freely open to all who seek; and while the man of science, by patient
study and assiduous toil, may learn something of her mystery, and gather
from her not unwilling hands rich treasure of knowledge for the benefit
of humanity (for without the midnight watch and the elaborate
calculation of the astronomer navigation would yet be in its infancy;
without the enthusiasm of the botanist as he toils in the tropic forest
the virtues of many a healing plant would be unknown; without the keen
perception of the geologist the miner’s task would be in vain), so the
man of art in no less degree may find in her study richest elements of
beauty, loveliest suggestions of colour, forms of infinite grace. A
delight in the study of Nature, a desire to realise something of its
grandeur, is a source of unbounded pleasure to its possessor, for to him
no walk can be a weariness, no season of the year dreary, no soil so
sterile as to be barren of interest:--
“The meanest flow’ret of the vale,
The simplest note that swells the gale,
The common sun, the air, the skies,
To him are opening Paradise.”
The lichen on the rock, the wayside grass, the many-coloured fungi, are
no less full of beauty than the forms that more ordinarily attract
attention, and are no less worthy of study. “The works of the Lord are
great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein;” and Nature
has ever to the devout mind, from its own inherent beauty and its
testimony to Him its creator and sustainer, been a study of the deepest
interest. Some who glance over these opening remarks before entering
upon the search for such material in the body of the book as may seem
available for their immediate purpose, may consider that this view of
the subject is unpractical; but we would remind such that all art,
pictorial, sculptural, decorative, or what not, is only noble and worthy
of the name so far as it affords food for thought in the spectator, and
testifies to thought in the artist, and that the nobility of the work is
in direct proportion to such evidence of inner life. Art that is
æsthetic and sensuous, though pleasing to the eye, must ever in the
nature of things hold a subordinate place to that art which is symbolic,
to those forms in which an inner meaning may be traced; and though one
work of art may perhaps necessarily contain less of this reflected
thought than another, yet this proposition we think will hold good, that
no work of art that does not in some way testify to this can be
altogether satisfactory, for while pleasing for a time to the eye, it
yet leaves the mind unsatisfied: the reverse will equally hold good, and
we may safely repeat that in proportion to the thought bestowed and
expressed by the artist will be the enjoyment and profit to be derived
by others from it. The true artist will not consider with how small
expenditure of trouble he may attain his end; he will, on the contrary,
have a heart full of sympathy with all that is beautiful. This will
become a wealth of knowledge, will prove a precious possession to
himself, and the result must be visible in his work, and stamp it with
Promethean fire. To the artist then who is worthy of the name, nothing
can be too petty for regard, nothing that the Creator has pronounced
“very good” too insignificant for notice; for in Nature beauty is
scattered with a lavish hand, and the fungus that passes through all the
stages of its existence during a summer’s night, and the snow-flake
still more transient in its duration--
“Frail, but a work divine:
Made so fairily well,
So exquisitely minute,
A miracle of design”--
have a charm of their own no less than the higher forms, while to give
but one other example from the many that present themselves, the
_Foraminifera_--animal remains met with in chalk cliffs--though only
visible with high microscopic power, have the curves of their shells as
graceful, designs as varied, markings as intricate, as perhaps any other
natural objects whatsoever. We therefore appreciate the quaint fancy,
the studied thought of the designer who in some old glass that we have
noticed at Ockham Church, in Surrey, while making some of his quarry
designs of columbine, rose, and other lovely forms, chose for one of
them a little fungus surrounded by cup moss, and springing from the
turf; frail creatures of a day, meet emblems--like the withering grass,
the fading flower--of the short estate of man, the transience of all
his glory.
In the endeavour to suggest something of these humbler types of beauty
to the artist, the designer, the architect, and the manufacturer, the
following papers have been collected from the pages of the
_Art-Journal_, the periodical in which they originally appeared, and
after careful revision by their several writers, have been published in
this detached form, in order that they may be still more commonly
accessible.
The first article is an endeavour on the part of the author to indicate
something of the profusion of beautiful form that may be met with in our
hedges and skirting our roadsides, to point out the source from whence
the mediæval artists gathered their inspiration, and to plead for its
greater use by their successors, that by a like loving appreciation we
too may create like forms of beauty.
The second essay deals with marine forms of vegetable life, and dwells
on the immense variety of form that may be met with in the sea-weeds
that surround our shores, and the applicability of many of the species
to the varied purposes of the designer. It is curious that these
wonderful forms should not have been employed more largely in the
decorative work of any people. With the exception of the singularly
waved and bossed foliage seen in the stone carving and metal-work of the
later years of the Decorated period of Gothic, and which may possibly
have been originally suggested by the _Fucus vesiculosus_, one of our
commonest shore weeds, we know of no instance of their introduction into
ornamental art. Hence here at once a wide field is open to the
designer, and this essay cannot fail to be full of valuable material.
As the first and second articles have striven to illustrate the
beautiful forms that inhabit the land and the sea respectively, so the
third article, leaving
“The deep’s untrampled floor
With green and purple sea-weeds strewn,”
and the more familiar forms of earth, deals with those delicate forms of
the air, the flakes of falling snow, and points out the immense variety
of graceful forms afforded by their crystals.
Symmetry and geometry are both so commonly met with in ornamental art,
and are also so conspicuously present in the forms of snow crystals,
that the application of those forms to design cannot fail to follow when
once their beauties are brought under the notice of the designer and
manufacturer.
Symmetry shows itself in a general beauty of proportion, and balance of
masses in a composition; or, in the more limited sense in which we now
use the word, in the likeness of one half or part to another in the unit
of design. We speak of a design being bi-symmetrical or tri-symmetrical,
or if it goes beyond this, as in snow crystals and in many other cases
where the ornament may be bounded by a circle, it is termed
multi-symmetrical. Bi-symmetrical arrangements will be found most
appropriate for the decoration of upright surfaces, as wall-papers or
curtains, which will always be seen one way, while multi-symmetrical
star-like forms are more suitable for floor-cloth or carpet patterns,
because a star-like pattern on the floor looks equally well from all
parts of the room; while a design having its halves merely alike can
only be viewed to advantage from one point. It is curious to observe
that in Nature the rule seems to be that the lower forms shall be
multi-symmetrical, made up of several similar parts, while the higher
forms of life are bi-symmetrical: thus in the first class we get snow
crystals, sea-anemones, star-fishes; and in the second, the more
advanced forms of animal life--insects, birds, quadrupeds, and man
himself. There are numerous exceptions, however, to this: thus we have
flowers multi-symmetrical, and their leaves only alike in their halves,
though undoubtedly the flower, in view of its functions in vegetable
physiology, and also from the ornamentist’s stand-point, cannot be
considered lower in the scale of creation than the leaf. The charm
produced by the mere repetition of parts may be well seen in the
kaleidoscope, where a series of irregular pieces of glass develop into
various ornamental forms, owing to their symmetrical arrangement and
radiation from one centre--an effect still more clearly and beautifully
seen in the crystals of snow, where the unit is itself of pleasing form.
The influence of geometry upon design has in almost all periods of art
been very marked--in some styles, as the Early English Gothic, and the
Italian of the thirteenth century, much more so than in others; but in
no style is it altogether ignored. Whether we study the examples of
decorative art produced in our midst, the result of modern skill; or
turn to the remains of Egyptian and Assyrian ornament, the brain-work
and handiwork of men who toiled thousands of years ago, or whether we
contrast the delicacy of much of our English work with the rude carving
or pottery of the South Sea Islander, we still cannot fail to notice
that amidst much that is very marked and distinctive in comparing one
period with another, or the handiwork of one race or nation with
another, this one great principle of the adaptation of geometry to
ornament is exhibited more or less prominently in all. Where a sense of
flatness is desirable, as in designs for floor-coverings--as mosaic,
tile-work, carpeting, &c.--the use of geometrical forms appears
especially appropriate, since the feeling of flatness is easily
obtainable, and yet, accompanying this essential feature, almost any
degree of complexity and richness of effect. These remarks upon the use
of geometry must, however, be considered to apply more especially to the
simpler kinds of design, to those intended to fill but a subordinate
place. As we rise higher, geometry, though still valuable in the setting
out and defining of leading lines and masses, gives place to higher
forms, those based on animal or vegetable life. In a fourteenth-century
diaper the part we admire is not the geometric basis of the design, but
the delicate filling in of oak or maple, buttercup or ivy, though we
unconsciously admire this the more on account of the enclosing straight
lines--lines that we should at once miss if they were removed as
superfluous.
The fourth essay of our series deals with the suggestive ornamental
forms so freely met with in organic remains. As in the previous essay we
found in the clouds above forms of beauty well adapted for our needs as
ornamentists, so in this one we delve beneath the surface of our earth,
and again have the lesson impressed upon us, that in every situation
forms of beauty abound, that the world is full of suggestive material
for the student of ornamental art, and that in what at first sight
appears a barren and profitless waste, fresh proof is given of the
universal reign of law, order, and beauty throughout the whole range of
creation. These four essays, then, should prove a welcome addition to
the ornamentist’s store of material, since (though no book-work can take
the place of actual observation) they may at least suggest to him other
forms, and cause him to turn his attention in fresh directions. With
this hope, then, we conclude, trusting that our efforts thus to
illustrate in some degree the wealth of Nature may not have been
altogether in vain.
F. E. H.
CONTENTS.
I. PAGE
THE ADAPTABILITY OF OUR NATIVE PLANTS TO THE
PURPOSES OF ORNAMENTAL ART. By F. EDWARD
HULME, F.L.S., F.S.A. 1
II.
SEA-WEEDS AS OBJECTS OF DESIGN. By S. J. MACKIE,
F.G.S., F.S.A. 91
III.
THE CRYSTALS OF SNOW AS APPLIED TO THE PURPOSES
OF DESIGN. By JAMES GLAISHER, F.R.S. 133
IV.
THE SYMMETRICAL AND ORNAMENTAL FORMS OF ORGANIC
REMAINS. By ROBERT HUNT, F.R.S. 177
I.
THE ADAPTABILITY OF OUR NATIVE PLANTS TO THE PURPOSES OF ORNAMENTAL ART.
BY EDWARD HULME, F.L.S., F.S.A.
In this series of papers it will be our desire to direct the attention
of the architect, manufacturer, and designer, to some of the beautiful
forms of nature, which, though easily accessible, seem to have scarcely
received the consideration they deserve; to give a brief account of the
habits, peculiarities, and localities of the plants as they come before
us; to cite from time to time examples, either English or foreign, of
their use in the ornament of the past; and generally to add such details
as may directly or indirectly tend to create an interest in the plant in
question. We find, on looking back at the past history and practice of
ornamental art, in the midst of many marked differences of style, one
principle very generally observed--the use in the ornament of any given
country of the plants familiar to the people. Hence, the Egyptians
exclusively used in their ornament the plants of their own land; we see
the palm branch, the papyrus, and the beautiful lily of the Nile
constantly recurring. We find the Greeks and Romans employing the
acanthus, olive, and vine; the Japanese, the light and graceful bamboo;
and in our own Gothic styles and those of the Continent--French, German,
or Spanish--we meet with more or less conventionalised representations
in the carvings, paintings, illuminations, fabrics for dress, hangings,
&c., of the familiar forms of our hedgerows, streams, and meadows, such
as the wild rose, oak, maple, iris, buttercup, and many others. It is
then with the desire to awaken our decorators to the fact, that
beautiful as the Greek _anthemion_ and other allied forms are, they by
no means represent the limit available in ornamental art, that the
following papers have been prepared, since we are persuaded that if once
the inexhaustible riches of nature were sought after by our architects,
and their beauties brought before the eyes of the people in their work,
architecture would thus be taking one long step nearer to the sympathies
and appreciation of many to whom it is now a matter of indifference. The
works of a few of our leading architects owe at least some of their
beauty to their recognition of this truth; and we would desire, while
acknowledging the services rendered to architecture by such men as
Pugin, Collings, Street, and Gilbert Scott, to add our mite to the
revival going on around us.
Botany, or the study of plants (Gr. _botane_, a plant), is capable of
many subdivisions: thus we have one department which, from its dealing
with the vital functions of the plant, we term physiology (Gr. _physis_,
nature--_logos_, science); another which, from its more especially
dealing with the organization and structure of the plant, is called
organography, or structural botany; while a third great division,
systematic botany, derives its name from its teaching how the
multifarious forms of vegetable life may yet be classified into genera,
and these again into orders and species from certain points of
resemblance in the plants thus classed together. Botany, in itself a
science in the ordinary use of the term, may, however, render valuable
service to art; and it is this phase of the subject which we more
especially propose to develop, treating only of the more exclusively
scientific points so far as we find them necessary for our present
purpose; and in this we think we are fully justified, for though numbers
of excellent works are accessible to the student who desires to study
botany as a science, but few fully recognise its importance in a
modified form to the art-student, and more especially to the designer.
To the ornamentist a knowledge of the laws of plant growth is of really
the same importance as the study of anatomy to the figure-painter or
sculptor, and the absence of this knowledge is to the initiated, in
either case, as readily detected. Many who are now content to forego
this precise knowledge are no doubt partly debarred by the
technicalities which meet them at every sentence in ordinary botanical
works. Bearing in mind, therefore, the special requirements of our
readers, we shall endeavour to avoid as far as possible the use of terms
which, though scientifically valuable, and in fact essential to correct
and true description, are not such as we may reasonably assume our
readers, without special botanical study, to be familiar with. A
knowledge of these terms is, however, very desirable, since their
conciseness renders them valuable, and more especially, also, because
many excellent works, which it will be of advantage to the student to
consult, largely employ them. We trust that in the few cases where such
terms are in the present work introduced, a clear explanation of their
force and utility will be found to accompany them; we shall also, as a
further assistance, add the source from whence the term is derived,
wherever the introduction will tend to throw additional light on the
meaning of the word.
As we cannot hope, in the limited space at our command, to supply every
requirement, give every detail, or bring forward more than a few of the
more common plants, the present work must be considered rather as a
suggestive list of the more striking plants which, from their ornamental
characteristics, will, we trust, be found of service to designers, than
an exhaustive catalogue. It is very far indeed from being a complete
list.
To render the work as practically useful as possible, we add to each
plant mentioned the names of some standard books in which reliable
drawings of the plant in question may be found; for though nature should
always, if possible, be consulted, it may not at all times be within the
power of the student to do so, owing to press of work, the season of the
year, and many other disturbing causes.
The following books are thus referred to, the illustrations in them
being of a trustworthy character. After the name of each book is the
abbreviation used in the present work when it is necessary to quote
it:--
The Flora Londinensis of Curtis. First Edition F. L.
Medical Botany. Woodville. First Edition M. B.
Medical Botany. Stephenson and Churchill. First Edition S. C.
Illustrations of Natural Orders of Plants. E. Twining T. N. O.
English Botany. Sowerby. Third Edition E. B.
Vegetable World. Figuier V. W.
School Botany. Lindley S. B.
Woodlands, Heaths, and Hedges. Coleman W. H. H.
Grammar of Ornament. Owen Jones G. O.
The first five on this list have coloured plates. To these we may be
allowed to add Plant Form (P. F.), a work prepared by the author for the
especial use of designers.
The plants described in the following pages are, to facilitate
reference, arranged in regular alphabetical sequence, according to their
English names, since most of my readers will more readily recognise a
plant by its familiar title than by its botanical appellation. Thousands
are familiar with the little daisy who would never recognise it in any
description headed _Bellis perennis_. At the same time, we in every case
give the scientific nomenclature as well, since in most works you may
desire to consult, that will be of greater prominence than the one used
colloquially. A difficulty here arises from the fact that several of our
English flowers have numerous synonyms given to them; we have, however,
chosen the name which we believe to be most commonly used, referring
also to the others in the course of our remarks on the plant.
In the introduction of vegetable growth into any ornamental composition,
we must be careful to remember that what is wanted is not so much a
direct imitation of nature, which after all can only be faulty at the
best, as a due adaptation of the natural form to the purpose of our
design--a recognition of the impossibility of a close copy of nature,
together with a feeling of its undesirableness even if it could be
accomplished. Our representations must therefore be more or less
conventional: in a flower-painting we naturally expect to see a direct
transcript of nature, while in decorative art a direct transcript
offends us.
“In the multitude of counsellors there is safety;” we will, therefore,
here quote some few passages from the works of those whom we think we
can all agree are entitled to speak with authority and to be heard with
respect. Ruskin, in speaking on this subject, says,--“All noble
ornamentation is the expression of man’s delight in God’s work;” and
again, “Ornamentation should be natural, that is to say, should in some
degree express or adopt the beauty of natural objects; it does not hence
follow that it should be an exact imitation of, or endeavour to
supersede, God’s work; it may consist only in a partial adoption of, and
compliance with, the usual forms of natural things, without at all going
to the point of imitation, and it is possible that the point of
imitation may be closely reached by ornaments which nevertheless are
entirely unfit for their place, and are the signs only of a degraded
ambition and an ignorant dexterity. Bad decorators err as easily on the
side of imitating nature as of forgetting her, and the question of the
exact degree in which imitation should be attempted under given
circumstances is one of the most subtle and difficult in the whole range
of criticism.” Wornum thus defines the difference between naturalism and
conventionalism: “A natural treatment implies natural imitation and
arrangement, but an ornamental treatment does not necessarily exclude
imitation in the parts, as, for instance, a scroll may be composed of
strictly natural parts, but as no plant would grow in an exactly spiral
direction, the scroll form constitutes the ornamental or conventional
arrangement; we may, however, have conventionalism of details as well as
conventionalism of arrangement.” Hudson says,--“There is a great
difference between the terms applied and adapted; they, in fact, express
the wrong and the right use of vegetable forms. All natural forms
require certain modifications to adapt them for other than their own
natural situations, and it is the neglect of this, and the simple
application of these forms without adapting them, which constitute a
false principle.” Dresser thus illustrates the difference: “Mere
imitation is not ornamentation, and is no more art in the higher sense
of the term than writing is itself literature. Vegetable nature treated
conventionally will not be found to be far removed from truth, but will
be merely a natural form, or a series of natural forms, neither marred
by blights nor disturbed by winds, adapted to the fulfilment of a
special purpose, and suited to a particular position--for the most
perfect examples of what is usually termed conventionalised nature are
those which express the intention of nature, if we may thus speak, or
are manifestations of natural objects as undisturbed by surrounding
influences and unmarred by casualties.” In the same way we might bring
forward passages from the works of Owen Jones, Sir Gardiner Wilkinson,
and many others, in illustration of our remarks; enough, however, has,
we trust, been brought forward to confirm the position taken up.
We will now, without further prelude, proceed to the brief
consideration of the few representative plants we have selected for our
remarks.
The AGRIMONY. This plant, the _Agrimonia Eupatoria_ of botanists, and
the Agremoine of old writers, is ordinarily met with in hedgerows and
waste places by the roadside. The flowers are bright yellow, and are
arranged in what is termed botanically a spike (Lat. _spica_, an ear of
corn; when the flowers grow in succession direct from a central stem).
The leaves are very ornamental in character, the central line giving off
large side leaflets, and the intermediate spaces being filled by smaller
ones. The edges of all the leaves are deeply serrate (Lat. _serra_, a
saw; notched like the teeth of a saw). Very suitable and suggestive for
lace or wall-papers, where a somewhat delicate form with a decidedly
upright mode of growth is desirable. Drawings of the plant may be seen
in S. B. 126; E. B. 417; F. L. vol. v. 32; and M. B. 258. The natural
plant will be found in flower during July and August.
The WHITE or WOOD ANEMONE (_Anemone nemorosa_), or, as it is often
termed in old botanical works, the Wind-flower. This older name refers
to the same fact alluded to in its generic name, _Anemone_, the
fragility and delicacy of the flowers, and their exposure to the bleak
and boisterous winds that sweep through the almost leafless woods in
early spring, or, as others believe, from an old fancy that the flowers
will not open until buffeted by the gales of March, _anemone_ being
derived from the Greek word, _anemos_, the wind. The second name,
_nemorosa_, signifies woody, and bears obvious reference to the
localities most favourable to
[Illustration: _Anemone._]
the growth of the anemone. The plant may be found in flower during the
months of March, April, and May, the blossoms being pure white, with a
bright yellow centre, and the outer surface of the sepals of a delicate
purple tinge. It abounds in moist woods throughout the country,
generally in such profusion as to cover large tracts of ground with a
snowy whiteness; and the plant being perennial, we shall, when it is
once established in any spot, find it regularly recurring as each
spring-time comes round. The manner of growth of the anemone is very
distinct and characteristic, and not being subject to any variation,
cannot well be modified in the employment of the plant in ornamental
art without destroying its individuality, as from the single stem thrown
up from the ground three equal-sized leaves, identical in form, are
produced from a point about six inches from the soil, and the stalk is
then continued for about the same distance again before bearing at its
summit its single flower; each and every plant, therefore, consists of a
central stem, a terminal flower, and about midway up the stem a group of
three leaves. This rigid law, though extremely beautiful in itself, and
admirably adapted for treatment for some ornamental purposes, may,
perhaps, somewhat restrict its use in decorative art. We are not aware
of any examples of its employment in past art. In our illustration, the
plan of the plant, the view with which we are most familiar, as we see
it in its natural position, is shown, having the single central flower,
and below it the three leaves radiating from the stem. It will be found
that this strong individuality of growth more especially adapts itself
to the trefoil, or any other form based on the figure three.[A] The
garden-anemone (_A. coronaria_) is an allied species of the same family,
modified by cultivation: in its wild state it is a native of the South
of Europe.
The ARROW-HEAD (_Sagittaria sagittifolia_), one of our most beautiful
aquatic plants, must be so well known to our readers that any lengthened
description of it will be superfluous. Its generic, specific, and
English names all alike point out its leading characteristic, the
beautiful arrow-headed shape of its leaves;--_sagitta_, Lat., an arrow.
The calyx and corolla are each composed of three parts, the petals being
a brilliant white, with a pale pink irregular blotch at their bases. The
forms of the flowers, fruit, and leaves are all equally adapted for
decorative purposes, though it does not appear to have received in the
past the attention which its merits might very fairly claim, the only
instances of its application in ornamental art with which we are
acquainted being in a running band of ornament round a tomb, fourteenth
century, in the cloisters, Burgos. The flowers are incorrectly
represented in that example as having four petals, but the general
effect is, nevertheless, very good. See E. B. 1436 and P. F. 72 for
drawings of the natural plant.
[Illustration: _Arrow-head._]
The ARUM (_Arum maculatum_) is a plant of very common occurrence
throughout England, though rarely to be found either in Scotland or
Ireland. It may be met with in shady groves and thickets, and nestled
among the long grass and other herbage upon our hedge-banks. The plant
will be found in flower during April and May; but from the mode of
growth, and also from the pale green colour of the spathe surrounding
the central organs, it is by no means conspicuous among the surrounding
foliage. The upper portion of the central body or spadix--that part of
it which is seen in our illustration--is generally of a dark crimson
colour. The plant is far more likely to attract attention in the autumn
and winter than during its season of flowering, as towards the close of
the year the leaves of the arum die away, and the hedgerows also being
stripped of the greater part of their
[Illustration: _Arum._]
foliage, we notice the brilliant scarlet berries of the present plant
rising in a dense mass to the height of some three or four inches from
the ground. If the fresh root of the plant be tasted, it excites a
burning and pricking sensation in the mouth that will remain for several
hours; and if sliced and applied to the skin, it will frequently produce
blisters. This virulence, however, like the acrimonious principle met
with in the leaves, yields to the influence of heat, and in former times
an excellent starch was prepared from the root. In the writings of the
old medical authors and poets we meet with the wild arum under a great
variety of names, many of them, through the lapse of time and from
disuse, being now meaningless to us; such, for example, as abron, janus,
barba-aron, calf’s-foot, ramp, and wake-robin. A very common name for
the plant at the present day with country children is lords-and-ladies;
and an equally familiar name, both with children and also in
descriptions of the plant in botanical works, is the cuckoo-pint: this
may possibly allude to the slight resemblance of the enclosing spathe to
a measure for liquids. Another old name for the plant is the starchwort,
in obvious allusion to its domestic use. Like most other plants, it was
held by the medical practitioners of the Middle Ages to possess very
considerable and valuable remedial qualities. A small portion of the
leaf, either dried or in the green state, was esteemed a sure remedy for
the plague or any poison. “The water wherein the root hath been boiled,
dropped into the eyes, cleanseth them from any film or mists which begin
to hinder the sight,” or under circumstances to which the writer
delicately hints, “when, by some chance, they become black and blue.”
Though the bold, simple forms of the flower and bud and the rich
arrow-headed shape of the leaves appear, in an especial manner, to fit
it for valuable service in ornamental art, it has been but very rarely
thus employed. Illustrations of the natural growth of the plant will be
found in F. L. vol. ii. 63; S. C. 22; and P. F. 41.
The AVENS (_Geum urbanum_), belonging to the same natural order,
_Rosaceæ_, as the tormentil and wood-strawberry, possesses also the same
peculiarity of flower, the petals being five in number, while the calyx
is composed of five large segments, alternating with five others of a
much smaller size. The root is very astringent in its nature, and of
sufficient value to be included in the Materia Medica. The avens may be
generally found growing in hedges and woods, flowering during June and
July, and attaining to a height of from one to two feet. The leaves are
very ornamental in character, and will, equally with the flowers, prove
of valuable service to the designer. For illustrations of the growth of
the plant refer to F. L. vol. ii. 36, and P. F. 81.
[Illustration: _Avens._]
BEDSTRAW (_Galium verum_). This is also known as cheese rennet, gallion,
and maid-hair. The word bedstraw is in allusion to the former use of the
dried plant as a cheap material in forming beds. The name cheese-rennet
is derived from a bygone employment of the plant for curdling milk: we
see this same use of the plant referred to in the generic term _Galium_,
that name being derived from the Greek word for milk. Gallion is
evidently a herbalist’s corruption of _Galium_, while the fourth name,
maid-hair, has obvious reference to the lightness and delicacy of the
plant. The minute yellow flowers grow in dense heads of blossom, while
the leaves are in whorls, that is to say, several starting from the same
level, and thus growing in a succession of rings round the stems. The
number of the leaves in a ring is very variable; from eight to twelve
is, however, the usual number. Dry banks are the ordinary habitat of the
plant. It will be found in flower throughout June, July, and August.
Its lightness and graceful mode of growth admirably fit it for the
purposes of the designer. For illustrations of the bedstraw refer to E.
B. 648, or F. L. vol. vi. 13. The old herb-doctors, ever ready to find
or make a medicinal use, speak in high commendation of the present plant
for its reputed efficacy in relieving pains from burns, inward wounds,
&c., while “a decoction of the herb is good to bathe the feet of
travellers and lacquies, whose long running causeth weariness and
stiffness in their sinews.”
[Illustration: _Bindweed._]
The BINDWEED, botanically known as the _Calystegia sepium_, is one of
our most familiar plants; large surfaces of our hedgerows (Lat. _sepe_,
a hedge) being covered by its graceful leaves and tubular flowers. It is
a curious fact that, though abundant throughout England and Ireland, it
is very local in Scotland. The so-called convolvulus major of the
garden is the _Ipomæa purpurea_, a species very widely spread over the
tropical and temperate regions of the earth. Many of the family possess
active medicinal qualities, and preparations from them are found in the
Pharmacopœia. The English species also were at one time thus
employed; but Gerarde, the great medical botanist of Queen Elizabeth’s
reign, will not admit that they possess any virtue at all, but rather
the contrary. “They are not fit for medicine, and unprofitable weeds,
and hurtful to each thing that groweth next them, and were only
administered by runnegate physick-mongers, quacksalvers, old women
leeches, abusers of physick, and deceivers of people.” For study of the
natural appearance of the flower we would refer you, if you are unable
to meet with the plant itself, to E. B. 924; S. C. 2; T. N. O. 97; G. O.
99; and P. F. 76.
BITTER-SWEET. The Bitter-sweet (_Solanum Dulcamara_) is so called from
the bitter flavour of the stems when first tasted, a flavour which is
speedily followed by a peculiar sweetness somewhat resembling liquorice
root. In not only the familiar English name, but the specific botanical
appellation as well, we see this peculiarity of the plant referred to,
_Dulcamara_ having the same meaning as bitter-sweet. The continental
names have also this curious reference in them, the plant in France
being called Douce-amère; in Italy, Dulcamara; in Spain, Amaradulcis;
and in Germany, Bittersusstangel. The plant is frequently called woody
nightshade, while the old herbalists, in addition to the names already
given, call it felonwort. _Solanum_ is derived from _solamen_, in
reference to the soothing effect of some species of the Solanaceæ. The
bitter-sweet has small flowers of a deep purple colour, the petals being
very much reflexed. The berries are of a deep red when ripe, but change
considerably in their colour before reaching maturity; thus on the same
bunch we may frequently see green, yellow, orange, and crimson fruit.
Thirty of these berries administered to a large dog killed it in less
than three hours. Refer to E. B. 930; F. L. vol. i. 14; M. B. 33; S. C.
17; T. N. O. 100; and P. F. 19, for illustrations of the natural growth
of the plant. This shrub is frequently confounded with the deadly
nightshade, from the slight similarity of name; but there is no other
point of resemblance. The two plants are totally distinct. The woody
nightshade, though common in most parts of England, is comparatively
scarce in Scotland and Ireland. It is a hedgerow plant, flowering during
June, July, and August. A variety with white flowers is sometimes met
with.
The BLACK-THORN or SLOE (_Prunus spinosa_) is curious and suggestive
from an ornamentist’s point of view, from the flowers, unlike most other
plants, appearing in profusion before the leaves are developed. We see a
plant strongly resembling the black-thorn very largely used in their
ornament by the Japanese, a plant with numerous spreading branches,
leafless, but thickly clustered with flowers. The black-thorn may
commonly be met with in coppices and hedgerows, the blossoms appearing
in March or April, and the rich purple fruit in August. The name sloe is
derived from the Anglo-Saxon _sla_, and refers to the extreme acidity of
the tempting-looking fruit. The natural growth may be seen on reference
to E. B. 408, or M. B. 84. The black-thorn possesses a certain value
ornamentally, as being, like the primrose and snowdrop, a characteristic
flower of the spring.
“Flowers, as the changing seasons roll along,
Still wait on earth, and added beauties lend;
Around the smiling Spring a lovely throng
With eager rivalry her steps attend;
Others with Summer’s brighter glories blend;
Some grace mild Autumn’s more majestic mien;
While some few lingering blooms the brow befriend
Of hoary Winter, and with grace serene
Enwreath the king of storms with mercy’s tender sheen.”
BARTON.
[Illustration: _Borage._]
The BORAGE (_Borago officinalis_), though widely distributed, is by no
means a common plant; and though mentioned by several old writers, must
be considered as but a doubtful native. The generic name has been
corrupted from two Latin words, _cor_, the heart, and _ago_, I act, from
a belief, as old as the time of Pliny, in its exhilarating effects;
hence the old saying, _Ego borago gaudia semper ago_, “I borage give
always courage.” The borage, like the comfrey and forget-me-not, belongs
to the order _Boraginaceæ_, and, in common with most of the species of
that order, is marked by the gyrate or scorpoid arrangement of its
flowers, the stem being coiled round like the mainspring of a watch. It
may be met with occasionally in the ornament of the past--its large and
striking-looking stellate (Latin, _stella_, a star) flowers, and the
general growth of the plant, being admirably adapted to the purposes of
design. As an example we may instance the MS. Hours of Henry VII. in the
British Museum, where the borage is introduced upon a golden ground on
one of the pages. Drawings of this plant will be found in E. B. 1114; M.
B. 217; T. N. O. 98; and P. F. 36.
In studying the application of natural vegetable forms to the various
requirements of ornamental art--such, for instance, as the employment of
bold, vigorous plants to stone or wood carving, and the more graceful
and delicate growths to such fabrics as muslin and lace--we speedily
find that in some cases we are unable to treat the whole of the plant we
have selected for our purpose, owing to the limitations placed upon us
by the requirements of the work, the exigencies of manufacture, or the
nature of the materials in which our design is to be embodied. In some
cases the flowers are too small in detail, or in the general mass, to
accord well from the ornamentist’s point of view with the foliage of the
plant; the white bryony (_Bryonia dioica_), for instance, though
excellently adapted for muslins, could not in its flowering stage be
satisfactorily treated for stonework on this account, though the foliage
by itself is admirably suited for such purpose. In other instances we
find the case reversed, the flower being large and beautiful in form,
and the leaves unsuited, either from their insignificant size or want of
beauty, to the purpose of the ornamentist; thus, while the leaves of the
stonecrop (_Sedum acre_) are, from their minuteness, scarcely available
for the purposes of design, the stellate flower is exceedingly beautiful
in form, and admirably adapted for diapering and many other uses, when
isolated from the rest of the plant. Where both leaf and flower are from
their beauty and relative scale equally adapted for art-treatment, we
are still, when circumstances require it, quite justified in employing
either the one or the other by itself: where a monochrome arrangement is
necessary, the leaves alone may, for example, be used; where a central
radiate form, the flower may be introduced. The rosette or patera, so
freely introduced both in ancient and mediæval art, is an example of
this use of isolated floral forms.
The BRAMBLE or BLACKBERRY (_Rubus fruticosus_), a more familiar plant
than the last, has, so far as we are aware, been but little used in
ornamental art, though the _Rubus idæus_, or wild raspberry, may
occasionally be seen in MSS. of the sixteenth century. The generic name
is highly expressive of the prickly nature of the plant, being derived
from an old Celtic verb, _reub_, to lacerate or tear away; while its
English name, bramble, attests its indigenous nature, descending as it
does from the Anglo-Saxon name for it, _bremel_. The stems, ordinarily
of a pale purple colour and with a grey bloom upon them, are pentangular
in section, the numerous prickles almost entirely confined to the ridges
formed by the angles, and not occurring in the intermediate furrows; the
leaves generally with five deeply serrated leaflets, a rich green on the
upper surface, and covered with close white down on the lower; the
petals of the blossom varying from pure white or delicate pink to a deep
red; and the fruit of a rich crimson, so intense in colour as to appear
almost black. The mode of growth
[Illustration: _Blackberry._]
admirably fits it for the service of the designer, the leaves being very
ornamental in form, and the long trailing stems admitting of great
freedom of curve, while for its use in decorative art a further great
recommendation exists in the power of representing the plant under
several phases of growth without violating natural truth, as at one and
the same time we find the opening bud, the fully-expanded flower, and
the fruit of all sizes and stages of development, varying in colour from
green, light red, and crimson, to deep purplish black in its progress to
maturity. We thus gain great variety of form, and also, when admissible,
of colour. The bramble appears to be of especial value in ornament
where large surfaces require to be covered by forms at once suitable in
scale, interesting in their details, and varied in their character;
hence it would seem admirably adapted to muslins and lace, though, so
far as we have had opportunity of observation, it has not been thus
employed. Reliable drawings of the blackberry will be found in W. H. H.,
Plate E, Fig. 1.; in T. N. O. 51; G. O. 96; and P. F. 57.
Some plants, beautiful in themselves, possess an increased importance in
the eyes of the followers of ornamental art, from their being used
heraldically; such, for example, are the rose, the shamrock, the broom,
and the thistle. BROOM (_Sarothamnus scoparius_) is thus used as the
badge of the Scottish clan Forbes, and, as all readers of history will
remember, was also chosen as the device of the Plantagenets. A very good
example of its use in past art--though scarcely, from its being found in
a Tudor monument, having any heraldic meaning--will be seen in a glass
quarry in Henry VII.’s Chapel. _Sarothamnus_ is derived from two Greek
verbs, signifying a shrub, and to sweep. The English name has the same
force of meaning. In an old work we have consulted, the author deems it
useless to go into a long account of the plant, so well known was it in
his time from this domestic use:--“To spend time in writing a
description hereof is altogether needless, it being so generally used by
all the good housewives almost throughout this land to sweep their
houses with, and, therefore, very well known to all sorts of people.”
The broom may ordinarily be found on sandy commons, railway banks, and
dry hillsides. The large yellow pea-shaped flowers appear in great
profusion throughout May and June, and are succeeded in due course by
the black seed-pods. The plant grows from three to six feet high, and
when covered with its brilliant blossoms is a very striking object.
Leaves very inconspicuous. Drawings of this very beautiful plant may be
seen on referring to S. B. 121; E. B. 329; M. B. 89; F. L. vol. v. 31;
S. C. 67; T. N. O. 49.
BULBOUS CROWFOOT. We have selected the present plant (_Ranunculus
bulbosus_) as a good representative of the numerous species of plants
familiarly termed buttercups, partly because it is the most striking in
effect, partly because it is the one that will most readily be met with
under ordinary circumstances; for while its fine flowers and
beautifully-cut leaves render it singularly well suited to the purposes
of ornament, the abundance of it in every meadow throughout the country
places it within the reach of all who would desire to adapt it to any
artistic purpose. From the commonness of the plant, and its general
distribution throughout England, it has received many other names:
goldknob, goldcup, baffiner, troil-flower, polt, kingcup, buttercup,
butter-flower, cuckoo-bud, are all synonyms. The term _Ranunculus_ is
derived from _rana_, a frog, many of the species being found in wet,
swampy places; while the specific name, _bulbosus_, alludes to the
bulb-like swelling of the lower part of the stem in this particular
species. The name crowfoot has been given to the plant from the
radiating character of the segments of the leaf, spreading as they do
like the divisions of a bird’s foot; while the use of the word buttercup
points to the old belief that the rich yellowness of spring butter is
owing to the eating of this plant by the cows; the effect must rather,
however, be ascribed to the tender grass, as any one who will take the
trouble to notice the fact will find that cows in a meadow will, as far
as possible, avoid the buttercups. The leaves of the bulbous crowfoot,
like, with one exception, those of the rest of the family, are very
acrid, and will, if applied to the skin, speedily blister it. The plant
will be found in flower throughout the spring and summer: a variety is
sometimes met with having cream-coloured flowers. The crowfoot is one of
the favourite plants in the ornament of the Decorated period of Gothic.
Representations of the natural plant may be seen on consulting E. B. 35,
or F. L. vol. i. 38; refer also to “Water Crowfoot” in the present work,
page 84.