Floral Motifs on Early Chintz
This website is intended to encourage accurate identification of flowers and other motifs found on chintz printed from the last quarter of the 18th century to the third quarter of the 19th century. We hope that you will find it useful. This is a labor of love by the authors, Terry Tickhill Terrell (botanist, quilt historian, and webmaster) and Deborah Kraak (art historian and museum professional). While the title says the site is designed to be used for flowers on chintz, you will see occasional examples and citations for copperplate printed and indigo resist fabrics. Further, we believe it can be helpful in identifying flowers on other decorative applications such as on pottery and porcelains. These areas may be added as time permits and expertise becomes available. The site is currently quite small but there will be new additions as fast as we can research the flowers and get permission from collections, museums, and individual collectors to use their examples. We will call your attention to them on this page.
The site is designed to be seen on a conventional computer or laptop but is not currently cell phone or tablet friendly. We have designed the individual "Flower" and "Other Motifs" pages so they will be easy to print and we encourage you to make a copy for your own personal use. But please remember that all pictures and content on these pages is under copyright. If you use information from these pages in presentations or publications, please properly cite this website. If you wish to use pictures you will need to contact the copyright holders listed in the picture captions related to those pictures. Check out the "Links" page for web addresses of most of the collections and museums whose pictures are used. If no specific owner is listed, please contact us at the email address listed at the bottom of the page.
Here are some obvious topics that will help you understand the hows and whys of this site:
How do I find my flower or other motif?
The site is designed to be seen on a conventional computer or laptop but is not currently cell phone or tablet friendly. We have designed the individual "Flower" and "Other Motifs" pages so they will be easy to print and we encourage you to make a copy for your own personal use. But please remember that all pictures and content on these pages is under copyright. If you use information from these pages in presentations or publications, please properly cite this website. If you wish to use pictures you will need to contact the copyright holders listed in the picture captions related to those pictures. Check out the "Links" page for web addresses of most of the collections and museums whose pictures are used. If no specific owner is listed, please contact us at the email address listed at the bottom of the page.
Here are some obvious topics that will help you understand the hows and whys of this site:
How do I find my flower or other motif?
For flowers, click on the "Flower Color as Seen on Chintz" button above. It will take you to a page that shows a sample picture of a particular color. Remember that dyes often faded and changed color (ex. purple often aged to brown) over time, so if you can't find your flower where you expect it, check other pages with similar colors. If your flower is, for example blue, you would click on the Blue example picture or the word Blue and you will be transferred to a gallery with pictures of all the blue motifs for which we have developed information. Click on your flower's picture to be transferred to the appropriate page. Also, some flowers were printed in two or more colors, so they should be shown on the pages for both colors. For example the picture to the left would be shown in the picture gallery of both the Blue and Yellow pages. The "Motifs Other Than Flowers" button will take you to a picture gallery of plant-related motifs. Currently the topics include fruit, trees, and lichens. We may add whatever other motifs seem appropriate. Clicking on a picture or its name should take you directly to the page for that topic.
Why are there early botanical illustrations?
In the approximately 200 years since the early chintzes were printed plant breeders have been busy breeding many garden plants changing them dramatically from their original appearance. The same plants chintz designers saw 200 years ago may only marginally resemble those we know today. The image on the far left is how garden hyacinths (Hyacinthus orientalis) appeared in Basilius Besler's 1613 book Hortus Eystettensis. The image on the near left shows how they appear in today's gardens.
Why is the Hortus Kewensis cited?
The Hortus Kewensis is regarded by botanists as the ultimate authority for the timing of first cultivation of plants in Europe and Great Britain. Most chintz designers would not have been familiar with plants unless they saw them in gardens or read about them in Hortuses, Floras, nursery catalogs, or gardening magazines. Knowing that a plant was listed in the Hortus Kewensis and thus was known in Europe before a chintz was designed provides one test as to whether we have correctly identified the flower on the chintz.
If you are interested in consulting the Hortus Kewensis, check out the Biodiversity Heritage Library website (https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/) where you can download free copies of all five volumes. It is written in Latin and often uses older scientific names than are currently accepted, so you may need to do a bit of additional research when using it.
If I think I know the name of a flower can I look it up?
Yes! Check out the "Scientific Name" and "Common Name" navigation button at the top of the page. The links embedded in the names will take you directly to the appropriate page. Only one common name is listed, however, or the list would be too long. Many flowers can share the same common name (think "daisy") and some flowers have a dozen or more common names! Common names can also change over time and across different locations. For example, the English flower called a bluebell is Hyacinthoides non-scripta, a member of the Asparagaceae family, while the Scotish flower called a bluebell is Campanula rotundifolia, a member of the Campanulaceae family. Americans call Mertensia virginica, a member of the Boraginaceae family, Virginia bluebell and Australians call Wahlenbergia gloriosa, a member of the Campanulaceae family, Royal Bluebell. Clearly the common name bluebell means different things to different people.
Stylization and Artistic License
The Hortus Kewensis is regarded by botanists as the ultimate authority for the timing of first cultivation of plants in Europe and Great Britain. Most chintz designers would not have been familiar with plants unless they saw them in gardens or read about them in Hortuses, Floras, nursery catalogs, or gardening magazines. Knowing that a plant was listed in the Hortus Kewensis and thus was known in Europe before a chintz was designed provides one test as to whether we have correctly identified the flower on the chintz.
If you are interested in consulting the Hortus Kewensis, check out the Biodiversity Heritage Library website (https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/) where you can download free copies of all five volumes. It is written in Latin and often uses older scientific names than are currently accepted, so you may need to do a bit of additional research when using it.
If I think I know the name of a flower can I look it up?
Yes! Check out the "Scientific Name" and "Common Name" navigation button at the top of the page. The links embedded in the names will take you directly to the appropriate page. Only one common name is listed, however, or the list would be too long. Many flowers can share the same common name (think "daisy") and some flowers have a dozen or more common names! Common names can also change over time and across different locations. For example, the English flower called a bluebell is Hyacinthoides non-scripta, a member of the Asparagaceae family, while the Scotish flower called a bluebell is Campanula rotundifolia, a member of the Campanulaceae family. Americans call Mertensia virginica, a member of the Boraginaceae family, Virginia bluebell and Australians call Wahlenbergia gloriosa, a member of the Campanulaceae family, Royal Bluebell. Clearly the common name bluebell means different things to different people.
Stylization and Artistic License
At different times and places fashion favors a wide spectrum from quite realistic to very stylized in the depiction of flowers as design motifs. Chintz designers from the last quarter of the 18th century to the third quarter of the 19th century responded to these changes, though during most of this period the floral motifs depicted can be identified as representing real flowers. It is sometimes challenging to making such identifications because textile designers not only have to respect the demands of fashion regarding levels of realism, but they also have to fill space gracefully and make designs repeat so that fabric can be continuously printed in varying lengths. These factors and sometimes the designer's unfamiliarity with the plants in question can lead to a great deal of artistic license. For example, the picture on the far left shows a tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) flower and leaves as they appear on a chintz from 1834, inspired by Audubon's Birds of America, in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum. The picture on the near left is a live tulip poplar flower and leaves. By comparing the depiction of the leaves on the chintz to the real leaves it is clear the artist was exercising his artistic license or was not familiar with the real plant.
You can contact us at: flowersonchintz.webmaster@gmail.com
Number of times this page has been accessed:
© Updated 6/30/2018 Terry Terrell