NOTE TO USERS
Page(s) not included in the original manuscript are unavailable from the author or university. The manuscript was microfilmed as received.
This reproduction is the best copy available.
UMI
National Library Bibliothèque nationale I*m of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliog raphic Services setvices bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellington Ottawa ON KIA ON4 OnacnieôN KlAW Canada Canada
The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une Licence non exclusive licence ailowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or seii reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or elecîronic formats. la forme de rnicrofiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique.
The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts from it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otheMise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation.
..- Ill TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page i
Abstract ii
Table of Contents iii
List of Figures v
Acknowledgements viii introduction 1
Chapter 1: A Brief Histo y of Ferninist Art Histoy 4 Criticism of Traditional Art History Writing About Women Arûsts Art Versus Crafi Feminist Scholarship Today
Chapter 2: Literature Review Biographical Texts Based on Delany's Letters Delany's Inclusion in Botanical Studies Delany's Inclusion in Feminist Scholarsbip Ruth Hayden, the Contemporary Expert on Delany My Own Theoreticai Framework
Chapter 3: Summary Biogrnphy of Ma y Delany
Chapter 4: Mary Delany's Punuit of Scientific Knowledge
Chapter 5: Mary Delany's Artistic Production Delany's Attitude Toward ANstic Activity Needlework Shelis Drawing Painting Paper Cutting Paper Collage: Flora Delanica Chapter 6: Mary Delany's Artistic Status and Community Amateur Artists A Community of Women Artists Mary Delany's Artistic Reptation Mary Delany's Self Image as an Artist
Chapter 7: Mary Delany's Ariistic Distribution, Criticism, and Collection 117 Gifts of Art Anistic Connoisseurship and Cnticism
Conclusion 126
Figures 129
Bibliography 169
Appendices Timeline of Important Events in Mary Delany's Life List of Paintings by Delany List of Paintings Collected by Delany
Vita
Partial Copyright License LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Barber, Mary Delany Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden.
Figure 2: Jan Sieberechts, Longleat fronr the South, 1695 Reproduced by permission of the Courtauld Institute of An.
Figure 3 : Mary Delany, Anne Grarzville Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden.
F ig u re 4 : Zinc ke, Margaret Ca vendisli Hadey, Duchers oJPorîfand Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden.
Figure 5: Unknowen Artist, Dr. Patrick Delany, Dean of Down Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden.
Figure 6: G. D. Ehret, Bull Bay (Magnolia grandijora L.), 1743 Reproduced by permission of Victoria and Albert Museum.
Figure 7: Mary Delany, Rosa galiiea (CIuster Dam-, 1780 O Copyright The British Museum.
Figure 8: Unknowen Artist, EngirSh Courtdress, 1745-1750 Reproduced by permission of Victoria and Albert Museum.
Figure 9: Mary Delan y, Overskirt of DeIany 's Courtdress, c. 1730 Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden.
Figure 10: Mary Delany, Design for Court Dress, c. 1750 Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden.
Figure 11: Mary Delany and Anne Granville Dewes, Shell-work on Mantelpiece Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden.
Figure 12: Mary Delany, Sltellwork on Cornicefrom Ilte Chupel at Delville Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden.
Figure 13: Mary Delany, Sketch of Dr. Delany Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden.
Figure 14: Mary Delany, The Rocky Hills and Mountains leading tu the Giant's Causway in t/r e County of Antrim, Ireland Reproduced by permission of the National Gallery of Ireland. Figu re 15: Mary Delany, A vietu of ye Beggars Hut in Delville Garden Reproduced by permission of the National Gallery of Ireland.
Figure 16: Mary Delany, The Cottage Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden.
Figure 17: Mary Delany, Painting dune after Correggio, 1760 Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden.
Figure 18: Mary Delany, Catherine Hyde, the Duchess of Qrreensbury Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden.
Figure 19: Mary Delany, Women Reading arrd Twkting Tltread Reproduced by permission of the Marquess of Bath, Longleat House, Warrninster, Wiltshire, Great Britain.
Figure 20: Mary Delany, Clrildren of Vucorrnt Weymoutlr, late 1760s Reproduced by permission of the Marquess of Bath, LongIeat House, Warminster, Wiltshire, Great Britain.
Figure 21: Mary Delany, Gnrne of Clress Reproduced by permission of the Marquess of Bath, Longleat House, Warminster, Wiltshire, Great Britain.
Figure 22: Mary Delany, Broad Crested Cockatoo, native of New Hoilartd Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden.
Figure 23: Mary Delany, Lilium carradense, 1779 O Copyright The British Museum.
Figure 24: Mary Delany, Scarlet Ceranirrrn, 1772 O Copyright The British Museum.
Figure 25: Mary Delany, Arum esculerrtum (Eatable Wake Robin), 1780 O Copyright The British Museum.
Figure 26: Mary Delany, Ornithogalum arabicum (Arabian star of Bethlehem), 1779 O Copyright The British Museum.
Figu rc 27: Mary Delany, Passeflora larrrifolia (Bay leaved), 1777 O Copyright The British Museum.
Figure 28: Mary Delany, Bomba ceiba Linn spec. 959, 1780 vii O Copyright The British Museum.
Figure 29: Mary Delany, Mimosa latisiliqua (Wltifeflowerirrgaccasia), 1776 O Copyright The British Museum.
Figure 30: Mary Delany, Solanum melongena (Egg plant), 1777 O Copyright The British Museum.
Figure 3 1 : Mary Delany, Fragaria vexa (Wood sfrawberry), 1777 O Copyright The British Museum.
Figure 32: Mary Delany, Tamus commrmk @lac&briony), 1776 O Copyright The British Museum.
Figure 33: iMary Delany, Plrysafis (WinferCherry) O Copyright The British Museum.
Figure 34: Mary Delany, Cactus grandifIorus (Melorr Tlride), 1778 O Copyright The British Museum.
Figure 35: Mary Delany, Mespifuspiracanfha (Fierpthornedpiracartfha),1780 O Copyright The British Museum.
Figure 36: ~MaryDelany, Fumaria fungosa (Climingfrrmitory), 1776 O Copyright The British Museum.
Figure 37: Mary Delany, Magriolia grandmra (The grand magnolia), 1776 O Copyright The British Museum.
Figure 38: Mary Delany, Aescalus Hippocastanum (Horse Clrestnut), 1776 O Copyright The British Museum.
Figure 39: Lady Catherine Hanmer, Mrs. Defany at /ter Easel Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden.
Figure 40: Mary Delany, Fort St Davids Bull Eieproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden. viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My first acknowledgement goes out to the remarkably intelligent group of women with whom 1 started this journey. Thank you Dennine Dudley, Richelle Funk, Dr. Catherine
Harding, Justyna Krol, Caitlin Lewis, Dr. Kathlyn Liscomb, Rebecca Michaels, Mary
Pomeroy, Dr. Christine St. Peter, Lucia Sanroman, Csenge Szabo, Dr. Elizabeth Tumasonis, and Dr. Astri Wright. A special thanks goes out to Adrienne Truchi for being a true kindred spirit, both academically and personally.
1 would like to thank Dr. Lianne McLarty and Dr. John Money for their insightful editing and advise. 1 am extremely grateful for the thoughtful guidance of Dr. Carol Gibson-
Wood. Carol, you are a wonderfut teacher and &end. Thank you.
Thanks to my friends and family, whose genuine interest and enthusiasm in my work has been greatIy valued. Mom and Dad, thank you for al1 of your encouragement and for teaching me to respect and enjoy art. Lastly, 1 would like to express my deeply felt appreciation for Todd Barsby's endless supply of support, humour, kindness, and love. 1 thank you with al1 my heart. INTRODUCTION
There are numerous exarnples of invention and ingenuity evident in the art practices of women who lived in Bntain during the eighteenth century. Alternative media (such as ornamental shell-work, wax modelling, and paper collage), along with amateur status, and
'appropriate' subject matter (portraiture, flowers, and copies), created a 'safe-zone' in which women had cultural agency and authority.' Several women werr so successfül at negotiatinç and manipulating culturally imposed gender roles, that they received praise from prominent artists and gentlepeople.
These tvomen did not atternpt to break into patriarchal modeIs of artistic practice; rather they negotiated specifically different avenues in which to express themselves artistically. While this phenornenon attests to the gender inequalities in the eighteenth- century English professional art community, 1 contend that these examples of fernale ingenuity may be read in a positive Iight. The pressure imposed on women to act outside of the professional art world gave them the freedorn to develop art techniques without having to abide by the rigid standards, des,and criteria applied to conventional art forms.
An outstanding exampie of such a woman is Mary Granville Pendarves Delany
(1 700- 1788) (Figure 1). ' At the sarne time that Delany maintained an important membership in eighteenth-century British upper-class society, she was able to draw, paint in oils and
'The term "cultural agency and authority" comes from a lecture given by Ann Berrningham at the University of British Columbia on 21 January 1999 titled "Women Amateurs and the Language of Flowen". Bermingham used this terminology to express the opportunity that flower painting gave wornen artists to participate in the construction of visual culture. For further information see Bermingham's upcoming pubtication Learning ru Draw: Scudies in rhe Culrural Hisror-y ofa Polite and C'sefirl Arr (Yale University Press, to be published in the Spring of 2000).
'Mary Granville Pendames Delany will hereby be referred to as Delany, the Iast name of her second husband and that by which she is most cornmonly historically referred to. 2 \vater-colours, embroider, cut paper silhouettes, make shell-work, spin ~vool,and invent paper collage with her FhaDelanica.' Delany also took part in the scientific community; she studied botany, mineralogy and astronomy. Her letters comment on landscape design, architecture, social habits, and fashion. These letters provide a rich source of social history and, more specifically, give insight to the thoughts and feelings of an inteIligent woman who successfulIy negotiated a unique place for herseIf in the worlds of science, art, and high society.
Much visual and textual information concerning the life of Mary Delany has survived the test of time. During the last two centuries she has been written and re-written into the historicaI discourse. In spite of the long-lived popularity of Delany as a historical subject, there remains a void in her scholarship. A comprehensive study of Delany's art practices has yet to be undertaken. It is my aim to begin such a project in this thesis.
1 have collected and analysed Mary Delany's comments conceming art and science from her vat collection of surviving personal let ter^.^ No other writer has systematically
3iCiciry Delany's Ffora Delanica is a colIection of 972 botanicaliy correct, life-size, paper collages of plants.
'The following footnote explores rny ethical questions regarding the study of personal letters: It is difficult to imagine how different communication was in the eighteenth century. Today I cm imrnediateiy contact friends across the worId by telephone, email, or fax. I can utilise fast modes of transportation like the automobile, train, or aeroplane to visit my farnily. It seems almost too obvious that life was diffcrent without these inventions, but until 1 began rny work on Mary Delany I had no idea how reliant the eighteenth century person was on the letter. The extent of surviving Delany correspondence is extensive - her letters, which were first published by Lady Llanover in 1862, fil1 approximately 2500 pages. These are indeed persona1 letters and ethical questions regarding privacy and intended audience have not escaped me. 1 was especially concerned when 1 ran across the following excerpt written by Delany on 17 Nov. 1752: ... 1 am angry with you that you sent my letters to Mr Richardson. indeed. such careless and incorrect letters as mine are to you should not be exposed; were they put in the best I could put them into, they have nothing to recommend them but the overflowing of a most affectionate heart, which can only ;ive pleasure to the partial friend they are addressed too ... (From a Ietter written by Mary Defany on 17 Nov. 1752 as quoted by George Paston, .4h. Delany: A Memoir 1700-1 788 (London: Grant Richards, 1900): 154.) 3 estracted this information. These passages act as my main source of information regarding the artistic and scientific practices of Delany. It is my aim to round out this knowledge with a wide variety of primary, historical, and art historical writings; however, I will place emphasis on the thoughts and opinions of Delany herself.
My study was made more tangible by a research trip to London. Among other adventures, I spent several days in the British Museum, where 1 studied their coltection of almost 1O00 paper collages by Delany. Upon completion of this joumey, I reproduced one of her collages, in an attempt to better understand the compIexity of Delany's work.
My work is conducted fiom a feminist perspective. It is not my aim to show that
Delany was a 'feminist'; raîher 1 intend to use feminist theory in order expose how her gender affected the ways in which her art was produced, viewed, and discussed. It is my hope that this thesis will contribute to the grow~gnurnber of feminist art historical works that act to redress the negIect and stereotyped ~iewsof women artists.
------1 felt as though these words were written directly to me. Who was I IO interpret and quote her personal lensrs? 1 cenainly wouldn't be the first, but chat does not mean 1 am not responsible for my academic decisions. What finally helped me justiS my work was the impression that Delany did indeed foresee study and publication of her letters. In a letter to her sister dated 3 April 1744, klany mentions burning highly persona1 leners. (Lady Augusta Waddington Hall Llanover (editor), The Aufobiography and Correspondence ofMaty Granville. Mrs. Delany (6 volumes, London: Bentley, 186 1-1 862): Part 1, Volume ii, 29 1) Further evidence is found in the writing of Fanny Burney, who becarne close friends with Detany fiom 1786 to 1788, and who mentions helping her sort her letters and papers with the intention of organising an autobiography. At this time, Delany chose many letters that were too sensitive and private to be published, which she burnt. (Paston, 259) Given these incidents of active editing on the part of Delany, I feel that it is justifiable to study the complete gamut of her surviving correspondence. 4 CHAPTER 1: A BRIEF HISTORY OF FE.MINIST ART HISTORY
The last twenty-five yean of feminist scholarship in the discipline of art history offers a myriad of theoretical and methodologicai queries and solutions. This section of my thesis is an attempt to map out some of what 1 think are the most interesting themes, debates, and interventions in feminist art history since 197 1. It is crucial to define exactly which elements of ferninist theory and methodology 1 intend to titilise in my study of Mary Delany. Griselda
PoIIock reminds us of what 'feminism' is in the following: .- Feminism stands here for a political commitment to women andh changes that women desire for themselves and for the world. Feminism stands for a commitment to the fùll appreciation of what women inscribe, articulate, voice and image in culturai forms: interventions in the fields of meaning and identity from the place called 'woman' or the 'ferninine'. Feminism also refers to a theoretical revolution in the ways in which tenns such as art, culture, woman, subjectivity, politics and so forth are understcrod. But feminism does not imply a united field of theory, political position or perspective.5
Criticisrn of Traditional Art History
Due to my specific time and place 1 am able to reject the notion that women are incapable of creating Fatworks of visual art.6 I am grateful for my position; it has only been since 197 1 that the feminist critique of art history began with Linda Nochlin's article,
'Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?'. Nochlin proposes that,
Art is not a free autonomous activity of a super-endowed individual, "influenced" by previous artists and more vagueIy and superficially by "social forces," but rather ...occurs in a social situation, is an integral element of social structure, and is mediated and determined by specific and definable social institutions, be they art academies, systems of patronage, mythologies of the divine creator and artist as he- man or social outcctst.'
'Griselda Pollock, Cenerations and Ceographies in the Visual Arts (London: Routledge, 1996): xv.
%orne of the factors that shape my standpoint are that 1 am a working class, Canadian, white, heterosexual, academic, ?olitically lefiist feminist, late twentieth century woman.
inda da Nochlin, "Why Have There Been No Great Wornen Artists?" Art News 69.9 (Jan 197 1): 25. Nochlin explains the lack of female artistic 'greatness' by examining the gender specific obstacles set by art institutions. She begins with the issue of the unavailability of the nude mode1 to women artists from the sixteenth century to as late as the nineteenth century. At a time when history painting, which required the depiction of full-length figures, was considered the highest art form, women were deprived of the ultimate stage of training needed to create major art works, and thus competing with male artists.' From here Nochlin turns to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and "...the small band of heroic women, kvho ... achieved pre-eminence ..."; she questions what it \vas that made these women different.
She points out the fact that almost al1 were daughters of artistic fathers or had close persona! connections with a stronger and more dominant male arti~t.~These relationships enabled women to receive artistic training at home, at the sarne time that they allowed art critics and historians to write about them in reference to 'greater' male artists, thus making them Iess a threat to the srarrrs quo. The radical implications of Nochlin's analysis of the western art world inspired numerous women to examine the discipline of art history from a feminist perspective.
The absence of women artists in the art historical canon led feminists to criticise traditional art history.1° In her article entitledUTheyBuild Women a Bad Aa History",
Therese Schwartz deconstructs the art historical myth of the 'artistic genius', and exposes the long and highly established tradition of the constmction of images of successfÛl artists as
'Nochlin, 32.
Wochlin, 39.
"Therese Schwartz, "They Buiit Wornen a Bad Art History," Ferninisr Art History (Fall 1973): 10- 1 1, 22. 6 possessing supernaturd talent. Stories of the male artists with incrediblc 'natural' artistic greatness fil1 the pages of art history." These stories stress the apparently miraculous, non- determined, and a-social nature of artistic success. According to Schwartz, one need only to examine the bulk of art historical survey textbooks to see that al1 'great' artists are male.'*
The male rnonopoly on the title of 'artistic genius' is not an unstated rule; in the 1884 edition of Manhartnn Magazine J, Leonard Corning wote that,
... through al1 the centuries of time, there seerns to have been in the female mind, a profound and determinative consciousness of ineptitude in this ancient, and in some sense, most exacting domain of artistic endeavour."
Schwartz's examination of art history exposed that, "...in over one hundred years of writing on the subject of women artist, it is almost impossible to find direct, critical discussion of the work itself."''
Writing About Women Artists
Feminist scholars soon discovered that many women had produced work that met the requirements of 'great art', but that they had been systematically marginalised or entirely excluded from historical treatises on art. iVany eariy feminist art historians took on the task of re-discovering neglected female painters and scutptors: examples include Eleanor Tufrs'
Our Hidden Heritage: Five Centuries of Wornen At-iists (1974), Hugo Munsterberg's A
Histoty of Wonien Artists (1979, and AM Sutherland Hams and Linda Nochlin's Women
"Nochlin, 26.
'2Janson's Hisrory ofArr, a text of over 500 pages, does not include a single women artist. Hauser's The Social Hislory ofArt acknowledges the existence of one woman mist in a list of over 450 names.
"J. Leonard Corning as quoted by Schwartz, 1 1.
''Schwartz, 22. 7 Arrisrs 1550-1950 (1976). These books share the objective of proving that women have been accomplished artists and placing women artists within the traditional historical framework.
The downside to their endeavour was that the resurrected artists were picked according to the standards of male artistic value and achievement, thereby accepting and perpetuating the patriarchai de finition of greatness. Trinh Minh-ha warns that, "The constant need to refer to the "male model" for cornparisons tmavoidably maintains the subject under tutelage.""
In their book Old Mistresses: CVornen, Art and ldeology (198 1) Rozsika Parker and
Griselda Pollock took hndarnentally new directions from earlier surveys by rejecting evaluative criticism altogether. They emphasised that "...the way the history of art has been stiidied and evaiuated is not the exercise of neutral objective scholarship but an ideological pra~tice."'~Parker and Pollock examine women's historical and ideological positions in relation to their art production; they study artistic ideology as a way to expose and question the assumptions that underlie traditional art history. They fiame their deconstructive approach with the following questions:
Why has it been necessary to negate so large a part of the history of art, to dismiss so many artists, to denigrate so many works of art simply because the artists were women? What does this reved about the structures and ideologies of art history, how it defined what is and what is not art, to whom it accords the status of artist and what that status means?"
15Trinh M inh-ha, IVoman. Native, Orher: CYriting Postcolonialiiy and Femini'm, (Bloom ington: Indiana University Press, 1989): 96.
'6RozsikaParker and Griselda Pollock, Old Misnases: Women. Art and Ideology (London: Harper Collins, 198 1): xvii.
''Parker and Pollock, xviii. 8 Parker and PoiIock recognise that women's experiences with artistic and social structures have differed greatly fiom that of their male contemporaries. They attempt to analyse wornen's practices of art to see how they negotiated their particular positions, both to expose their exclusions, and, more importantly, to show the specific ways that women have produced art in spite of constraints of class, race, and gender."
Art Versus Craft
One of the ways in which many female artists have been excluded from academic study is through the division between 'art' and 'crafi'. The discipline of art history has organised art into categories based on a stratified system of values, thus creating a hierarchy of art forms, based on the material with which the art is produced and its subject matter. A large part of traditional female creative output had been invalidated as art and relegated to the category of 'craft' through the established aesthetic hierarchy between 'high' and 'low' art.
The distinction benveen 'art' and 'crafi', or men's and wornen's artistic capacities, is maintained by misconceptions that 'crafis' demand less intellectual effort, are tedious or overly concerned with detail, and only trivially and marginally aesthetic. While the split between 'art' and -crafiYeffectively eIiminates most women from the high art world, it has allowed many women a 'safe' place fiom which to express themselves artistically without challenging their 'proper' roies in society.
Feminist art historians have turned to the study of the numerous 'alternative' media in
which women have expressed themselves artistically. In her article "Quilts: The Great
American Art" (1 973) Patricia Mainardi began the quest to bring respect to the art of
"Parker and Pollock, xix. 9 needlework as a viable artistic means with which to express female experience. The desire to bnng respect and 'fine art' standing to kraft' was expressed in during the 1970s by feminist artists, such as Miriarn Schapiro and Judy Chicago, who sought to break down the rigid hierarchy of art media. Typicd of Schapiro's work is a type of construction she called
' femmage' (female and collage). Made with painted fabrics, these works celebrate traditional women's craft-work. The stitchery, needlepoint, and china painting of Chicago's work are al1 traditional women's art forms that she wished to raise to the status granted to painting and sculpture. With these works have come greater respect for traditional 'craft-work' and an historical re-examination of women's art practices.
Rozsika Parker analyses the ways in which the definition of 'craft' as a low art form acts to keep women in a powerless place in the art world. Parker's The Subversive Stirch:
Embroidery and the Making of Fernininiiy (1984) explores embroidery as a cultural practice, and a site of ideological struggle. Parker maintairs that the split between 'art' and 'craft' was strengthened during the eighteenth century with the cIear divide between craft based workshops and art acadernies. She proposes that it is not a coincidence that this took place at the same time when an ideology of femininity, as natural to women, was ev~lving.'~Parker notes the following:
When women paint, their work is categorised as homogeneously feminine - but it is acknowledged to be art. When women embroider, it is seen not as art, but entirely as the expression of femininity."
p~ ~ -- '9Rozsika Parker, The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Ferninine (London: Women's Press, 1984): 5.
"Parker, The Subversive Stitch, 5. 10 Parker rejects the stereotypical notion that lirde beside patience and perseverance go into embroidexy2' She States that embroidery qualifies as 'art' because it is a "...cultural practice involving iconography, style, and a social hin~tion."~Parker clairns that the political implications of the history of women's 'crafts' encompass discourses on power and powerlessness, female creativity, the history of art making, and the ideology of repression.
Parker and Pollock cover the complicated temtory of artistic hierarchy in their book
Old Misrresses:
For in fact what distinguishes art fiom craft in the hierarchy is not so much different methods, practices and objects but aiso where these things are made, often at home, and for whom they are made, ofien for the family..... The conditions of production and audience for this kind of art are different fiorn those of the art made in a studio and art school, for market and gallery2'
Parker and Pollock illustrate how the hierarchy of art forms is upheld by attributing the decorative arts with a lesser degree of intellectual effort and appeal, and a pater concern with manual ski11 and utility." They expose how art history has contributed to the subordination of 'crafis' by producing studies which focus more on the objects themselves
(how they were made, and their purpose and fûnction), than they do the artist.15 They daim that,
Mile women cmjustifiably take pride in these areas [crafts], asserting their value in the face of male prejudice does not displace the hierarchy of the values in art history. By simply celebrating a separate heritage we risk losing sight of one of the most
"Parker, The Sitbversive Stitch, 6.
-+* --Parker, The Subversive Srifch, 6.
"Parker and Pollock, Old Mistresses, 70.
"Parker and Pollock, Old Mistresses, 50.
'5Parker and Pollock, Old Mistresses, 69. important aspects of the history of women and art, the intersection in the 18th and 19th centuries of the development of an ideology of femininity, that is, a social definition of women and their role with the emergence of a clearly defined separation of art and crafIz6
Parker and Pollock recognise that among the many eighteenth-century "feminine accomplishments" expected of gentlewomen was excellence in those arts that adorned people, homes, or utensils, which inevitably resided in decorative categories such as
"applied", "decorative", "craft", or "lesser" arts.
Feminist Scholarship Today
Feminist art historians have been successfûl in exposing discrimination in the art world, advocating reforms, and giving historical and contemporary women artists public recognition. Today many feminist art historians move away from old models in their refusal
to see 'woman' as :ln fixed categor),. They examine women's constantly changing representations and idoological constmctions within male systems. Rather than concentrate on the definition of woman, Lisa Tickner focuses on "...the problematic of culture itself, in which definitions of femininity are produced and contested and in which cultural practices cannot be dex-ived from or mapped directly onto biological gender."'7 Feminist interventions
have the power to disrupt tradition by representing history, not as linsar evolution, but as
sites of confict over the power to define the structural relations we cal1 class, race, ssxuality,
age, and gender."
"Parker and foliock, Old ,4fistresses, 58.
"Lisa Tickner, "Sexuality and/in Representation: Five British Artists" Drference: On Represcnmion and Satralis. (New York: New bluseurn of Conternporary Art, 1984). 19.
"Po I lock, Generarions and Geographies in the Visual Aru, 1 2. CHAPTER 2: LITERGTURE REVIEW
This section serves as a critical review of some of the major and rninor texts written about Mary Delany. Among the most important resources regarding Delany are biographical texts based on her letters by Lady Llanover, Sarah Chauncy Woolsey, and George Paston; a late twentieth century popular account of her life by Ruth Hayden; her inclusion in historical studies of botany by AM Shteir; and finaliy, the inclusion of Delany in the feminist art historicaI studies of Germaine Greer, Rozsika Parker, and Griselda Pollock. 1 have read these texts frorn a feminist perspective and have critiqued them from that place. 1 have also taken note of the authors' attitudes toward Delany's art, and her status as an artist and scientist. It is ciear that the 'history' of Mary Delany has changed drastically during the nineteenth and t~~entiethcenturies, and will continue to change as new scholarly trends and theories are developed.
Biographical Texts Based on Delany's Letters
The first edition of Delany's letters was published in 1820 under the title, Letrersfiorn
A&-S. Delany ro ~tlrs.Francis Hamiltonfrorn the year 1779. fo the year 1788. This thin volume includes a select group of letters and offers no editorial comment (no editor's name is given).
It was not until 1861 that the most complete collection of Delany's letters was compiled, commented on, and published by Mary Delany's own great-grandniece Lady
Augusta Waddington Hall Llanover. Lady Llanover wrote that she had grown up surrounded by Delany's art works and the legendary stones of al1 the farnous people with whom she had been friends. In the late 1850s Llanover began to work on the first edition and publication of
Delany's two unfinished autobiographies and the large collection of surviving personal 13 letrers." In 186 1 Llanover published the firsr three volumes of The ;lutobiography and
Correspondence of Mary Granville. Mm Delany: with interesting reminiscences of King
George the Third and Queen Charlotte; the next set of three volumes was published the following year. Llanover States her intent in the following passage:
The object of the Editor in publishing this work is to give a true account of a person whose narne as "Mrs Delany" is still revered, and has been so for more than a hundred years, but of whom very linle beyond that name is now remembered.30
There is no doubt that Llanover admired Delany's art works. This is especially tnie of her embroidery, about which Llanover wrote, "The specimens still existing of Mrs.
Delany's embroidery in silks deserve fiaming and being put under glass, as a visible proof of what embroidery con and ought to be."" It is Llanover whom we have to thank for the preservation of Delany's flower collages in the British Museum, as she bequeathed them to the public coliection in 1896.
LIanoverYsedition serves as a thorough reference work, and is the most complete body of published writings by Delany. Llanover was criticised by C.E. Vulliamy in 1935 for
"...reflecting the prejudices of the Victorian ~ge."~'Vulliamy did admit however that, "she took extraordinary pains to acquire information, and it is only in a few cases that her results
"In 1857 Llanover spent three months in London, her dedication was so great that she spent every one of those days doing research in the British Museum. (Paston, 282.)
'OLlanover, 1, i, xi.
l la no ver, II, iii, 504.
"C.E. Vu l l iamy, Aspasia: The Life and Lerrers of Mary Granville. Mrs. Delany (1 700-1 788) (London: Geoffery Bles, 1935): vii. are questionable, whilc in still fewer are they demonstrably ~ron~."'~More recentiy
Llanover has been criticised by Janice Farrar Thaddeus, who asserted that,
The Delany we have known was actually constructed in the rnid-nineteenth century by her great-grandniece Lady Augusta Llanover. By omitting passages from Delany's letters, Lady Llanover made her seem much more sedate than she really as.^'
Thaddeus does not reject Llanover's tex! altogether; she recognises that, "Lady Llanover was
an extremely meticulous editor, rendering most of the text with scrupulous exactit~de."~~1
was able to use the Llanover edition effectively as a reference source, as long as I kept in
mind how highly Llanover thought of Mary Delany, and how her opinions had been shaped
by her relation to Delany and the values of the Victorian Age.
Sarah Chauncey Woolsey's revised three-volume edition of Delany's letters, entitled
The Alrtobiography and Correspondence of Mrs. DeZany, served as an Amencan edition of
Delany's letters published in 1800. Woolsey justified her work because Llanover's edition
was too expensive (originally five pounds) and out of pnnt. While the contents of these
volumes are taken mainly from Llanover's rvork, Woolsey also included her own editorial
comrnents.
For example, Woolsey made the following statement, which is an important j udgernent regarding Delany and 'womanhood' :
Mrs Delany presents an admirable exarnple of the most finished type of Christian eentlewornan .... Modest, high-rninded, discriminating, just, loyal alike to principle C - and to affection, admirable as wife, daughter, sister, friend, - her merits as a woman
"Vulliarny, vii.
3JJaniceFarrar Thaddeus, "Mary Delany, Model to the Age." Hisrory, Gender and Eighteenrh Cenfury Literatzrre. Editor Beth Fowkes Tobin. (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1994): 113.
"Thaddeus, !33. 15 outshine her lustre as grande dame, and commend her to the love and admiration of al1 who are able of reverencing excellence in womanhood, no rnatter in what age or country it is exhibited.16
WooIsey's attitude toward Delany's art practice is clear when she describes it as, ",..the constant cultivation of the uncornmon talents, which she had through life taken every opportunity to improve quietly and unostentatiously ..."?' One of the problems that 1 had with Woolçey's w-riting. was that she put Delany's paper collages into a very specific artistic cateçory, which served to isolate and make an exception of her artistic ~ractise."
Yet another edition of DeIany's letters appeared in 1925 under the title of hlrs.
DeZuny at Court and Among the Wits, being a record of a great lady ofgenius in the art of living, arrangedfrom Lady Llanover S "The Autobiography and Correspondence of Mrs.
Delany, " with an Introduction by R. Brimley Johnson. Johnson claimed that his edition was the first to include Delany's irregular spelling, and letters, "...chosen rather to present her personal character, observations, and experiences, than as an anecdotal history of the long period through which she li~ed."~~Johnson gave special attention to Delany's art and he may be the first editor to cal1 Delany, "a real artist".'1° He praised Delany's artistic experimentation, productivity, and originality. Johnson echoed Llanover's admiration of
Delany's embroidery, when he claimed that her needlework is "pre-erninently artistic" as the
- 36SanhC hauncey Woo lsey (ed.), The A ufobiographyand Correspondence of Mrs. Delany: Revisedfiom Lady Llanover 's Edition (Boston: Robens Brothers, 1879): Volume 1, vi.
17 Woolsey, 1, 27 1.
'8Woolsey writes that, "...no other person possesses the same gi/r...".Woolsey, II, 406.
'9.Brim Iey Johnson, Mrs. Delany at Court and Amotcng the Wirs: Arrangedfrom The Autobiography and Correspondence of Ah.Delany, ~ithInteresring Rememberances of George II/ and Qiccen Charlotte (London: Stanley Paul, 1925): v.
40Johnson, xxvi. 16 design is nlways hers and the outline, bold or delicate, to fit material and purpose." While
Johnson's respect for Delany's art is significant, there are numerous inaccuracies in the text and it should only be referred to in conjunction with other works on Delany.
Three biographies, popular rather than scholarly, have been written on Mary Delany:
George Paston [Emily M. Symondsl's Mrs. Deluny: A Mernoir 1700-1 788 of 1900; Colwyn
Edward Vullimy's Aspasia: The Life und Lerrers of Mary Granville. MI*^. Delany (1 700-
I7SSj of 1935; and Simon Dewes' hfrs. Delany of 1949. George Paston's Mrs. Delany: A
Ltfernoir1700-1 785 is an abrïdged and popdar version of the information in Delany's letters.
There are some distinct gender problems with this text; for example, Paston refers to
Delany's letters as "gossiping" and attributes her fame to her "personal character" rather than her "genius".42 Paston wrote the following passage about Delany:
She was no professional wit, no publicly toasted beauty; she never published a book, exhibited a picture, nor ever made herself the heroine of a scandal. Her artistic productions, though admirable of their kind, were avowedly the work of an amateur, and were only known among her own circle of fkiends. Why, then, was she famous? For it seems to be still regarded as a slight achievement for a wornan to be virtuous, cultivated, and charrning, though there may come a time when genius in the art of living may be held deserving of greener and more glorious laurels than genius in the arts of music, painting, or poetry.')
While this may seem like quite a backhanded compliment, I think that it cornes from true admiration, and what 1 think are the early stages of Paston's feminist thought. This feminist sentiment is better understood when one finds out that "George Paston" was not a man, but a pseudonym for Emily M. Symonds. One of the possible freedoms of writing under a male
-- - .-
4 1 Johnson, xxvii.
"Paston, 2 19, and 274.
J3Paston,274. 17 narne was the ability to write such statements. She redeems herself in the following responss to the anonymous Blackwood reviewer who calls Llanover's edition a "female book". Paston wrote that The Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville, Mrs. Delany was,
...a ferninine comrnentary upon the people and events of the period, written frankly, freely, carelessly, and intended only for the eyes of relations or intimate friends. But the fact that it is so completely a 'female book' will hardly lessen its value in the eyes of reflecting persons. Since the first dawn of civilisation we have been made farniliar with the man's point of view; but, with few exceptions, the woman's thoughts, feelings, opinions, have been buried with her, and half of human history is left blank. What would we not give nowadays for the Travels of Lady Mandeville, the Familiar Letters of a Mrs. Howell, the Diary .,f Mrs. Evelyn, or a Mrs. PepysT4
While Paston's book is not the best reference for Delany's writings, it is an interesting example of an early twentieth century woman writing about a historical woman under the guise of being a man. Paston's account of Delany is usehl and fairly accurate, and includes some of the material omitted by Llmover.
C. E. Vulliarny begins his edition, Aspcrsia: The Life aad Letters of Mary Granville, iL1r.s. Delcrny (1 700-1 788), with the clah that,
No other collection of letters conveys a more vivid impression of elegant life in the eighteenth century from a gentlewoman's point of view ...NO other letters exhibit a more precise brilliance of detail, or illurninate in a more pleasing rnanner so many of the lighter graces of the Georgian age?
Vulliamy \\lote ~vitha condescending attitude toward Delany's art practice: he called her "an artist of more than ordinary ~kill''~';he placed her Flora Delanica within the "smaller
44 Paston, 287.
'SVulliamy, viii.
'6Vulliamy. viii. masterpieces of eighteenth-century taste'*'; and wrote that, "Mrs. Delany had a nature too positive for that of an artist, but she was a craftswoman of consummate ability.'"s
Vulliamy's attitude toward Delany's art work is best summed up in the following passage:
The 'paper mosaic' is not an overpowering manifestation of genius. On the other hand, it is far more than a mere marvel of elegance. It is an original accomplishrnent, unique of its kind, ingenious, exquisite, one of the loveliest minor works of the century. In turning over the pages of the volumes one is literally astounded by the delicacy and the finn daintiness of the work, by the extraordinary ski11 with which the most minute snippets or shreds of paper, sornetimes thin as hair, are fixed in position, and by the admirable sense of effect and arrangement in placing the flowers on the background. Every one who loves the eighteenth century and its typical graces ought to visit the Print Room and ask to see the FIora Delanica: there is nothing else comparable to the peculiar and intensely persona1 charm of this work?
It is clear that while Vulliarny 'liked' Delany's tvork, he was only able to admire it fiom a position in which her art is placed below that of other "professional" and "fine" artists. This text is a very good example of the hierarchical attitude in the art world.
Simon Dewes (John St. Clair Muriel) wrote his book M-S.Delany in a popularised narrative biographical form. Dewes also wvrote a biography of George Eliot and four of his own novels. This account of Delany's life is full of hypothetical fictionalkation; for example
Dewes wrote that, "...Mary...delighting in Hogarth's tuition, was aware that she could never rival him. He was an artist. She would never be more than an amateur."50 There are no references in Delany's witing that suggest that Delany had the above mentioned sentiment.
Dewes took on a condescendinç attitude when he wwote about Delany's art and lifestyle; for
J'Vuliiamy, 147.
JsVulliamy, 255.
"VulIiamy, 256-257.
50 Simon Dewes, pseud. (John St. Clair Muriel), Mrs. Delany (London: Rich and Cowan, 1949): 109. 19 esample he wrote: "In an enchanted, artificial world Mary and her friends lived and moved and discussed literature and art and painted their pictures and collected their flowers for pressing until that magic sumrner was over and it was time to return to D~blin."~'It is clear that Dewes thought Delany's lifestyle quite trivial; he used words like "enchanted",
"artificial", and "magic" to describe it. Dewes made light of Delany's friendship with
Jonathan Swift in the following quotation: "And he [Swift] liked her too because he could scold her. She was intelligent above the lot of rnost women. But, fortunatety, she was not so precocious that poor Swift never had the opportunity of correcting her."52
The following excerpt reveals Dewes' attitude toward Delany's Flora Delunica:
It became known as Mrs. Delany's 'paper mosaick - a new way of imitating flowers.' It was work which would have tried young eyes: which would have been a test for young and quick fingers. But age brought to it the patience that youth often lacks. Age - Mrs. Delany - took a living flower and slowly, accurately, with infinite patience, a replica of the living flower was cut out on brightly coloured papers - each paper to be shaded to shade of the lovely original, each petal treasured and counted and learned by heart; each leaf, each stem, each seed-pod modelled exactly and perfected on the living example.... When it was mounted the 'paper mosaick' - 'the new way of imitating flowers' - was set up in the drawing-room to be viewed by the guests. The delicacy was beyond comment ....The colours are faded now, but the exactness is there, the elegance, the surprising attention to detail, so that, standing before them, one seems still to see those white, perfect fingers as they snipped with their scissors, as they pasted, as they destroyed and began al1 over again. The 'paper mosaick' was more than the accomplishrnent of a cultured gentlewoman. It was a real work of art, a work that appealed particularly to the late eighteenth century, a work that had been evolved from a long life of study and appreciation of delicate things .... To the end of her long life she was always busy, her brain and her fingers etemally active. And her activity brought her unlimited happiness." 20 !hile Dcwes does admit that Delany's FZom Delanica are works of art, he treats her other art works with less respect and includes stories like the following passage:
She painted. She cultivated hot-stitching. She had endless plans for the re-laying out of the garden. She had her shell-work. And she had the joy of seeing her pictures framed, worrying the wretched framemaker al1 one rnorning until he did -the work as she liked it: criticising him and making suggestions and being mightily imperious when the man's ideas on the kingof pictures did not coincide with her ownY
Sections, such as the above, serve to comment on the legitimacy of a situation in which a female artist demands exactitude in the presentation of her own art work. Dewes' Mrs.
Delany is most important for Dewes' perspective and opinion of Delany and would be usefiil in a historiographical study of Delany.
In 1953 Margaret Menard Pnce wote a iMaster of Arts thesis at Sarah Lawrence
Co Ilege enti t led A Lady of Eighteenth Centzuy England - Mary Granville, Mt-s- Pendarves: A
Srrdy of her Letrers Written Mq1733 to Ocrober 1737. The body of Price's thesis consists of reprinted letters with Price's own detailed footnotes pertaining to identification of ail persons mentioned, clarification of unfarniliar wording, and explanation of social customs.
Price mentions Delany's art practice in the following excerptz
Drawing was among the genteel and necessary acquirements for ladies. Mrs. Pendarves cultivated its study until, \\-hile she was not a creative artist, she was an excellent c~~~ist.~*
Price's dismissal of the copy as a valid art form is a distinctly twentieth-century sentiment and not at aII reflective of eighteenth-cent-- viekvs.
------"Dcwes, 193- 194. sSiçlargaretMenard Price, A Lady ofEighteenrh Ceniwy England - Mary Granville, Mrs. Pendarves: A Stztdy of her Lerrers Wriiren May 1733 ru Ocrober 2 73 7. Maser of Arts thesis frorn Sarah Lawrence ColIege, 1953,93. 21 Al1 of the above studies of the persona1 letters of Mary Delany are useful to the contemporary historian. They not only provide information on Delany, but they are also reflective of the individuai who wrote them and the tirne in which they were written. Aside frorn the above analysis, these works act as references concerning Mary Delany's artistic and scientific activity.
Delany's Inclusion in Botanicai Studies
One of the areas in which Delany has gained some attention is the study of the history of botanical illustration. Wilfred Biunt and William T. Stearn wrote The Art of Bofanical
Illuslrution in 1 950 and were among the first to include Delany in such a study. Blunt and
Stearn begin their discussion of Delany by stating that, "No account of the botanical art of the period ~vouldbe complete without some mention of the cut-paper flowers and silk embroideries of Mrs. Delar~y."'~Their work on Delany is bnef; they include some idormation about Delany's friendship with the Duchess of Portland and her contact with other botanists. Their concluding statement reveals their true attitude toward Deîany's art:
"Truth to tell, Mrs. Delany's work has received somewhat exaggerated praise. It was admittedly a remarkable performance for a woman of her age; but the results are quaint, rather than beauti fiil.""
Ann Shteir's 1996 book entitled, Crtltivafing Women Cztltivating Science provides another noteworthy reference to the study of Delany. Shteir presents Delany within the contest of other amateur female scientists. She wrote the following of Delany's collages:
"Her 'Flora Delanica' contains magnificent and strikingly lifelike representations of flowers,
56WilfridBlunt and William T. Stearn, The Art o/Boranical Illusrrarion (London: Collins, 1950): 154. "Blunt anci Stearn, The Art of Boranical Iliustrarion, 1 55. 22 replete with subtle variations in colour and with insect bites on leaves."" Shteir highlights the botanical activity of actual women; rather than report on the collective and generalised experiences of women, she is careful to report individual women's stories, thus contextualizing their varied experiences. Shteir's work is important to my study for the way in which it locates Delany's participation in the scientific community as one of many female participants.
Ruth Hayden, the Contemporary Expert on Delany
Ruth Hayden's book Mrs Deluny und her Flower Collages (1 980, 1992) is the most recent authoritative publication on Delany. The introduction to this book was written by Paul
Hulton, a former Deputy Keeper of the Department of Prints and Drawings at the British
Museum. HuIton's introduction serves to situate Delany within the botanical and artistic communities of the eighteenth century by mentioning her connections with Sir Joseph Banks,
Solander, Lightfoot, Fothergill, Philip Miller, Ehret, Hogarth, Reynolds, Goupy, Opie,
Barber, Thomas Lawrence, H. ~al~ole.~~Hulton was one of the fint scholars to ask the foIlowing question:
It is a curious fact that Mrs Delany's flower collages are not more widely known and valued. Perhaps it is because they have never corne in to general circulation like the works of other great botanical artists. Or is it because they were the work of a woman which in a masculine world were thought of as charming and extraordinary but not taken very serio~sly?~~
5 8 Ann B. Shteir, Cdrivating Wornen, Cultivahg Science: Flora's Daughrers and Botany in England 1760 10 1860, (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996): 43.
'9~uthHayden, Mrs. Delany and Her Flower Collages, (London: British Museum Publications, 1980, 1992): 11. bOPaul Hulton as quoted in Hayden, Mrs. Delany and Her Flower Collages. 13. 23 Hulton ends his introduction by stating that he hopes this book wiI1 establish Delany "...as a gi fied and highl y original artist.'"'
After an introduction that asks the reader to address the issue of Delany's gender and her lack of artistic recognition, Hayden's text cornes as a bit of a disappointment. Hayden has done a very good job of collecting together much of what Delany wrote regarding her art, but she neglects to challenge the e.uclusion Delany faced from both the art and botanical worlds. Hayden does not write an academic text; she has included no references and a very small bibliography. She is a descendent of Delany's sister Anne, and has inherited a great deal of her art work. Hayden's book is a good reference work and I found it very usefd and in most cases factually accurate6', but she appears to have given no thought to feminist theory in her study of Delany. In fact, Hayden does the opposite by making her own gender assumptions, such as the following statement: "Although Mrs Delany's income was much smaller than that of most of her friends she was aimost totally free of the day-to-day household activities of cooking and cleaning that most women in the late twentieth century have to attend t~."~'
Hayden is considered the art historical expert on Delany. She has curated two Delany eshibits: one in 1986 at the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York (with C. Ryskarnp, Sally
Aall, Sybil Cohnolly). and the other in 1988 at the Holburne Museum, Bath (with Barley
Roscoe). Hayden wrote the section on Delany for the 1997 publication of the Dictionary of
6!Paul Hulton as quoted in Hayden. Mrs. Delany and Her Florver Collages, 14.
"Hayden, Mrs. Delany and Her Flower Collages, 153. An exam-:le of one of the small mistakes that Hayden rnakes is when she daims that Keate's poern is about Delany's influence on Georgina, when it is about Dclany's influence on Keate's daughter.
63 Hayden, ,Mrs. Delany and Her Flower Collages, 1 27. 24 Ir'ornen .drtists. In this short text it is apparent that Hayden may have had more exposure to feminist theory, for she states that, "In an age when morals among men were lax, she
[Delany] was indignant at the harsh judgements imposed on women and deplored the insecure financial position of women on rnarriage?' Hayden is very knowledgeable regarding Delany's Iife and seems to be the only contemporary scholar to be focusing on
Delany's art practice; for these reasons her work is central to my study of Delany.
Delany's Inclusion in Histories of Women Artists
Ellen CIayton included Delany in her 1876 work entitled English Fernale Arfists.
Clayton includes al1 of the usual biographical information, and surpasses earlier sources regarding Delany's drawing, painting, shell-work and collage. The following quote is indicative of Clayton's attitude towards Delany:
Thus we regretfûlly take leave of a grateful, talented, industrious Englishwoman [Delany]; an artist ingrained; one quick to perceive beauty - be it the loveliness of a hurnan face or the prettiness of a wayside flower; glorving with aesthetic fire and aspirations, an example to daughters, wives and fiiends; faithfiil unto death; devout, but not ascetic; pure, but not prudish; dignified, but not proud; loyal, but no sycophant; loving and kind, tender and
It is clear from the above that Clayton is not a feminist art historian; she is careful to present
Delany as the idealised modest female artist, whose personality and persona1 relationships are more important than her artistic merit.
Germaine Greer was the first art historian to wite about Delany from a feminist perspective. Greer included a page about Delany in her book, The Obstack Race: The
dJR~thHayden, "Mary Delany," Dictionary o/Wonren Arfisfs Editor Delia Gaze (London: Fitnoy Dearbom, 1997): 444.
''Ellen Clayton, English Female Arrisrs, 2 Volumes (London: Tinsley Brothers, 1876): 142. Forlzines of Women Painters and Their Work (1979). She began with the following statement about Delany:
She was a cultivated, vital, interested and interesting person, who worked as a leaven in the society of her day, stimulating al1 her fiiends to artistic and intellectuaî activity, noting, appreciating and criticising al1 that happened around ber?
Although 1 do not believe that Greer meant to trivialise or objectiQ Delany, several of the
'facts' that she chose to report seem to do just that. Greer wrote that, "Although not rich or beautifiil, she became the centre of a brilliant circle of charming and dever women whose only enemies were sloth and self-importance.'"' Mar does her physical appearance have to do with her artistic production? 1 believe this is simply repeated because Greer found mention of it in eighteenth-century ~ritings,in which Delany was considered an exception to a long established discourse on the woman artist as celebrity, beautifid object, and ad~rnrnent.~~
Greer wrote that Detany's collage method was "... a totally original method for which she could have had no teacher While this is tme with respect to uaditional artistic training. to Ieave questions of influence unquestioned seems to place this invention in the mythical and rnagical category of the work of the 'genius'. Delany does not fit into the categories of traditional art liistory; Greer appears to realise this and quickly acts to put
Delany back into her 'non-artistically trained place' i~ththe following criticism: "...the iack
66 Germaine Grccr, The Obsracle Race: The Fortunes of CVomen Painrers und Their fVork (New York: Farrar Straus Girous, 1979): 29 1.
"Parker and Pollock, Old iCfistresses.29. 26 of proper artistic training is only evident in her placing of this marvelIous structure upon her page, painted du11 black by herse~f."'~It is almost as though Greer fears that the reader may think she is claiming a place too great for Delany and attempts to remedy the situation by telling us that, "Although these gentlewomen did not allow themselves to attach too much importance to their work, they imposed the highest standards of taste and execution."" Does this impIy that we should do the same and be careful not to attach too much importance to
Delany's work?
1 would suggest that Greer had not yet given enough consideration to the sexist tendencies of traditional art historïcal method. Deborah Cherry writes of the "...need for caution in deploying the tools which have contributed to women's omission and negation.""
Greer's closing statement, "The result was not high art, but an art made for living, refined and unassuming, as the ladies themselves were ..."73, serves to perpetuate the subjugation of
Delany as an artist.
The subject of Mary Delany is taken up by Rozsika Parker and Griselda Pollock in a chapter of their book Old iMistresses (198 1) entitled "Crafty Women and the Hierarchy of the
Arts." They describe Delany as follows:
Mary Delany was the daughter of a landowner and her art was typical of the amateur work done by women of her clas. She painted, copying Old Master pictures and making portraits of family and female fnends in oil and crayon. She embroidered clothing, hangings and coverings. She decorated playing cards, made ornamental
"Greer, 29 1.
''Deborah Cherry, "Introduction: What's the Difference, or Why Look at Women's Art?" Painting Women: Vicrorian Wornen Artisrs (London: Routledge, 1993): 5.
"Greer. 29 1. shell-work, designed fiirniture, spun wool, wote and illustrated a novel, and invented papier colle. The extent of her art activity was extraordinary, psrhaps exp!ained by the fact that she was widowed twice and childless, but it was not exceptional. Walpole devoted a chapter in the fifth volume of his Anecdotes of Painting to "Ladies and Gentlemen Distinguished by their Artistic Talents." Although the "ladies" become the butt of his humour, "The poetry, paintings and playing of severai young women ... may properly be called Miss Doings", he has nothing but praise for Mary Delany and wrote gallantiy to her that "he could not resist ye agreeable occasion of doing justice to one who had founded a new branch", a reference to herpapier colle, or "paper mosaic", as he called it, which she began at the age of eighty. Using scissors, coloured paper and paste she created roughly one thousand botanically accurate illustrations of flowers and shrubs in ten voiumes known as Flora Delaniea. An embroiderer's knowledge of colour and texture is evident in this superb work. Each stamen, shadow and surface is cut out, each tiny variation of colour recorded by a separate sliver of paper."
This passage is typical of Parker's and Pollock's aim to focus on the distinct ways in which gender and class shape the ways women have negotiated their particular positions in artistic and social structures. The emphasis here is placed on the fact that Delany created art, not from a unique and solitary position, but rather that she worked within a long "amateur" tradition of "crafi" ~vorkthat helped her to create her fIower collages. Taken out of the context of a larger work, the statement that Delany's art practice is not "exceptional" may seem a bit harsh. This statement is not meant as a qualitative one, but is meant to place
DeIany within a tradition of other lesser known female artists of her day. Parker and Pollock warn against creating the solitary heroine:
The existence of the larger community of women artists to which she belonged is obliterated by the mystifying notion of individual genius. Within such an ideology artists become exceptional beings and women become e~ceptions.'~
"Parker and Pollock, Old Misrresses, 65.
"Parker and Pollock. Old Mistresses, 29. 2 8 Janice Farrar Thaddeus, a literary critic and a self-proclaimed ' herstorian', twote an article under the title of "Mary Dehy. Mode1 to the Age." in 1994. This work is primarily concerned with Delany's attitude toward marriage, and with revising the "... Victorian mode1 for Delany, to restore the facets of her character that Lady Llanover found unacceptable, and hence to retum her to her proper historical place in the eighteenth cent~ry."'~Thaddeus contends that Delany gained control over her situation in life by writing down her thoughts and experiences for her intimate friends." Thaddeus writes:
The most important factor in Delany's general success, even in adverse circumstances, was her ability to contain her experience, and to objectifi it, through Ianguage. She defined in speech, in leners, and in her ongoing autobiography, as clearly and sharply as she couId, the society in which she found herself and her place in it. To her chosen, private, ferninine audience she named her options and reinterpreted convention^.^'
Thaddeus attempts to expose Lady Llanover's active construction of Delany with statements such as the following:
She [Lady Llanover] even excised such tame comments as one about breast cancer, and another about a painter who liked "fine fat white backs" and had painted Hagar with such a back ..... She carefùlIy removed Delany's description of a boat ride where she had laughed so hard that her fellow passengers 'swore I bewater'd my self and refused to exonerate her until it became inarguably clear that the boat was leakir~~.'~
Thaddeus's work is important to my study because she asks important questions regarding how to study Delany:
These facts are a bare outline. What are we to make of them? How can we put this woman into the complexity of history? How can we read the intricacy of history in
'Thaddeus, 1 13.
77Thaddeus, 114.
''Thaddeus, 12 1.
'?From a letter written by Mary Delany on 19 March 1728 as quoted by Thaddeus, 133- 134. the tests she has left us? Lady Llanover's portrait reflected her own assumptions about how women ought to be, and 1 will struggle to avoid that kind of agenda."80
Thaddeus's work will serve as an exarnple for my own; 1 seek to re-read and re-frame Delany within contemporary feminist and art historical thought, white remembering to present her within the context of her own time and situation.
The most recent art historical feminist source on Mary Delany can be found in
Whitney Chadwick's Women, Art, and Society (1996). Chadwick w-rites the following passage:
Mary Delany (1700-1 788) was seventy years old when she began to produce collages of cut paper flowers mounted on sheets of paper coloured black with India ink. The collages, botanically accurate and life-size, drew high praise from botanists and from artists; Joshua Reynolds claimed never to have seen such "perfection and outline, delicacy of cutting, accuracy of shading and perspective, harmony and brilliance of coloLu~.~'
While this passage is very brief, it is interesting that Chadwick supports her praise of
Delany's work with a quote from Reynolds, the founder of the British Royal Academy. What are the implications of Delany's reported acceptance? How do quotations from Walpole and
Reynolds shape Our reaction to Delany's art? 1 am not questioning the significance of
Reynolds' words, but 1 do think that left unquestioned they may give the impression that
Delany's work was accepted on the terms of the Royal Academy. 1 would suggest that it was particularly because she worked outside of that system, and thus was not seen as a challenge to it, that Reynolds felt free to compliment her. iMy Own Theoretical Framework
"%addeus, 1 17.
Whimey Chadwick, Wornen, Arr, and Society (London: Thames and Hudson, 1996): 15 1. 3 O My own approach focuses on the social and political conditions that inspired women to create 'alternative' artistic mediums for themselves. What does this phenornenon tell us about eighteenth-century Engiish culture? What does the fact that these new media have been predominantiy ignored or marginalised by three centuries of art historians tell us about the study of art history?
1 will consider how the hierarchy and distinction between 'fine art' and 'crafi' acts to a1Iow wornen artistic expression, while simultaneously denying that women are capable of creating 'art'. 1 will aIso consider how the titles of 'professional artist' and 'amateur artist' act specifically within a patriarchal framework to devalue the art production of women.
While the extent of Delany's work is substantial, 1 have no intention of exoticising her as an exception, or of presenting her as a solitary woman artist. The humanist tradition of revering the individual artist as hero often divorces individual expression from social conditions of production and circulation. 1 intend to contextualize her work both within and outside of the scientific and artistic cornmunities of eighteenth-century England. Delany's work is a single exampIe of the outstanding art work produced by women who worked within the amateur tradition.
Delany's art practices were accepted by some of the most highly respected figures of her day; 1 wish to explore the ways in which she negotiated her particular position, in order to both create art and find acceptance in a society which rejected the notion that women could indeed do just that.
Although 1 may not preient any new biographical nor archival facts, my work will be significant as 1 aim to rcifrarne Delany with the many issues raised by feminist research in the arts. ,My work mi11 be conducted from a feminist perspective, however 1 will be careful not 3 1 to represent Delany or her art work as being 'feminist'. 1 intend to use feminist theory in order expose how her gender af3ected the ways in which her art was produced, viewed, and discussed. 1 wiil draw upon the feminist interventions devised by Griselda Pollock, Deborah
Cherry, Rozsika Parker, and Lisa Tickner in order to subvert the sexist tendencies of the discipline of art history. Parker and Pollock write that,
Women artists are not outside history or culture but occupy and speak fiom a different position and place within it. We can now recognize that place, that position, is essential to the meaning of western culture, for the opposition, ferninine, ensures masculine meaning and masculine d~minance.~'
This theory makes it possible to defend the specificity of women's experiences while refûting that stereotypes are natural and an inevitable condition. 1 recognise that al1 historical writings are formed in the present, and that the present is historically shaped. 1 recognise that in order to subvert today's gender imbalances it is crucial to examine their roots in the past in the light of my present theoretical position. Cherry writes that,
Addressing the formation of historical records in the past and in the present is necessarily central to a feminist politics of knowledge. The historical archive is a fissured, fragmentary monument to the pst, shaped in and by historically specific relations benveen power and lcnowledge which have determined who is recorded, when, where, and hod3
1 will reread and reconstnict the historical texts, in order to conduct a more searching analysis
Delany's position as an artist in eighteenth-century British culture.
"Parker and Pollock, O!d Mistresses, 80-8 1. s3Cheny,6. CHAPTER 3: SUMMARY BIOCRAPHY OF MARY DELANY
Mary Granville Pendarves Delany was born at Coulston, a srna11 village in Wiltshire,
England on 14 May 1700.~She was the third child bom to Colonel Bernard Granville and
Mary Westcornbe; Bernard was their first, Bevil the second, and Anne the last. Colonel
Granville was a younger son of a younger son, a situation which ensured his family of the position of poor gentlepeople with a highly esteemed narne. The Granvilles were a proud family; they claimed descent fiom Rollo, the first Duke of Nomandy, and often recalled how
Mary's great-grandfather, Sir Bevil Granville, had died for King Charles 1.
DeIany's early childhood education took place at a twenty-student school run by
Mademoiselle Puelle. When Delany was eight years old she was sent to live with her childless aunt Lady Anne Stanley at Whitehall, where she was to be groomed as a Maid of
Honour for Queen Anne. Delany's education at Whitehall included instruction in English,
French, histox-y, music, penmanship, needlework and dancing. She was especiaily fond of her music lessons. Delany was given her own harpsichord, which she had the honour of hearing played by her family's fiiend, George Frederick Handel. According to family legend, Delany began to play her harpsichord upon Handel's departure, and when asked if she thought she would one day play as well as the great composer, she replied: 'If 1 did not think I should, 1 would burn my instr~ment.'~'
In 17 14 Queen Anne died leaving no heir; this situation was very difficult for the
Granville farnily, who had been long-time supporters of the Jacobites. The Whig party
"The majority of biographic information which 1 use in my summary of Delany's Iife is found in the work of Hayden and Paston.
8 5 Hayden, hlrs. Delany and Her F/ower Collages, 16. 33 opposed the restoration of an exiled Stuart to the throne, and carried through the succession of George, Elector of Hanover. Delany 1ost al1 hope of becoming a Royal Maid of Honour.
Bernard Granville \vas arrested for his pst political affiliation with the Jacobites and held in the Tower of London, and his two daughters narrowly escaped sharing his imprisonrnent.
Bernard Granville was not of sufficient importance to be detained long; he was quietly let go and retired to a country estate in Buckland, Gloucestershire.
In 17 17 hlary Delany received an invitation from her uncle, Lord Lansdown, to visit hirn at Longleat in Wiltshire (Figure 2). At first Delany was happy there, for her uncle had collected a fine library and, as a poet and playwright, offered her many interesting conversations. Throughout her life, books gave Delany access to numerous areas of study which would have been closed to her otherwise. Books provided Delany with a socially acceptable opportunity to study art criticism, art history, literature, botany, mineralogy, and astronomy. The following letter to her niece is indicative of the high value placed by Delany on reading:
Reading wiII not only make you wise, but good in a senous way; and supply you with infinite entertainment in a pleasant way. Reading will open your mind to every ingenious art and work, and by observing how amiable a well informed person makes herself and how much esteem'd, it wifl raise your desire of being the same, and make you take pains to deserve as mucheg6
The enthusiasm and critical interest that Delany had for reading about art is evident in the following letter to her sister:
We have read Mr Richardson's "A Young Painter's Lertersfrom Abroad [1722]," which are entertaining, and give a particular account of Herculaneum - the city found under ground, and supposed to have been destroyed in the great eruption that Pliny gives an account of in his Letters; and now we are reading Spence's Polymetis, that
E6Frorna letter written by Mary Delany on 1 Aug. 1779 to Miss Port as quoted by Llanover, II, ii, 447. explains several of the most curious painting and sculptures of the ancients; it is witten in a very good style and a very lively clear mariner."
Both Richardson's A Young Painrer 's Lerrers from Abroad, and Spence's Polymetis are about aspects of art history.
Delany read and comrnented upon eighteenth-century literature fiom a perspective that is ofien overlooked or unrecorded - the female perspective. For exarnple, after reading
Samuel Richardson's Sir Charles Grandison, Delany wrote the following: "Had a wornan written the story, she would have thought the daughters of as much consequence as the sons, and when 1 see Mr Richardson I shall cal1 him to an account for that faur-pas.""
At the age of seventeen, Delany was introduced to Mr Alexander Pendarves of
Roscrow, who \vas nearly sixty years old and prornptly asked for her hand in mamage.
Delany later \rote:
I forrned an invincible aversion to him, and everything he said or did by way of obliging me increased the aversion. 1 thought him ugly and disagreeable. He was fat, much afflicted with gout, and often sat in a sulien mood, which 1 conclude was from the gloominess of his ten~~er.'~
Deiany kvas pressured by her family to accept this proposal of rnarriage in order to secure an economical alliance between the t-wo families. On 17 Febmary 17 18 she married Alexander
Psndarves at the chape1 at Longleat. Delany wote the following about the new union:
"...when I was led to the altar, 1 wished from my sou1 I had been led, as Iphigenia was, to be sacrificed. I was sacrificed. 1 lost not life, indeed, but al1 that makes life desirable - joy and
"From a letter written by Mary Delany on 10 Nov. 1750 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, ii, 6 1 5. Polymefis or, An Enquity Concerning the tVorks of the Roman Poets and the Rem-aim ofthe Ancienr rlrri~tswas written by Dr. Joseph Spence in 1747.
''Frorn a lstter written by Mary Delany on 2 1 Dec. 1753 as quoted by Woolsey, 1.44 1. s9From a letter written by Mary Delany as quoted by Paston, 13. 35 peace of rnind...".gO During this sad marriage Delany was confined to the house, as a nurse to her husband's terrible case of gout. During her long hours by his side she read and developed her skills with the needle. One of the happy features of her life during this marriage was the development of one of her closest and truest friendships. Her younger sister, Anne Granville
Dewes, acted as Delany's main confidente from the 1720s to Anne's death in 1761. (Figure
3) Letters between these sisters were frequent and honest; Delany wote the following of her sister in 1720:
From that time 1 had a perfect confidence in her, told her some of my distresses, and found great consolation and relief to my mind by this opening of my heart, and from her great tenderness and friendship to me.9'
In 1724 Alexander died without having made the will which should have made Delany heiress to his property; his estate went to his niece and Delany was lefi with just enough to live on.
Delany remained a widow for the next nineteen years; she exercised her freedom to travel by visiting ireland, developed many life-long friendships, and practised nurnerous art forms. While living in London dunng the 1730s, Delany resided near and developed a great friendship with Handel. It was also during this period that she met and befriended Margaret
Cavendish Harley, the Duchess of Portland (1 7 15-1785) (Figure 4). During Delany's visit to
Ireland in 173 1 she met Dean Swifi and her second husband. Dr. Patrick Delany, a minister and a man of humble origins (Figure 5). She wrote the follo~vingabout her first meeting with
Dr. Delany:
w From a letter written by Mary Delany as quoted by Paston. 18.
"From a letter written by Mary Delany as quoted by Hayden, Mrs. Delany and Her Flower Collages, 36. 36 His wit and Iearning were to me his meanest praise; the excellence of his heart, his humanity, benevolence, charity, and generosity, his tendemess, affection, and friendly zeal, gave me a higher opinion of him than any other man 1 had ever conversed with, and made me take every opportunity of convershg and corresponding with one fiom whom 1 expected so much improvement.n
Patrick Delany saw Mary as an intellectual equal; she wrote that, "Dr. Delany is as agreeable a cornpanion as ever I met with, and one who condescends to converse with women, and treat
thern like reasonable creatures."" In early June 1743 Mary and Patrick Delany married. The twenty-five years of their marriage, spent mostly in Ireland, with occasional visits to
England, was to be a tirne of great happiness for thern both. Patrick Delany was a supportive husband, giving Delany his constant encouragement to persevere in hcr artistic works. In
May of 1768 Patrick died.
In the following years, Delanfs good friend, the Duchess of Portland, invited her to make long visits to her home of Bulstrode, near Gerrard's Cross, Buckinghamshire. This proved to be a very stimulating environment for Delany; she met politicians, explorers, botanists, gardeners, artists, actors, u~iters,church dignitaries and members of the royal
family. In 1771 Delany bought her o~mhome on St. James's Place, London, where she had regulx visits from her grand-niece, Georgina Port. From 1772 to 1787 Delany developed and produced her farnous Fiora Delanica. Failing eye-sight forced Delany to halt production of her art work in 1782. After this time she spent much tirne with the Royal family and entertained many young popular w-riters, such as Fanny Burney and Hannah More, the latter of which described Delany as "a living library of kn~wled~e".~~In 1785 the Duchess of
"From a letter written by Mary Delany in 173 1 as quoted by Woolsey, 1, 1 16- 1 17. g3Froma letter written by kiqDelany as quoted by Thaddeus, 1 16.
"Hannah More as quoted by Dewes, xii. 37 Portland died and King George III and Queen Charlotte provided Delany with an alIowance and a home at Windsor. On 15 Apd 1788, at 1 1 am, Mary Granville Pendarves Delany died from an inflammation of the lungs.
Delany lived a public and well-recorded life; she was a member of a famous Tory family, and friend to Handel, Swift, Pope, Fanny Burney, the Duchess of Portland, King
George III and Queen Charlotte. (For a timeline of important events in Mary Delany's life see Appendix 1).
Mat has been overlooked in the majority of the histories of Mary Delany is the fact that she held many beIiefs and opinions that do not fit with her image of the perfect gentlewornan. For instance, she was a member of the famous eiçhteenth-century feminist croup nicknamed the Bluestockings. The Bluestockings have been credited with the C popularisation of the salon in London, but they also had other motives, such as their aspirations ro a life of leaming and writing.'>' Delany's and the Duchess of Portland's
Bluestocking activities generally consisted of attending small dinner parties, or occasional visits to the home of Mrs ~ontagu?'
On 3 hdarch 1739 Delany, along with some of her Bluestocking friends, stormed the
House of Lords, demanding that women be allowed to listen to proceedings. The dsbates that were being held were concerned with rumours of the harassrnent of the English rnerchant fleet by Spanish customs officiais; there were drmands for reprisais‘ and calls for wax. Lady
Mary Wortley Montagu described the scene as follows:
"S y t v i a Harcstark Myers, The Bluesrocking Circle: Wonien. Frienakhip, and the L fe of the Mind of Eighteenth Centzrr), England (Oxford: Clarendon, IWO): vii. A tribe of dames resolved to show that neither men nor laws could resist them. These heroines were lady Huntington, the Duchess of Queensbury, the Duchess of Ancaster, Lady Westmoreland, Lady Cobham, Lady Charlotte Edwin, Lady Archibald HamiIton, and her daughter, Mrs Scott and Mrs Pendarves [Mary Delany] and Lady Francis Sanderson. 1 am thus particular in their names since 1 look upon them to be the boldest asserters and most resigned suffered for liberty 1 have ever read of. They presented themselves at the door at nine o'clock in the morning, where Sir William Sanderson respectfully infomed them that the Chancellor had made an order against their admittance. The Duchess of Queensbury, as head of the squadron, pished at the ill-breeding of a mere lawyer, and desired to let them upstairs privately. Afier some modest refusals, he swors by G- he would not kt them in. Her Grace with a noble wannth, answered by G- they would corne in, in spite of the Chancellor and the whole House. This being reported the Peers resolves to starve them out; an order was made that the doors should not be opened till they raised their siege. These Amazons now showed themselves qualified for the duty even of foot soldiers; they stood there till five in the afiernoon, with neither sustenance nor evacuation, every one and then plying volleys of thumps, kicks, and raps against the door, with so much violence that the speeches in the House were scarce heard. When the Lords were not to be conquered by this, the two Duchesses (very well apprised of the use of stratagems in \var) commanded a dead silence of half an hour; the Chancellor, who thought this a certain sign of their absence, he Comrnons also being very impatient to enter, gave order for the opening of the door - upon which they al1 rushed in - pushing aside their cornpetitors, and placed themselves in the front rows of the gallery. They stayed there till after eleven, when the House rose; and during the debates gave applause, and showed marks of dislike, not only by smiles and winks - which have always been allowed in their cases - but by noisy laughs and apparent contempts; which is supposed to be the true reason why poor Lord Hervey spoke miserably ... You must onm this action very well worthy of record, and 1 think not to be paralleled in history, ancient or modem.97
While Delany's involvement in this political protest does not prove that she was a 'feminist' in the modem sense of the word, it does indicate that she was aware of gender-based prejudice. Other examples Delany's writings that show her awareness of gender inequalities are as follo~vs:
173 1-1 732. ... they [men] have so despicable an opinion of women, and treat them by their words and acts so ungenerously and inhumanely ....' tis my general observation . on conversing with them: the minutest indiscretion in a woman (though occasioned
"Lady Mary Wortley Montagu as quoted by Hayden, Mrs. Delany and Her Fiorver Collages, 54-55. by themselves) never fails of being enlarged into a notorious crime; but men are to sin on without limitation or biarne; a hard case, - not the restraint we are under, for that I extremely approve of, but the unreasonable licence tolerated in the men.9'
16 March 1 75 1. Why must women be driven ro the necessify of marrying! a state that should always be a matter of choi~e!~~
Undated. ... there is one error which most fathen run into, and that is providing too li!rie for daughters; young men have a thousand ways of improving a little fortune, by professions and employments, if they have good fnends, but young gentlewomen have no way, the fortune setiled on them is ai1 they are to expect - they are incapable of making an addition.'()"
Delany's observations and opinions regarding her society's gender biases were negotiated in
such a rnanner that they were not threatening to the srutris quo. What becomes clear during a detailed examination of Delany is that although she publicly appeared to be a perfect
gentlewoman, there are numerous ways in which she negotiated ingenious scholastic,
political, artistic, and scientific roles for herself.
--.p. 9SFroma letter written by Mary Delany in 173 1-1 732 as quoted by Paston, 65-66.
99 From a letter written by Mary Delany on 16 March 175 1 as quoted by Johnson, 186.
'@'Frorn a letrer written by Mary Delany as quoted by Hayden, Mrs. Delany and H2r Florver Collages, 39. 40 CHAPTER 1: MARY DELANY'S PURSUIT OF SClENTIFIC KSOWLEDGE
Before science became formalised in tenns of institutions and professions, scientific activity took place not only in academies, but also in public lecture halls, private residences, and in the out do or^.'^' General interest in the natural world played an important role in the
European Enlightenment; it was a thewhen fashion, commerce, and social values put science on the list of preferred forms of leisure. Botany became particularly popular with the introduction of exotic plants from newly colonised parts of the world. British botanical gardens were established in the eighteenth century, most notably at Kew in 1759, housing b both exotic and native fl~ra.'~'
The combination of art, science, and gardening in the field of botany inspired the interest of rnany people. During the eighteenth century numerous books, magazines, essays, poetry, and handbooks on topics concerning botany were widely read by men, women, children. This favourable climate allowed women to participate in botanical study as audience and agents - reading, studying, illustrating, collecting, researching and witing about p~ants.'03
Throughout history women have studied plants in their work as care givers and healers. Herbals, illustrated volumes about plants which flourished with the spread of printing, served botanical and medicinal purposes as handbooks for plant identification, and
'OIAnn B. Shteir, ':The Pleasing Objects of our Researches: Women in Botany," Women and History: Voices of Enriy Modern England, editor Valerie Frith (Toronto: Coach House Press, 1995): 145. lo:S hte ir, Culrivaring CVomen Cultivaring Science, 1 I .
'03Shteir."The Pleasing Objects of our Researches: Women in Botany", 145. 4 1 as accounts of culinary and medicinal uses of plant^.'^ Delany, like many other eighteenth- century women, participated in this tradition. The following excerpts are some of the natural remedies which Delany shared with her fiiends and family:
[A cure for tooth-ache] Little frefoil leaves, primrose leaves andyarrow pounded, made inro a linle pellet und put to the tooth or tied up in rnuslin und held between teeth-'''
[A cure for coughing] Two or three snails boiled in her barley-water, or tea-water, or whatever she drinks, might be a great service to her; taken in time they have done wonderful ctrres - she must know nothing of it - they give no marner of taste. It would be best nobody should know it but yourself, and should imagine 6 or 8 boiied in a quart of water strained off and put into a bottle, adding a spoonful or two of that to every liqtrid she takes. They must be fresh done every 2 or 3 days, othenvise they grow too thick.'06
[A cure for worms] 1 am told by a very wise woman, that quick-silver-water is the most effectua1 remedy for wonns that can be taken, and must be continued constantly for a year together, and the elixir may be taken at times. A pound of quick-silver boiled in a gallon cf water till half the water is consumed away to be constantly drank at his meals or whenever he is dry.'''
One of Dclany's contemporaries was Elizabeth Blackwell, who combined the herbal tradition nith artistic ski11 in her book A Curiotis Lierbal (1 737-1 739). Blackwell drew, etched, engraved, and hand coloured five hundred illustrations of plants. For each plant she included botanicai descriptions and their names in several languages, along with information about mediçinai uses, drawn from conternporary botanical te~ts.'~'
1% Sliteir, Cdrivuring ZVonlen Cldrivaring Science, 37.
'05From a letter written by Mary Delany on 8 Aug. 1758, to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, iii, 504.
Io0 From a lener written by Mary Delany as quoted by Hayden, Mrs. Delany and Hzr Ffoiver Collages. 76.
I0'From a letter written by Mary Delany as quoted by Hayden, Mrs. Dclany and Her Fforver ColIages, 76. las Shteir, Cidtivating Women Cultivaring Science, 39. 42 Botany became part of the eighteenth century upper-class w-oman's general education.
An enthusiasm for nature and a dedication to al1 flora became an important attribute of the feminine ideal.lw Botany was deemed appropriate for women because it acted in accordance with ideas about women's nature and 'natural' roles; it was considered to be an elegant home amusement, which involved no killing, cruelty, nor dissecting."' Feminists have long recognised the culturally imposed association of women with nature, the implications of which are often the subjugation of women."' On the whole, the botanical work that women did was treated as an activity for female leisure, for 'amusement' and 'recreation'."* Queen
Charlotte embodied the popularity of botany as a conventional activity for women. Her example helped to associate botany with family and appropriate leisure, and acted to encourage women's entry into plant study."'
Proficiency at the art of botanical drawing was among the many skills which belonged to the roster of conventional accomplishrnents for girls of higher social class.
Many books were published during the eighteenth century specifically to provide females with instruction regarding the drawing of flowers. One example of such a book is The Lady's
Drarving Book (1 753) written by Augustin Heckle 'to engage the FAIR SEX to a profitable
Improvement of their Leisure Hours,' by teachings them to draw and paint flowers."' G.
lmParker, The Sz~bversiveStitch, 1 17.
"OShteir, Cultivaring Wonten Czrltivaring Science, 35.
"'Sherry Ortner, "1s female to male as nature is to culture?" CYomen. Cultirre andsociety, editors M. Rosaldo and L. Lamphere (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1974).
"Sh teir, Czrltivaring CYomen Cultivaring Science, 3 5.
"S h te ir, Cdfivating CVomen Cultivaring Science, 36-3 7.
' "S h te ir, Culrivaring Women Cul~ivatingScience, 4 I . 43 Brown's A .Veril Treatise on Floioer Painting, or Every Lady Her Orvn Drarving Master (3rd
ed., 1799) taught its reader how to hold a pencil, mix complicated colours, and inctuded
uncoloured outline drawings of flowers to be filled in.'"
Women became the unpaid work force behind botanical study as plant collectors,
illustrators, and students of taxonomy. However this participation was only to be a private
one; they were excluded frorn formal participation in the public institutions of botany and science. Women could not be mernbers of the Royal Society or the Limaean Society, could
not attend meetings, read papers, or, with few exceptions, have their findings published in the joumals of those s~cieties."~Although there had been acclaimed female flower painters,
such as Mary Moser and Rachel Ruysch, and illustrators, such as Madeleine Basseporte and
Maria Merian, it was not until the nineteenth century that significant numbers of women were
professionally employed in botanical illustration.'" There was a place for women in
eighteenth-century botanical illustration, but it was a private place. Women like Delany
could practice botanical illustration, but not for economic gain or professional recognition.
In the 1760s the spread of the Linnaean system, a classificatory scheme for grouping
and naming plants, contributed to cultivating interest in botany in England, and in making
botany accessible to different groups and levels of enthusiasts."' Car1 Linnaeus, the Swedish
scientist whose system of classification revolutionised botany and remains the basis of plant
' ' 'S hteir, Culrivaring Wonlen Culrivaring Science, 43.
'"?Shteir, Czririvating Women Culrivaring Science, 3 7.
"'Gill Saunders, Picruring Plants: An Analyrical History ofBoranical illrcsfrarion,(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995): 108.
"*Shteir. Czrlrivating Women Cultivaring Science, 3. taxonorny today, counted what he called the 'male' (stamens) and 'femaie' (pistils) reproductive parts of flowers, thereby classiQing plants according to Classes and Orders.
Based on the number of stamens in a flower, Linnaeus divided the vegetable kingdom into twenty-three Classes, plus one class for non-flowering plants. Linnaeus chose names for the
Classes based on the root andria ("male"); thus flowers with one stamen became Class 1,
Monandria; those with two became Class 2, Diandria; and so on. He then divided the Classes into Orders, based on the number of pistils, or the female part of the plant. He chose the root gynia ("female") for that designation; for example, flowers with one pistil became
Monoçynia.' ''
Many women, including Mary Delany and the Duchess of Portland, were devote followers of the Limaean system. From 1760 to 1830, botany in England was on the whole
Limaean botany; the relatively easy to understand Linnaean taxonomie system is found in eighteenth-century magazines, novels, popular books, verse, art, garnes, and public lectures.'2o The Limaean focus on the flower inspired much illustrative work that borders the categories of fiower painting and scientific illustration."'
During the eighteenth century botanical illustration became an important and popular tool of both descriptive and systematic botany.'" George Dionysius Ehret (1 708- 1770) was one of the best known botanical illustrators of eighteenth-century England; his work is prized
119 Shteir, Culfivahg Women CulfivaringScience, 1 3- 14.
"OShteir, CulfivafingWomen ~uliiiafin~Science, 30.
"'Saunders. 96.
' "S hte ir, Cirltivating tVomen Culrivaf ing Science, 3 9. 4 5 for its austere beauty and the precision of his flower portraits (Figure 6). He worked closely with the Linnaean classification system, and his greatness lay in his ability to fulfil the requirements of scientific illustration without sacrificing naturalism. From 1749 to 1758 he taught many upper class English women to paint plants and flowers; arnong his pupiis were
Mary Delany, and the two daughters of the Duchess of Ponland.13 It is certain that Ehret was a great influence on Delany; he too worked on a life-size scale, dated his work, noted the garden from which he collected his sample plant, and had his work described as 'flower portraits'. Where Ehret and Delany differ is in Ehret's attempt to improve upon nature and smooth out the imperfections, while Delany chose to show insect bites and other signs of the natural world because she believed that al1 that existed in nature \vas a reflection of God's beauty (Figure 7).
Female botanical interest was also apparent in fashion trends of the eighteenth centuq. Silk designer Anna maria Garthwaite ( 1690- 1 763) created realistic botanical patterns, which portray flowers in naturalistic sizes, shapes, and colours and even show the plants7 roots."' In 1741 Mary Delany attended a party at Norfolk House given by the Prince of Wales. She was most impressed by the Duchess of Queensbury's drrss, which she described in the following letter:
...the bottom of the petticoat brown hills covered with al1 sorts of weeds, and every breadth had an old sfump of a free that run up almost to the top of the petticoat, broken and ragged and worked with brown chenille, round which twined nastersians, evy, honeysuckles, periwinkles, convolvuluses, and al1 sons of hvining flowers which spread and covered the petticoat, vines with the leaves variegated as you have seen them by the Sun, ai1 rather smaller than nature ... the robings and facings were little
"'Shteir, Culrivaring IVomen Culrivaring Science, 40.
"'S hteir, Ctdrivaring tvornen Culrivaring Science, 4 1 . green banks with al1 sorts of weeds, and the sleeves and the seat of the gown loose twining branches of the same sort as those on the petticoat: many of the Ieaves were finished with gold, and part of the stumps of the trees looked like the golding of the Sun. 1 never saw a work so prettily fancied, and am quite angry with myself for not having the same thought, for it is infinitely handsomer than mine, and could not cost mzrch more.'"
It is clear that Delany was impressed not only with the carefùl depiction of a variety of plants, but also with the designer's choice the plants within realistic landscape.
Eighteenth-century botanical illustration in fabric design and needlework represents the ingenuity which women exhïbited in order to create their own media of botanical study. By practising botanical illustration on the decorative surfaces of the domestic realm, these women were able to escape social disapproval and the accusation that they had infringed on male scientists' domain.
Many women of the British aristocracy participated in botanical study by collecting plants. One of the most active aristocratie collectors of the eighteenth century was the
Duchess of Portland. She had the energy, time, and finances to cultivate her extensive interest in botany and natural history. The Duchess of Portland opened her collections to the public, welcomed naturalists to study her holdings, and commissioned plant hunters to send her exotic specimens frorn around the globe. She was hostess to many notable horticultural botanists, and a rnatron to botanists and botanical artists who came to her estate at Bulstrode
Park in Buckinghamshire to catalogue her piants and develop a pictorial record of her
'"From a letter witien by Mary Delany in 174 1 as quoted by Hayden, Mrs. Delany and Her Flower Collages, 45. 47 One of Deiany's collecting episodes was recorded in the following letter to her
Mr. Lightfoot and botany go on as usual; we are now in the chapter of Agaricks and Boletus 's, &ce,&c. this being the time of their perfection, and her Grace's [the Duchess of Portland] breakfast-room, which is with al1 the productions of that nature, are spread on tables, windows, chairs, which with books of al1 kinds, (opened in their useful places), rnake an agreeable confusion; sometirnes notwithstanding 12 chairs and a couch, if is indeed a Iittle dzflcult to find a sear!... First course ended - second almost - when her Grace, looking most earnestly at the road in the park, with a countenance of dismay, - 'A coach and six! My Lord Godolphin - it is his livery, and he always cornes in a coach and six, take away the dinner ...what will he think of al1 these greut p~jfballs?'"~
There was no limit to the types of scientific activity that Delany and the Duchess of Portland shared:
3 Dec. 1753. Friday moming was very busy with the duchess, looking over some new acquisitions of shells, agates, mocoes, and a thousand fine things; consulting how things were to be placed in her new dressing-room, and many more things too nurnerous for a ett ter."^
27 July 1774. The Dss of P. has been setting in scientifik order al1 her ores and rninerals, of which she has a most beautifûl collection, and makes the best use of her treasures by considering them, as Milton does - "These are thy glorious w~rks."'~~
The significance of their shared companionship and interests are best summarised by Delany in the following excerpt:
1 feel loath to leave the perfect tranquillity of this place and enjoyment of the Dss' Company; we read and like the same books, we talk them over without interruption,
II6Shteir, Culrivaring Women Cultivaring Science, 47.
"'From a ietter written by Mary Delany on 3 Sept. 1769 to Mary Dewes Port as quoted by Llanover, II, i, 238.
'"Frorn a letter written by Mary Delany on 3 Dec. 1753 to Anne GranviIle Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, iii, 249.
"''From a letter written by Mary Delany on 27 July 1774 Rev. John Dewes as quoted by Llanover. II. ii, 19. 48 n-e are fond of the sume works; and the pleasures of these occupations are increased by participation ... 130
Delany was an avid collecter of botanical and biologicai specimens; she was dways on the lookout for new plants and insects, whether she was taking a short walk or making a joumey of several miles. The following excerpts illustrate how closely she examined the plants and how she noted details in nature which enabled her to create her realistic flower designs :
1745- 1749. 1 looked for mosses and herbs, but found no new sorts, part of the verdure is very fine.i3'
19 May 1747. In Our walks this morning we were much amused in finding a variety of fine caterpillars, but 1 can't say any uncommon sorts except one, which some inhuman foot had crushed to dsath, with a head as green as an emerald, and the body shades of browns and golden colour. Another great pleasure to us, was hearing and watching the lark singing, as he soared, hovering, wavering, and fluttering fkom side to side as he varied his strains, and at iast dropped down to the grass to meet his mate. How many naturai and exquisite delights daily poured down on us from heaven, are daily lost upon us for want of a leisure moment to attend to hem, or a heart sufficiently grateful to acknowledge them, of which this instance of the hrk is at once a fine emblem and proof."'
Dec. 1754. 1 am sony 1 have not been able to contnbute lately to your Bulstrode herbal; the good weather we have had for walking has been frosty, which is not good for garhering leaves and flo~ers.'~'
2 Sept. 1758. We examined every blade of gras for new plants, but found only a purple flower, four-leaved like a star; it shuts up in the middle of the day, it is of a violet colour. 1 want to know what species it is of? but fear before it reaches you, it
'j°From a letter written by Mary Delany on 28 Nov. 1774 to Bernard Granville as quoted by LIanover, II, ii, 74.
'"From a lener written by Mary Delany as quoted bi~ohnson, 166.
"'From a letter written by Mary Delany on 19 May 1747 while at Park Gate as quoted by Woolsey. 1,342.
IJ'From a lener written by Mary DeIany in Dec. 1754 while at Bulstrode as quoted by Woolsey, 1,456. will be too much withered for you to find out its family? 1 \vil1 watch for the seed and Save it. A little yelIow and white flower we found, like linaria, but grows thimer.13'
1763. Sally [Delany's god-child] and 1 saunter abroad a good deal in the cool part of the day, bnng home handfuls of wild plants and search for their names and virtues in Hill - but he is not half so intelligible as old Gerard.13'
Not only did Delany collect a great number of botanical specirnens, but she did so with the greatest of scientific skill. Her collecting techniques were scientific, serious, and detailed.
This is illustrated in the following letter to her niece Mary, which was written in response to some coal and shells that Mary had sent her:
...y ou rnust inform us of their birth and parentage, particularly of some brown moss- like substance that \vas pack'd into the largest cockle, and a little brassish, copperish, goldish thread-like stuff adhering to a bit of date or coal, and which has puzzled even Mr Lightfoot to find out without you inform us where they were found, whether on rock or tree, or bog? you must be very minute in your account; nothing less can satisQ such accurate enq~irers."~
DeIany's specific terminology for her flower collages is indicative of her knowledge of botany. She ofien referred to her paper collages as horrzis sicctis, Latin for dried garden, and a term used in botanical study for a collection of dned flowers.I3' Delany also called her collages Flora Delanica, which is a play on her name and a reference to a Flora, a book devoted to a complete description of the plant life of one specific country or region."' While
Delany did not hite her own botanical treatise, she \vas well read in the field, and on 18 Oct-
'34Froma lener written by Mary Delany an 2 Sept. 1758 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, iii, 508-9.
"'From a lener written by bIary Delany in 1763 as quoted by Hayden, Mrs. Delmy and Her Flotver Collages, 68.
'36Froma lener written by hfary Delany as quoted by Hayden, Mn. Delany and Her Florver Collages, 1 15.
"SSaunders, 125. Floras began to appear in the second half of the eighteenth century. 50 1769 she strirted her own manuscript copy of Hudson's Ffora Anglica, u-hich was published in London 1762. This manuscript fills 474 quarto pages, including an appended List of the
Genera in Latin. Delany added her own notes, thirty-nine drawings of the crystalline forms of minerais, and the names of fifiy-four species of the Sysrema Lapidzim of Limaeus with twelve pages of English descriptions of ti~em."~
Throughout Delany's lifetime she came into contact with some of the most influential botanists and natural scientists of the eighteenth century. Many of these meetings were recorded by Delany in Ietters, inc1udir.g the following excerpts:
3 June 1752. \Ne proposed going to-day to the famous Lord Trimleston, the great florist and physician of the country: he has a very fine collection of exotics ... I JO
4 Oct. 1768. Mr Ehret is very busy for the Duchess of Portland, he has already painted above a hundred andjify English plants, and now they are collected together their beauty is beyond what we have a notion of, particularly the water plants! but poor Ehret begins to cornplain of his eyes, he has hurt them with inspecting leaves and flowers in the microscope in order to dissect them. Surely an application to natural beauties must enlarge the mind? Can we view the wonderfûl texture of every Ieaf and flower, the dazzling and varied plumage of birds, the glowing colours of flies, &c., &ce,and their infinite variety, without saying "Wonde$iZ and rnarvellous art thou in all thy worh! " And this house, with al1 belongings to it, is a noble school for such compliment^.'^'
3 Sept. 1 769. Mr. Lightfoot and botany go on as usual; we are now in the chapter of Agaricks and Bolerus S, &c., &c. this being the time of their perfection, and her Grace's breakfast-room, which is with al1 the productions of that nature, are spread on tables, windows, chairs, which with books of al1 kinds, (opensd in their usehl places). make an agreeable confusion: sometimes notwithstanding 12 chairs and a couch, it is indeed a linle difticulr to find a ~ear!'~"
'ï'Woolsey, II, 1%
"OFrom a letter written by Mary Delany on 3 June 1752 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, iii, 129.
"'From a lctter written by Mary Delany on 4 Oct. 1768 while at Bulstrode as quoted by Woolsey, II, 143.
"'From a letter written by Mary Delany on 3 Sept. 1769 to Mary Dewes Port as quoted by Llanover, II, i, 238. Autumn 1769. Mr Ehret is here and the Dss is very busy adding to her English herbal; she has been transported at the discovery of a nerv wilciplanr, a Helleboria ... Mr Lightfoot has deserted us. The briars of the law have laid hold of him when he would much rather pursue the briars of the hedges! But next week we hope will restore oubotanical master; en attendant we have Mr Ehret, who goes out in search of curiosities in the hngus way, as this is now their season, and reads us a lecture on them an hour before tea, whilst her Grace examines al1 the celebrated authors to find out their classes. This is productive of much learning and of excellent observations from Mr Ehret, uttered in szrch a dialect as sometimes puzzles me (though he calls it English) to find out what foreign languape it i~.'~'
17 Dec. 177 I. We were yesterday together at Mr [Joseph] Banks's [in London] to see some of the fruits of his travels, and were delighted with paintings of the Otaheitie plants, quite different from anything the Duchess ever saw so they must be very new to me! They have brought the seeds of some of them which they think will do here; several of them are blossoms of trees as big as the largest oak, and covered with flowers that their beauty can hardly be imagined; there is one in particular (the narne 1 cannot recollect) that bears vast flowers, larger and somewhat of the appearance of the largest poppy when full blown. the leaves are al1 firngid; the petals that are like tlireads, are at the calyx white, by degrees shaded with pale purple, and ending with crimson .14"
10 Oct. 1774. 1 believe I wrote you word that Mr Lightfoot was retumed from CornwalI, from whence he has brought several curious rviZdplanis; but much disappointed with not having been able to get any of the curious rninerals; and so was 1, for he toid me if he succeeded 1 should come in for a little share: no amusement gives me so much pIeasure as my shells and fossiIs, and every acquisition, tho' ever so small, if good of its kind, adds to my pleasure. 1 hope it is not only the beauty and variety that delights me; as it is impossible to consider their wonderful construction of form and colour, form the largest to the most minute, without admiration and adoration of the great Author of nature. Every thing of that kind now bears an enormarcs price, so that were it not for the Duchess of Portland's bounty, I have small chance of additions to my co~lection.~~'
1.43 From a letter written by Mary DeIany in the Autumn of 1769 to Mary Dewes Port as quoted by Hayden, Mrs. Delany and Her Flo yer Collages, 1 06-1 07.
IJ4Froma lener written by Mary Delany on 17 Dec. 177 1, to Bernard Granville as quoted by Woolsey, 11, 1 85.
1.45 From a letter written by Mary Drlany on IO Oct. 1774 to Bernard Granville as quotcd by Llanover, II, ii, 39- 40. 52 In 177 1 Dt-lany met two of the world's most eminent botanists, Joseph Banks (1 743-1 820) and Daniel Solander (1733-1782), who made a visit to Bulstrode afier they had retumed fiom a trip around the world. In JuIy of 1778 Solander and Claz Alstroemer (1 736-l796), a
Swedish botanist and explorer, visited Bulstrode. While they were there Delany created a collage of a 'Stewartia Malacodendron', and wrote her niece the following: "Dr Solander etc. came, as expected and 1 am now going to get a botanical lecture and to copy a beautifid flower called ~tuartia."'~'On 18 April 178 1 Delany referred to a meeting she had with Sir
Ashton Levers, the founder of the Leverian Museum of Natural i-iistory, and in 1785 she met
~vithDr Richard Pulteney, physician and botanist, and Dr Joseph Warton, Headrnaster of
Winchester College."'
It is only in Delany's references to interactions with famous botanists that she belittles her knowledge of the natural sciences:
9 June 1757. Yesterday a charming man dined here - a clergyman, his name Bighton, an enthusiast in botany: you may imagine what a herbal must have been produced by him and her Grace! 1 sat by in silent admiration, like a lady who 'liked to hear Greek though she did not understand it,' had you been there you [Anne Granville Dewes] would have been qualified to have borne your share in the ~onversation.'''~
2 1 Sept. 1768. Sir William Musgrave is expected here to day, which 1 am glad of for the Duchess's sake; they will botanize charmingly (and 1 shafl corne in for some scraps of knowledge) ....14g
""From a lettcr lvritten by Xlary Delany in July of 1778 as quoted by Hayden, Mrs. Delany and Her Flower Collages, I 4 6. - '."L lanover, II, i ii, 1 4; and Hayden, Mrs. Delany and Her FIower Collages, 1 65.
'"'From a letter written by Mary Delany on 9 July 1757 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Woolsey, 11, 37.
""From a Ietter written by Mary Delany on 21 Sept. 1768 to Mary Dewes Port as quoted by Llanover, II. i, 168. I cannot te11 you how busy we have been in examining the varieties of stalactites, selenites, Iudus helmontii, &. &. Much Iearning 1 have heard, some of which 1 hope 1 have retained. [Undated letter regarding nudying minerals with Mr Lightf~ot]'~'
Her modesty regarding scientific pursuits was not limited to botanical interests; while visiting
Bulstrode during the late 1730s, Delany had the opportunity to study astronomy. From the following escerpt it appears that she wished to keep this pursuit private:
This morning, as my master and 1 were drawing, and examining circles, who should corne in but blr Robert Harley. 1 blushed and looked excessive silly to be caught in the fact; but the affair, which 1 have endeavoured to keep secret, is discovered, and I must bear the reflection of those who think me very presuming in affemptingto be wise. 1 shall never aim at talking upon subjects of that kind, but the little 1 gain by these lectures will make me take far more pleasure in hearing others talk.'"
This sense of modesty is understandable in light of Delany's precarious position between the n.orlds of science and high society. DeIany may have utilised these modest sentiments as insurance that she would be accepted by both of these distinct communities. By belittling her knowledge and understanding of botany Delany was able to interact with professional botanists while ensuring that these men were not be chalknged by her participation.
The popularity of the field of botany during the eighteenth centu~was an important opponunity for women's inclusion in the scientific pursuit of knowledge. Mary Delany, alonç with many other women, entered botanical study in the areas of classification, botanical medicine, illustration, and collection. These women participated in the study of botany under gender specific terms: most received neither professional recognition nor financial gain, did not belong to official botanical societies, and most importantly, took this opportunity to invent their own specifically female realm of botanical study. The eighteenth
'50Froma lener written by Mary Delany quoted by Hayden, Mrs. Delany and Her Flower Collages, 1 15.
15 1 From a letter written by Mary DeIany benveen 1736-1740 as quoted by Paston, 103. 54 century is rich with ingenious exarnpIes of women's botanical illustrations; wornen invented opportunities for botanical illustration that range frorn textile design, to assemblages of shells, to paper collage. CHAPTER 5: MARY DELANY'S ARTISTIC PRODUCTION
Mary Delany was an artist of many media; she embroidered, sculpted with shells, drew, painted in oils and water-colours, cut paper silhouettes, and collaged botanicai illustrations in paper. In the following chapter, 1 plan to examine fûlly the body of Delany's work. This chapter is organised according to artistic medium; this will aid in my attempt to present Delany's different types of art work, how the works were constructed, and why they were made. 1 have aiso chosen to present each type of medium in a chronological order based on Delany's introduction to it; it is my aim to illustrate how al1 of her artistic activities influenced each other and played a significant role in her invention of paper collage.
Delany's Attitude Toward Artistic Activity
Before 1 begin my discussion of the specific details of her work, it is important to understand Delany's attitude toward artistic production. Delany was an incredibly motivated artist; her husbmd, Patrick Delany, is moured to have told friends that she was so industrious with her needlework that, 'She works even between the coolings of her tea.'"'
She described a typical day as follows:
We rise about seven, have prayers and breakfast over by nine. In the mornings D.D. [Patrick] makes his visits, 1 draw; when it is fair and he walks out I go with him: we dine at two; in the aftemoon when we can't walk out, reading and talking amuse us till supper, and after supper make shirts and shifts for the poor naked wretches in the neighbourho~d.'~'
'52Hayden, Ah. Delany and Her Flower Colfages, 9 1.
I5'From a letter written by Mary Delany on 1 1 June 1745 as quotcd by Johnson, 146. Delany spent her leisure time on the activities which she thought were productive amusements, such as various types of art work and educational pursuits. She wrote the following letter in 1733:
Nothing betrays so great an idleness of mind, as that perpetual seeking oui of something to divert thought; and where people have talents for more rational entertainment than that of shuffling and dealing cards, it surprises and provokes me beyond al1 patience.'"
Every so ofien this dedication to artistic production got in the way of Delany's social life.
An example of such an event is found in the passage below:
When we were al1 comfortably settled, the young ladies with their work and Mr Hamilton preparing to read to us, rap, rap at the door; and in came Mrs CIayton, but she was in one of her besr hrtrnours, walking in the garden, and excusing my going, so 1 painted on. In the evening she called on Mrs Hamilton in Anne Street, and told her of her visit. "There," says she, "1foztnd one painring and another dabbing, so I thought they wanted not rny Company, and 1 walked into the garden," and there she found D.D.as busy with his pickare and spade, and his Iaboztrers round him, as we were in the h0~se.l~~
Delany rnay have called her artistic interests "quiet amusement^"'^^, but 1 would suggest that this is not al1 that they were; these activities not only provided Delany with amusement, but more irnportantly with an artistic outtet. Mary DeIany's artistic creativity is reflected not only in the high quality of her work, but also in the wide variety and sheer volume of her artistic production.
Needlework:
'"From a letter written by Mary Delany in 1733 as quoted by Hayden, hlrs. Delany and Her Flower Collnges, 95.
'sSFrom a Ietter written by Mary Delany on 3 Nov. 1759 as quoted by Llanover, 1, iii, 572-3.
""From a letter written by Mary Delany on 17 June 1 773 to Rev. John Dewes as quoted by Llanover, II, i, 5 19. 5 7 The medium of needlework was alrnost exclusively the dornain of women in the eighteenth century. Women were encouraged to omament every conceivable surface; decoration in itself suggested a refined, tastehl life-style. The act of embroidery symbolised the domestic virtues of tireless industry, selfless service, and praiseworthy thrifi.'57 The gender specific and socially condoned nature of needlework opened up opportunities for fernale invention and ingenuity.
Mary Delany began to practice needlework, her longest ruming and rnost prolific artistic medium, as a child. Among the many objects Delany embroidered are coverings for chairs and sofas, bed hangings, aprons, dresses, handkerchiefs, and quilts. Delany continued to practice needlework until her dying day; she wote the following excerpt in 1784: 'Lmy works have gone on slow and sad, till the enlivening hour of a summons to the drawing- roorn, and there 1 meet with a check from the sympathising lamentations at the board of cross stitch, and the table of diligence.""'
The ability to produce needlework while in the company of other women helped to create strong fernale artistic communities. Delany often made mention of quilting in the company of friends; '-Yesterday morning 1 for the first day since 1 came worked four hours at nly @ri[[, and Mr Greene read to us. Bushe painted, and Mrs Greene made a night-gown for
"'Parker and Pollock, Old Misfresses,6 1.
"'Frorn ri letter written by Mary Delany on 23 Dec. 1784 Miss Hamilton as quoted by Llanover, 11, iii, 243. 5 8 a little boy.""' and "...Miss Ford reads to me whilst 1 worked at my quilt till the gentlemen came home to dinner."'60
These shared activities served not only as companionship for the women involved, but also provided invaluable artistic resources. For example, these communities of needlework artists provided original designs for each other. It is evident from the following letter that Delany both designed patterns for her friends, and executed patterns designed by her friends;
1 don't know what to do about the pattern for Miss Mordaunt; 1 am asharned not to have done it, it sounds like such a trifle, but I really have not rime to do many things that are more necessary to be done: 1 will enclose you Mrs Hamilton's fine pattern, and desire when they have done with it to retum it.I6'
Since needlework was most predominantly rdegated to the domestic realm of display, these women also acted as audiences to whom women could show their art works. Informa1 as they wre, the communities of wornen who gathered together to create needlework gave each artist companionship, expertise anistic advice, and exposure to an audience.
One of Delany's greatest works in needlework was also one of the only examples which was displayed in public. Delany designed and executed the needlework on her own extravagant court gown. Her dress was in the style of the middle of the eighteenth century; it had a stomacher ~vhichfonned the front bodice, an over-skirt with a rococo border, and a pett icoat which fronted the skirt (Figure 8). 16' Delany embroidered hundreds of coloured
"'From a iener written by Mary Delany on 13 lune 1747 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, ii, 465.
I6'Frorn a letter written by Mary Delany in August 1750 as quoted by Woolsey, 1,374.
I6'From a letter written by Mary Delany on 30 June 1750 as quoted by Wooisey, 1. 368.
I6'Hayden, Mrs. Delany and Her Flower Collages, 90-9 1. 59 flowers on the black silk background of her dress (Figure 9). A surviving sketchbook reveals that she drew out many of the larger flowers beforehand (Figure Delany's embroidery of autumn leaves was so realistic it is thought that she may have had them specially dyed to produce such subtlety.'" 1 think it quite likely that Delany was writing of the embroidery on her court dress wlien, in the summer of 1750, she wrote; "1 have finished a rose, a tulip, an auricula - with their leaves, since rny coming, and a dab of a knot stitch that 1 began three years ago."165 Each flower on this dress \vas different; Delany did repeat some of the same species, but every flower had a unique twist or curl that made each individual. Lady
Llanover described the dress as follows:
The border at the bottom being entirely composed of larger flowers, in the marner in which they grow, both garden and ivifd flowers being intermingled where the form, proportions and foliage rendered it desirable for the effect of the whole. For instance, the top of a upright hoIIyhock, buds and flowers, with some of the broad green leaves are side by side with a wild thistle of the same height, entwined with the wild pink convolvulus, also a thick spray of wide-leafed myrtle placed upnght, and so on with sprays of orange flowers, &c., &ce,al1 arranged to nearly the same average height, (though higher in the centre,) with sufficient thickness of their own leaves to form a mass of foliage relieving each other by their different shades of greens and browns, with little of the black ground appearing till the flowers and buds at the top of each spray required such a relief to throw out their delicate outlines .At is worthy of remark that aIthough the whole design is in perfect proportion, and every spray and ribbon exactly balanced by its cornpanion, that there is not a leaf or flower which is a duplicate of the other, and in al1 Mrs. DeIany7sdesigns the same thorough mastership of the art of design is apparent; for she had studied nature too long and too closely not to have impressed upon her rnind the invariable law of nature, - that although sverything harmonises nothing is ever an exact duplicate of the ~ther.'~~
'"Hayden, Ah. Delany and Her Flower Collages, 90-9 1,
161Hay den, Mrs. Delany and Her Flowcr Collages, 9 1 .
'bsFroma letter written by Mary Delany in Aug. 1750 as quoted by Woolsey, 1,375.
'66Llanover, II, iii, 504-505. 60 Among the numerous flowers that Delany embroidered on her court dress were the bugloss, auricula, honeysuckle, wild-rose, yellow and white jessarnine, hawthorn beny, sweet pea, love-in-the-mist, li1y-of-the-valley, forget-me-not, anemone, tulip, convolvulus, blue-bell, rose and many othen.'"
So popular were flowers as a subject matter for embroidery, that by 1740 the tems 'to embroider' and 'to flower' were interchangeable." The popularity of botanical subjects for embroidery is closely tied to the fact that it was predominantly wornen who worked in this medium, and that in the eighteenth century there was a tendency to identiQ women with t~nrl~re."9Other contributing factors to the popularity of flowers as subject for embroidery were their ease of accessibility, infinite variety of shape and colour, and traditional use as decorative subject.
Needlework is a good example of an established artistic medium which has been feminised to the extsnt that it is considered a 'fernale' art fom. This gender-based categorisation created a socially safe and acceptable way for women to express themselves visually. There is much ingenuity evident in eighteenth-century needlework produced by
British women.
Shells:
In 1733 Mary Delany confessed the following: "1 have a new madness, 1 am niming wild after ~hells.'"'~Many English gentlewomen took up the collection of shells in the
'"Hayden, Mrs. Delany and Her Flower Collages, 90-9 1.
'68Parker, The Subversive Stirch. 1 19.
'''Parker and Pollock, Old Mistresses, 58.
"°Frorn a letter written by Mary Delany in 1734 as quoted by Johnson, 98. eightetlnth century. One of the largest contributing factors to the popularity of shell collecting in Britain were the voyages of exploration conducted by Captain James Cook from
1768 to 1779. The officers and crew of these three expeditions brought large quantities of shells home to Britain, al1 of which they sold for profit."' Shells were sold in shops, financially troubled families auctioned off their shell collections, and travellers retumed home with barrels of shells."'
What is most remarkable is not this new found interest in collecting, but rather the ingenuity involved in the invention of a new artistic medium, the shell-work. These sculptural creations were constructed of various types of sea shells placed in stucco (Figure
1 1). The artist composed the shetls in order to depict a wide variety of popular subjects, from the flower to the chemb. Women who did shell-work knew no boundaries when it came to deciding which surfaces to decorate with shells; they worked on everything from the garden grotto to the candelabra. Some shell-~vorkswere lefi unpainted, but many were painted white to give the appearance of the finest carving in stucco.
Delany became interested in shell-work during her first visit to Ireland in 173 1; it \vas there that she decorated the first of many grottoes. She and Mrs DoneIlan were incredibly dedicated to the task of covering the Bishop of Clogher's grotto at Killala; a typical day would start at seven, with the women cornposing the shells and the men of the party fetching, carrying, and mixing mortar."' Delany also decorated numerous small objects, such as
"'S. Peter Dance, A Hisrory ofShell Collecring (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1986): 69.
I7'Hayden, Mrs. Delany and Fier Flower Collages, 1 02.
"' Hayden, Mrs. Delany and Her Florver Collages,48. This is an important example of men assisting wornen in an artistic project; al1 too ofien we are only presented with historical exarnpIes of the opposite. 62 shelving brackets, a niche in her garden, picture frames, frames for rnirrors, and curiosity boxrs &ring the 1740s and 1750s.~'' Her large scale shell-work projects include: grottoes at
Sir John Stanley's at North End, Bishop of Clogher's at Killala, and her own at Calwich and
Delville; mosaic work in the interior of the Chape! at Delville (Figure 12); garlands of shell- work on the panels of a room at Stoke Edith; and candeIabras of shells for Bulstrode and
One of Delany's favourite shell-work projects was to decorate elaborate lustres (a popular eighteenth-century term for candleholders). There are many references to these works in her letters, which inctude explmations of designs, technical discoveries, and cornrnentary on continuous work. Delany first mentioned decorating a lustre on 3 Oct. 1745:
"My shell lustre 1 wrote you word I was about, was finished ten days ago and everybody
Iiked it. 'Twas a new whim and shows the shells to great ad~antage."'~~The following esccrpts give a good image of Delany's drive and dedication, evsn in the face of initial failure:
22 Sept. 1750. 1 have pulled my old lustre to pieces, and am going to make one just like the ~uchess's."'
28 Sept. 1750. To regale and compose me, the Hamiltons have promised to breakfast with me to-morrow, and assist me in sorting shells, for now 1 am al1 ivhip and spur to -cet my lustre revived. 1 have stripped it of every shell and scraped it to the bone. 1
"'Woolsey, 1,329. 25 Jan 1745-6; Woolsey, 1.391. 1 1 June 175 1; Woolsey, II, 42. No Date, 1757 or 1758; Dewes, 128; and Dewes, 128.
'75Llanover,II, iii, 499-507.
'"From a letter written by Mary Delany on 3 Oct. 1745 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Woolsey, 1, 320.
"'From a letter written by Mary Delany as quoted by Woolsey, 1, 376. have now more choice of shells than when 1 made it, and hope the second edition will be more correct than the first."'
6 Oct. 1750. ... making up my shell-lustre, has taken up every sarne hour that has not been intempted by company! 1 will not lay by either [Clarissa] till I have finished them. Last Monday I staid at home and gave full indulgence to my indust~y."~
13 Oct. 1750. 1 have al1 this week worked most indusû-iously at my lustre; two momings more will finish the work. Mrs Hamilton (of Usher's Q.) has began an imitation of carving with shells and pasteboard, to be fixed on the ceiling to hide the pulley, for the line to pass through that holds the lustre, it cannot be finished in a day, and I shall endeavour to prevail on her 20 Oct. 1750. 1 have worked like a dragon this week at my lustre, and completed it on Thursday. 1 am now glad the old one was destroyed - this 1 think prettier, D.D. calls it the Phoenix: it was a vat work, every shell dried and sorted, and nobody assisted me, but Mrs Hamilton one morning made sorne of the flow~ers.'~' SrnaIl shell-works, like the lustres, were lefi in their natural colours, but the larger works were painted white to give the appearance of carving. A good example of the latter is described in the following letter regarding Delany's decoration of her and Dr. Delany's privats chapel in Delville, Ireland: My chief works have been the ceiling of the chapel, which 1 have formerly described, done with cards and shefls in imitation of stucco. In the chance1 are four Gothic arches. two on each side, made also of shells in imitation stucco, that arches no deeper than the thickness of the shells, to take off the plain look the walls would have without them. The wreath round the window is composed of oak-branches and vines made of cards; the papes, nuls, and furge perhvinkles. the corn, reaf wheat painted, a11 to look like stu~co.'~' "8From a Ietter written by Mary Delany as quoted by Woolsey, 1. 378 ""From a lctter written by Mary Delany as quoted by Llanover, 1, ii. 599. '"From a letter written by Mary Delany as quoted by Johnson, 179. '"Frorn a letter written by Mary Delany as quoted by Woolsey, 1, 38 1. '"From a lener written by Mary Delany on 15 Sept. 1759 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, iii, 564-5. 64 Delany did not limit herself to botanical subject matter; she decorated the dining room of her Irish home at Delville with cherubs' heads, tasselled nbbons, and a hook-nosed Roman ernper~r.'~'Delany's shells becarne small birds in another room at Delville. S hell-work was an occupation which perfectly suited Delany's interests; it combined her Iove of art with her passion for the study of the natural world. Delany treated her shells ~vithinfinite respect; she was forever organising and figuring out new ways in which to display them. She was careful to distinguish between rare and common shells, the latter of which she used in her large grotto proje~ts.'~In 1717 she wrote: '-We are very busy in settling al1 my drawers of shells, sorting and cleaning them. 1 have a new cabinet with whole dass doors and glass on the side and shelves within, of whimsical shapes, to hold al1 my k ben~ities."'~~Another example of Delany's enthusiasm for shells is found in the following: "...and we are as eager in sorting out shells? placing them in their proper degrees, making lines, pluroons, rampnrw, as the King of Prussia in the rnidst of his arrny, and as fond of our own compositions."'s6 While organising her shells Delany occupied her thoughts with ideas for new projects; she wrote, "Now we are rummaging and sorting shelk, and rnaking preparations for a thousand works more than we shall have time to fini~h."'~' 183 Hayden, 1Lfr.s. Delany and Her Fioiver Coiiages, IO 1. Unfortunately, Delville was destroyed in the 1930s and al1 that remains of Delany's on site shell-work are a few grainy photoçraphs. I RI Hayden, Mrs. Delany and Her FIarver Coihges, 102. 'ssFrom a letter wrinen by Mary Delany on 1 1 July 747 as quoted by Woolsey, 1, 346. 18bFroma letter written by Mary Delany in 1757 or 758 as quoted by Woolsey, II, 42. "'From a letter written by Mary Delany on 20 Nov. 1749 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover. 1, ii, 522. 65 It is clear that Delany gained much of her artistic inspiration from the natural world. What might be less clear to the modem reader is how intricately connected Delany's love of nature was with her religious love of God."' In 1734 Delany wrote: "...the beauties of shells are as infinite as of flowers, and to consider how they are inhabited enlarges a field of wonder that Ieads one insensibly to the great Director and Author of these w~rks."'~~According to Delany, al1 that \vas beautifid in the natural world was proof of a beneficent God; any worship of natural beauty was in fact worship of God. Delany's shell-works are rarely mentioned in historical accounts of her. A rare exception is found in the work of C.P. Curran, the author of Dublin Decorarive PIasrenvork of the Seventeenth and Eighreenth Cenruries (I967), who wote the following passage regarding Delany's shell-work: It was not a mere affair of arranging shells to an agreeable pattern. The various shells were coloured for different flowers and were set on edge disposed in concentric or natural forms, the petals achieving the effect of the finest stucco in high relief.'90 With positive reports such as the above it is difficult to imagine why scholars have not paid more attention to her shell-works. 1 propose that there are many possible reasons for this. One reason for the lack of contemporary interest in her shell-work may be that they are hard to study tvhen only a small nunber have survived. 1 think it more probable that shell-works were and are not studied because they fa11 outside of the traditional confines of sculpture, and Parker, The Subversive Stirch, 122. "'Frorn a letter written by Mary Delany on 7 June 1734 as quoted by Paston, 86. 190C.P. Curran, Dublin Decorarive PIasterwork of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries (London: Alec Tiranti, 1967): 94. 66 because they have the stigma of being decorative work done by women for the domestic sphere. Shell-work is a prime example of one of the 'alternative' media developed by women during the eighteenth century. This type of work was within the socially acceptable realm of artistic practice for women. The development of shell-work was the result of the growing popuiarity of the study of the natural world as a past-time for women. Women were encouraged to pursue the study of biology and botany on an amateur level. One of the most popular activities involved in this study was the collection of various shell and plant specimens. 1 would suggest that it was the combination of collecting practices and the tradition of decorating various surfaces with needlework that led to the creation of shell- work. During the eighteenth century, women had a certain level of agency within the study of nature. It \vas that freedom that allowed women to create and experiment with representations of shells and flowers. Drawing: Drawing was one of the only 'high' art forms that women were encouraged to practice in the eighteenth century. Women were primady encouraged to draw as a leisurely activity, with the intention of arnusing themselves, capturing the likenesses of friends and family, and/or recording images of beauty. Cultivation of drawing as a female accomplishrnent often consisted of extensive artistic instruction. Mary Delany's training in the art of drawing began as a child while she was living with her aunt Lady Stanley.'9' Over time Delany became acquainted with several important 67 artists, many of whom added both forrnally and inforrnally to her anistic education. In 173 1 Delany was offered artistic advice by William Hogarth; she wrote the following excerpt: Hogarth has promised to give me some instructions about drawing that will be of great use - some rules of his own that he says will improve me more in a day than a year's learning in the cornmon wvay. 19' AIthough there is no further reference to these lessons in her conespondence, it is probable tliat she accepted this offer as she greatly admired Hogarth's work.19' In 1734 Delany wrote the following letter: 1 hope Mr. Pond \vil1 help me too, for his colouring in crayons 1 think the besr 1 have seen of any English painter - it tries my eyes less than work, and entertains me better; I aim ar everyrhing, and will send you a sarnple of what 1 am about, but don? design to colour till 1 am more perfect in my drawing 1 tried one landscape, and fine it so easy, that 1 am almost tempted to stick to that sort of dra~ing.'~" Arthur Pond was a prominent London portrait painter, print seller, and art dealer. Pond gave painting lessons to many distinguished women of the eighteenth cent~ry.'~~Delany would continue to receive lessons from successful artists throughout her life, She \vas also taught by the following professional artists - Joseph Goupy, Bernard Lens, and Francis ~a~man.'~~ It is clear from the above that Delany was highly trained in the arts of drawing and painting. Although she did not receive institutionalised artistic tutelage, she was neither a naive amateur nor miraculously self-taught. '"Frùrn a letter wrirten by Mary DeIany in the sumrner of 173 1 as quoted by Paston, 58. 19J Louise Lippincon, Selling Arr in Georgian London: The Rise oj'rlrrluir Pond (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983): 68. 'g"Froma letter written by Mary Delany in June of 1734 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Johnson, 100. 195 Lippincott, 9. 1 %Lippincott. 68. 68 Delany recorded all that caught her interest. She would work on any scrap of paper; for exarnple once she sketched Dr. Delany's robust figure on the back of an envelope (Figure 1 3).19' Another casual mode1 was described in the following letter to her sister: 1 am glad my drawing pleases you. 1 endeavoured to keep up to the originals, but fear 1 have done them an injury, particutarly Ha Ha. Regular features may easily be expressed, but there is a certain agreeable air that no limner can hit off, where there is a great deal of variety it will pose the most skilful to describe."' Delany spent rnany an hour with her sketch pad, usually outdoors and recording a view that she thought particularly charming. She described one especially enjoyable day in the following: "On Tuesday the day was so fine that 1 rat on deck the whole day and eat a very good dimer and an egg for my supper, and worked and drew two or three sketches; nothing couid be more pleasant .... Drawing served Delany as photography serves the contemporary traveller; she sketched interesting locations she visited with the intention of shou+ingthem to friends and farnily when she returned home. Examples of this type of drawing are found in the foliowing letters to her sister, Anne: 1 1 June 1745. The ruins of the old cathedra1 are on an eminence just opposite to Wood Island, from whence 1 have taken a drawing.lw 28 June 1745. 1 have drawn a good deal since 1 came here, taken three views, and finished some 1 had sketched out.'0' 197 H ayden, Mrs. Delany and Her Flower Collages, 96. 193 From a lerter written by Mary Delany on 13 March 1728-9 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, i, 20 1. 1'29 From a letter written by Mary Delany on 28 June 1744 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by LIanover, 1. ii, 306. 'OOFrom a letter written by Mary Delany as quoted by Woolsey. 1, 308. "'From a letter wrinen by Mary Delany to Anne Granviile Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, ii, 367. 69 30 Oct. 1 746, Combury. I have taken a sketch of one part, which \vas originally a Stone quarry, and is now improved into the wildest prettiest place you can imagine - winding walks, mounts covered with al1 sorts of trees and flowering shrubs, rocks covered with moss, hollows filled with bushes intermixed with rocks, rural seats, and sheds; and in the valley beneath a river winds and accomplishes the beauty.*02 2 hg. 1748, Clogher. 1 have taken a sketch or two [of the garden], but 1 am diaid I shall not be able to do justice to the original. 1 looked for mosses and herbs, but found no new sorts, part of the verdure is very fine.203 15 Oct. 1748. The weather was stormy al1 the time we were there [Dangan, Ireland], but 1 took a small sketch or two, though I performed rny operation like the witches - in a whirlwind: and 1 had so little opportunity of exarnining the whole disposition of the place, by reason of the bad weather, that 1 can give you but an imperfect notion of i t.20-i 7 Sept. 1756. 1 have given short sketches of our joirrney, ~vhich,1 thank God, upon the whole was a very good one.'05 3 Oct. 1758, Giant's Causeway. 1 took an imperfect sketch of the place, which if 1 can make anything of you shall have a copy. Mrs Dnuy, who took the draughts (of which you have the prints), lived three months near the place, and went almost everyday. 1 can do nothing so exact and finished (Figure 14) Delany also drew images that she had imagined; the following escerpt is evidence of this: "1 have now finished my three and thirtieth drawing for my book, and am reduced to the fruit of rny imagination. 1 have made one landscape after my own whim, which is a favourite of the Dean's. But his partiality takes place of his judgement."lo7 One of Delany's sketchbooks was found among Queen Charlotte's persona1 belongings and auctioned off in '02From a letter wrinen by Mary Delany as quoted by Woolsey, 1, 336. 'o'Frorn a lener written by Mary Delany as quoted by Woolsey, 1. 356. 'MFrom a lener written by Mary Delany to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, ii, 502. '"From a letter written by MqDelany to ~*nneGranville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, iii, 434. 'CGFroma letter written by Mary Delany as quoted by Woolsey, 11, 6 1. '07From a letter written by Mary Delany on 4 Jan 174546 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, ii, 410. 15 19. Another is now in the National GaIIery of Ireland, Dublin; it shows ninety-two sketches, including some of the garden at Delville, scenes in the deanery, her brother's garden at Calwich, and quick portraits of her fiiends (Figures 15 and 16).208 Delany enjoyed working in the Company of other women, and the following letters describe her drawing while with Letitia Bushe: "Tuesday, Bushe painted, and I finished the drawing of Caïwich my drawings have gone on slowly this year. 1 have had so much painting that 1 had nor time for b~th."'~~and "Thursday and Fnday Bushe and 1 worked like dragons; she is finishing a picture in oiI colours for Mrs Hamilton and 1 finishing some dra~in~s.""~ Through detailed study of the drawing practices of Mary Delany, one cmgain a better understanding of what role this medium played in her life. Delany drew in order to record the people, objects, and landscapes that surrounded her. Althouçh informal in its meetings and membership, she did belong to an active artistic community, which provided its members with support and audience. It is evident that Delany manipulated her practice of drawing in order to negotiate a position for herseIf within the world of visual art without upsetting the slulzcs quo. Painting: Similar to drawing, the medium of painting supplied an avenue of artistic expression and freedom for Delany. The combination of her status as an amateur painter, her chosen 'OS Hay den, Mrs. Deiuny and Het- Flower Collages, 96. :09Frorn a letter written by Mary Delany in Feb. of 173 1 as quoted by Johnson, 184. "'From a letter written by Mary Delany in Feb. 175 1 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, iii, 16. 7 1 subject matter, and her practice of making copies of famous paintings made it possible for Delany to paint while complying with the social codes of acceptable conduct for women during the eighteenth century. 1 contend that these specific activities withh the genre of painting were seen as acceptable for women because they were viewed as being separate from those of professional male artists. The fact that Delany did not produce her work for economic gain placed her in a category in which she was not competing with men for either money or respect. She also displayed 'proper' fernale interests in her original compositions, which include nurnerous portraits, still lives, and landscapes, al1 of which were considered appropriate subject matter for female artists as they had to do with the family, household, and nature. Perhaps most interesting are the copies that Delany painted after the work of a wide range of European artists. Because of her high birth and court connections she had access to rnany important coIlections frorn which she borrowed and copied paintings by Paris Bourdon, Rosalba Camera, Correggio, Carlo Dolci, Guido Reni, William Hogarth, Sir Godfrey Kneller, Sir Peter Lely, Carlo Maratti, Raphael, Rembrandt van Rijn, Salvator Rosa, Soldi, Trevisani, Anthony Van Dyck, and Paolo Veronese (Figure 17). It is of the utmost importance to remember that the twentieth century opinion of the status of copying is significantly different from the eighteenth century view of this practice. Today the copy has such a Iow status within the art world that it is generally equated with failure, poor judgement, unsavoury market practices, and che fkaudulence and deceit of forgery."' However, dunng the eighteenth century the act of copying famous paintings - "'Lisa Heer, "Copyists," Dictionaty of CVonren Artisfs, editor Delia Gaze (London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997): 60. served many respectable purposes. For instance, painting a copy was one of the only means with which to achieve a close replica before the development of photo-mechanical reproduction technique^.^'^ Copying was also a primary step in artistic training, and many professional artists continued to copy art works as a way to perfect techniques or to pay homage to favourite artists."' During the eighteenth century, the growing popularity of painting, as a dratving-roorn accornplishment encouraged many women of the upper and middle classes to become involved in the arts.*14 For the majority of thesr women, copying was the only 'safe' form of conventional artistic expression available to them. Women were expected to paint for the following reasons: to fil1 their leisure hours, provide a means of documenting persona1 experience, and introduce themselves to fashionable discourses on art.*I5 Delany's experience as an amateur painter seerns to have been similar to that of many other upper-class wornen. DeIany used painting as a way to relive nostalgie memories; in 1745 she wote: "1 have copied in large one of the sketches of DovedaIe that 1 took when we n-ere there together. How many tender ideas did it raise whilst 1 was drawing it!""l One of her more practicai reasons for copying is ilIustrated in the following quotation: "...when we "'Heer, Dictionas, of Wornen Arrisrs, 55. =I3Heer,Dicrionar)-. of Women Arrisrs, 55. '''Hcer, Dicrionary of Women Arrisrs, 58. "' ~eer, Dicrionaty of Wornen Artisrs, 58. 'I6From a letter written by Mary Delany on 33 Nov. 1745 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, ii, 400. 73 cannot purchase an original, we must content ourselves with the best copy we cmget.'"" Delany also used the act of copying to teach herself how to paint: 1 have just finished a picture which 1 own pleases me the best of any I have done; 'tis from Paul Veronese - St. Catherine, a head with one hand, as big as the life. 1 believe my brother remembers the picture. 1 have finished it as high as possible for me to finish because it will be a sort of study for me when 1 can't get better pictures to copy.'" It is clear from Delany's impressive production and fiom references in her letters that she found painting vecy rewarding. Delany's first reference to painting was written on 2 September 1 736; it seems that she was truly taken with the occupation, because on 19 Novernber 1736 her sister asked a friend to look out for her and not to "let her paint herself blind''."9 But why did she enjoy the act of painting so much? References in her letters suggest that it was the opportunity to challenge her mind that made painting such a captivating pastirne. Delany wote the following about one of her works: ".A amuses my thoughts, and gives me pleasant and cornfortable idea~.""~She frequently wote to friends regarding the difficulty and fnistration involved in painting: she wote that a Raphael painting would "cost me many a groan before 1 finish"; that The Dzrke of Ormond by Sir Peter Lely would "cost me a great deal of pains"; that she "never had so hard a task" as The '"From a lener written by Mary Delany on 16 May 1747 while at Delville as quoted by Woolsey, 1, 344. ''SFrom a letter written by Mary Delany on 21 Feb. 1744 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, ii, 268. ""rom a letter written by Anne Granville Dewes on 19 Nov. 1736 to Catherine Collingwood as quoted by Llanover, 1, i, 577. "OFrom a letter written by Mary Delany on 10 Nov. 1752 to Anne GnnviIle Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, iii, 175. 74 Muciunna and Chikl; and that a painting by Salvator Rosa would be ;'a most difficult task"."' One can imagine that the most rewarding aspect of copying is the satisfaction of having figured out the intricate and subtle elernents that make up a great work of art. In 1 752 Delany was lent Carlo Marratti's painting of the Transfiguration by a Mr. Steward, who later realised that he would like it back as soon as possible. The pressure to finish the painting seems to have inspired Delany to m~iteof it ofien and the resultinç excerpts are of great interest regarding the process which Delany followed in her painting: 19 June 1752. Last Monday 1 sat down to draw out the new picture of the Transfiguration, which 1 have borrowed of bfr steward.'" 4 Nov. 1752. D.D. Patrick Delany] had a message fiom Mr. Steward, the gentleman that owns the picture of the Transfiguration 1 am copying, to desire me to rnake haste ..., Wednesday pai nted. Thursday, Friday ditto. The picture is almost dead- coloured; one more day will do ii.'" 1O Nov. 1752. I painted Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and part of Saturday, for Mr. Steward (to whom the Transfiguration belongs) is in great haste to have it home. They say 1 am going on very well with it, it amuses my thoughts, and gives me pleasant and cornfortable idea~.~' 25 Nov. 1752. I have been very busy at my picture: have painted twice over the upper figures in the Transfiguration. and next Tuesday shall go on with the lower figures."* '"From a lener wrinen by Mary Delany as quoted by Hayden, Mrs. Delany und Her Flower Collages, 96; from a letter written by Mary Delany on 26 luly 1745 to Anne GranvilIe Dewes as quoted by LIanover, 1. ii, 375; from a letter written by Mary Deiany as quoted by Llanover, 1, iii, 2; and frorn a letter written by Mary Delany on 10 Nov. 1759 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, iii, 574-5. ---From977 a letter written by Mary Delany as quoted by Llanover, 1, iii, 133. T'3From a letter wrinen by Mary Delany on 4 Nov. 1752 to Anne Granville Deives as quoted by Llanover, 1, iii, 169. 2'4From a tetter wrinen by Mary Delany as qucrcd by Llanover, 1. iii. 175. '"From a letter written by Mary Delany as quoted by Woolsey, 1,423424. 75 23 Dec. 1752. 1 have not finished rny picture, it has a great deal of work; six whole figures finished as highly as possible - and 1 have had a fortnight's interruption by Mrs Nuen's having sprained her ankle; and D.D.will not let me paint without her, as she saves me the trouble of mixing my colours and cleaning my pen~ils.~'~ 5 Jan 1753. I have not painted for three weeks past, but propose begiming next week. The Transfigzwation 1 am copying, is only thatparf - nof the same as Raphael's which has added to it the Lunatic that was brought to the disciples at the time of Our Saviour's Transfiguration. This is painted by Carlo Maratti: the figures are Our Saviour, Moses and Elias, Saint John, Saint Peter, and Saint James; the Iargest figures are about a foot and half high."' 17 Feb. 1753. 1 have been very eager to finish my picture, and have not used so much exercise as I should, but the weather has been miserably bad; two days' work more 1 hope will complete my picture ....2" 23 Feb. 1753. 1 have at last put the finishing stroke to the Transfiguration, and this morning D.D. has carried home the original, and I hope will see it hung up in its place .... That day 1 finished my picture: it cost me 46 days of 5 hours at a ~ittin~."~ These excerpts give light to the specific nature of the process of copying. It seems to be crucial that the artist have the painting that she or he is copying on hand during the entire process. The original painting is constantly consulted, from the initial mapping out of the ccmposition, to the finishing touches of paint. It is interesting to note that Delany had a persona1 assistant to help her with mixing paint and cleaning brushes. I have found no other references to amateur fernale artists who had assistants, but I do not think it likely that this experience was unique to Delany. Portraiture became one of Delany's favourite genres of painting; perhaps she enjoyed it because of the great challenges it presented her. On 3 Oct. 1745, in a letter to her sister, '"Frorn a letter written by Mary Delany as quoted by Llanover, 1, iii, 187. '"From a lettcr written by Mary Delany as quoted by Llanover, 1, iii, 193. ''SFrorn a letter written by Mary Delany as quoted by Woolsey, 1,426. "'From a lctter written by Mary Delany as quoted by Llanover, 1, iii, 209. 76 Delany mentions her frustration with her mother's portrait: "... my first work will be to give my mother's picture one more painting over - 1 don? like it et."^' On 28 Feb. 1746 Delany writes that she is still stniggling with the portrait and that she "... must give rny mother's picture (1 have copied for you) another painting, it does not content me."=' Delany also painted portraits of Anne GranviIle Dewes, Mrs. Stanford and Mrs. Preston, Letitia Bushe, Mary Dews Port, John Dewes Granville, Court Dewes. Bernard Deu-es, Dr. Patrick Delany, and Catherine Hyde (Figure 18). She wrote the following passage regarding a portrait she painted of her sister: I have apicrztre too, but alas! a feint, feint resemblance! 1 am always vexed as well as pleased when I look at it, for it certainly is a bad likeness, and not well painted; you are much better dritwn in a place where the air cannot fade you, and where justice is done you without flattery; there are not only the outlines and the air of the countenance, the life and sweetness of the eyes, but that sensible penetrating look that /air& shotvs how well the form is a~~irnated.'~' She was so perceptive that she saw portraiture of those that she loved not only in images of themselves, but in images of others; Delany wote the following letter to her sister on 16 Nov. 1751: I forgot the great news of dl, which is that 1 have quite finished the Raphael and fallen in love with a picture of Lady Mazarin, painted by Sir Peter Lely; though 'tis not the painting of the portrait but the grear resemblance the person bears to the Duchess of PortIand: the face is not to compare to hers, but the figure, has a11 her grace and genteel air. Unluckily mypicrrtre of her by Zincke is rzrrned the contvary '"Frorn a lettsr wrinen by Mary Delany to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, ii, 39 1. '"Frorn a letter wrinen by Mary Delany on 28 Feb. 1745-6 to Anne Granville De\ves as quotrd by Llanover. 1, ii, 425. x2Frorn a letter written by Mary Delany on 5 Aug. 173 1 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, i. 280. rvay, or 1 would clap it on the shoulders of this picture, for 1 could enlarge it in my copy, if the shadows and lights were suited to that of Sir Petçr Lely's.233 Delany used her 'artistic license' whenever she saw fit. While the rnajority of her works are copies, many of these copies have features that Delany changed according to her own artistic sense. Regarding her work on Guido's Madonna and Chifdshe wrote: My Madonna and Chiid goes on very well. I have painted the boy's head a second time, and it is approved of; never had so hard a task; the original is so ugly a child that I have been forced to make this quite a child of my otvn fancy, and yet to keep to the design of the origina~."~ Occasionally Delany had to rely on her o\vn compositional skills while copying another ~vork.One painting that Delany copied after Salvator Rosa allowed her to be particularly inventive because it was so darnaged that she had to compose entire sections of the painting.'35 Delany struggied between complete dedication to her painting and the guilt she felt for spending so much time producing art. She described painting in the following ways: "I painted like a dragon"; "1 am deeply engaged in copying"; "Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 1 painted"; "1 stuck close to my palette and pencils"; "1 am now deep in paint"; and "Monday a rage of painting seized me".36 There are instances when it seemed that nothing could stop her work: "'From a lener written by Mary Delany to Anne GranvilIe Dewes as quotrd by Llanover, 1, iii, 62. '"From a letter written by Mary Delany on 5 Jan. 1750-1 to Anne Granville Dewes ris quoted by Llanover, 1, iii. 2. '3SFrom a lener written by Mary Delany on 10 Nov. 1759 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, iii. 574-5. 236Froma lener written by Mary Delany on 10 Nov. 1759 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, iii, 574-5; from a Iener written by Mary Delany on 23 Nov. 1745 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, ii, 400; from a letter written by Mary Delany on 14 Dec. 175 1 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, iii, 67; frorn a letter written by Mary Delany on 5 May 1759 to Anne Granville Dewes as I then set down to copy iMrs. Cavendish's head, drew it out and dead-coloured the face and hair: the Sun drove me out of the dining-room at one, and 1 carried my work into the bedchamber; much taken up with my employment, when in walks the Dean and my Lord FoIey, who came to wait upon Mr. Dewes. 1 painted on, and his lordship looked on for half an hou^.^' At other times it seems as if she felt she had to justiv the amount of time she spent on her art: "1 was this morning obliged to work an hour and a half at my picture which by Monday would have been to dry for some softenings that were absolutely necessa ry..."."s It is clear that Delany struggled with her desire to paint. The eighteenth century was not a time in which women were free to become 'artists', however there was an acceptable place in high socieiy for women who were 'arti~tic'.~'~Delany managed to negotiate an artistic role for herself through the combination of her status as an amateur artist, her chosen subject matter, and her practice of copying famous paintings. During the eighteenth century, it was socially preferred that wornen participated in the field of painting within limited confines. What is clear from studying Delany's work is that she did so with an abundance of creativity, skill, and dedication. Delany is a good exarnple of a woman who was able to pursue her interests in painting, at the same time that she appeared to comply with the socially inscribed role of her gender. Wornen who created quoted by Llanover, 1, iii, 553; from a lener written by Mary Delany on 12 May 1759 as quoted by Llanover, 1. iii, 553; and from a lener wrinen by Mary Delany on 24 Apr. 1760 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, iii, 590. '"From a letter wrinen by Mary Delany on 9 May 1754 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, iii, 270- 1. "'From a lener written by Mary Delany on 15 Dec. 1750 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover. 1, ii, 627. '39Ann Bermingham, "Elegrint Females and Gentlemen Connoisseurs: The Commerce in Culture and Self- Image in Eighteenth-Century England," The Consumprion of Culrure 1600-1800:/mage. Objecr, Texr, editors Ann Bermingham and John Brewer (New York: Routledge, 1995): 493. 79 opportunitiss of artistic agency and freedom while working \vithin a pritriarchal system in no way condone that system. Recognising these women is one way of alleviating the tendency to look at history as a place where women were either radically defiant or helplessly oppressed. Mary DeIany was a successfiil painter; she produced an impressive volume and range of topics in her painting~."~(For a list 1 have complied of Delany's paintings see Appendix II). Amateur artistic accomplishments, such as drawing and painting, were not just ways for wealthy women to occupy themselves, they were socia1Iy condoned modes of artistic expression by which women could express their unique thoughts and experiences. Papcr Cutting Paper cutting was a popular medium arnong many eighteenth-century British women. Paper was readily available and economically accessible for women of the upper-class. The most common paper-work consisted of silhouettes cut fiom a single sheet of coloured paper. Thcse silhouettes ranged in subject matter from people's profiles, to flowers, to gromerric patterns (Figures 19, 20, and 2 1). Delicate paper-work called forth and displayed the socially prescribed 'fernale' virtues of patience, diligence, and perseverance. Delany's ski11 at cutting paper into beautihl images was noticed when she was eight years old by her friend Jane Douglas. Jane admired the little birds and flowers cut by DeIany that she took them home to frame.'41 In 1740 Delany wrote an autobiographical letter to the Duchess of Portland, in which she recalled the importance of art in her chiIdhood: "1 took -ereat delight in a closet 1 had, which was furnished with littie drawings and cut paper of my ------'401 have found reference to approsimateIy seventy-five painting~by Mary Delany. '"Hayden. itfrs. Dcluny and Her Fiorver Collages. 1 5. 80 own doing; 1 had a desk and shelves for my books.""' Delany's training in the art of paper- work is indicative of the encouragement young girls received when it came to the construction of small decorative paper images of curiosity. Delany's ski11 at cutting paper silhouettes is evident in two of her paper-work books. Each page in the first book was pasted with groups of figures, houses, animals, and trees, al1 beautifully cut out in white paper. This book includes depictions of her nieces and nephews, among which is a figure of Delany nursing her grand-niece Georgina Port, with a table covered with cups and saucers before ber? Evidence that Delany was conscious of negative space is found in this book; she carefirlly cut the lines in the buildings, or the folds of drapery, so the dark ground would show through and mark the o~tline.'~'This book was perfectly preserved, but unfortunately it unaccountably disappeared sometime during the last 11alf of the nineteenth cent~ry."~ The second cut-paper book is housed today in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle. This book was completed by Delany in 178 1, and promptly given as a gifi to Queen Charlotte. The pages of this book are blue and the paper-work is done in a variety of colours. Among the numerous cut-paper images are the following: a profile of King George III, flo~vers,geometric patterns, a winged cupid, vases, urns, a snake, children, and birds. Another example of Delany's skill at cut-work are her three-dimensional pictures of birds cut in vellum. One of these works depicts a cockatoo, which is given shape by wool "'From a lener written by Mary Delany as quoted by Woolsey, 1, 11. '"Woo Ise y, 11, 1 82; and Hayden, Ms. Delany and Her Flower Cdages, 1 16. 'UWoolsey, II, 182. '"Woolsey, II, 182. 8 1 placed between the bird and the background, and which has feathers cut almost as finely as actual feathers (Figure 22).2' Delany also cut images of hurnming-birds drinking nectar from flowers, and a crested pheasant standing on a tree stump?' One of Delany's most practical cut-work projects was the creation of a 'chimney- board'; a board of wood decorated with cut paper designs, used to cover the smpty grates of fireplaces in the summer. Delany wrote the following passage about her chimney-boards in the Duchess of PortIand's home at Bulstrode: I have done 3 chimney boards for the drawing-room here, the dining-room, and the Dss own bed-chamber. They are mere bagatelles; but the weather has been so fine we lived much abroad, and my agdiry is not now equal to my irnagin~rion."~ Miss Hamilton referred to these works in her diary as Delany's 'beautifùl chimney-boards', which were decorated with Etruscan figures, arabesques, vases. and antique figures, and ~vhichhad the effect of inlaying."' Delany developed her outstanding ski11 with scissors as a rneans to provide for creative outlet within the constraints of eighteenth century gender roles. This cut-paper work is an significant example of the ingenuity and imagination involved in the eighteenth century amateur female artist's compensation for traditional resources in the assembly, reshaping, and personalisation of her visual experien~es."~ ''6Hayden, Mrs. Delany and Her Flower Collages, 1 00. "'Hriydsn, 15lr.s.Delany and Her Flowcr Collages, 1 00. '''Frorn a lener written by Mary Delany on 4 Oct. 1772 to Mary Dewes Port as quoted by Llanover, II, i, 469. "'From the Dec. 1783 passage in Miss Hamilton's Diary as quoted in Llanover, II. iii, 170.; and Llanover, 11, i, 339. Delany had a interest in the art of other cultures and read widely on the subject. On September 2, 1736 Delriny wrote to Swift and made mention of reading CharIes Rollins' The rlncienr Hizrory o/Egypriar~s, Cardraginians, Ass)*rians.Bnbylonians, Mades and Persians, Macedonians and Grecians. '50Heer, Dictionary O/ Wornen A rtists, 7 5. Florii Delanica Mary Delany's Flora Delanica is a collection of 972 botanically correct, life-size, paper collages of plants (Figure 23). Delany began work on her FhaDelanica in her seventy-second year; it was the accumulation of the skills acquired in her various life-long art prxtices that enabled her to create these beautifûl collages. Throuçh needlework Delany developed a love of plants cornbined with a superb sense of design and meticulous attention to detail. Delany's shell-work taught her that the various shapes of the natural world could be brought together to form images of different objects. The practice of painting helped Delan). to finely tune her sense of colour, the illusion of three-dirnensionality, and perspective. Delany's cut-paper work gave her an opportunity to develop rernarkable precision and skill with scissors. Her ffiendship with the Duchess of Portland brought Delany into contact with some of the greatest botanists of the eighteenth century, fiom whom she buiIt up a large store of botanical knowledge and appreciation. Delany's skill, kno~vledge,experience, and artistry were fully achieved in her Flora Delmica. It is possible to daim that Mary Delany is the individual responsible for the invention of paper collage."' Whether this is entirely correct or not is not the central concem of my study: what is most important is that she created her own unique medium. Given Delany's crender and social position, she was excluded from the professional art world. The invention C '5'It iç important to note that the anistic merit of this medium was not recognised until the twentieth century, tvhen male professional artists began to use it. Eddie Wolfram writes that, "The technique of collage in the sense that we understand it today, as a legitimate art form, gave its first signs of life in the work of Georges Braque ( 1 5 52- 1963)." (Eddie Wol hm,Histury ufCo!lage: An anrhology ofcollage. assemblage, and men! srnrcrzucs, (London: Studio Vista, 1975): 15). 83 of an alternative area of art practice, paper collage in Delany's case, may have been a reaction to that exclusion. As Lisa Heer writes: This translation of creative and artistic work into an acceptable ferninine medium aiiowed these women to participate in culture and intellectual matters that might othemise have rendered them unferninine, or 'unnatural' in the eyes of their ~ontern~oraries.~~' Delany created her own 'safe' zone from which to create art. Firstly, she never entered the professional wage-eanting realm of the art world. Secondly, she remained on the margins of the conventional British art scene by choosing still-lives, portraits, and plants as her subject matter. Lastly, Delany used 'alternative' media in which to create art. She was safest in her role as an artist when she worked as an amateur, depicted flowers, and used non-conventional media. This level of safety and societal acceptance is reflected in the fame and acclamation tvhich she received for her FIora Delanica collages. On 4 Oct. 1772 Delany wrote that she had "...invented a new way of imitating fl~wers.'"~~Delany recalled the manner in which the idea for paper collage first struck her as follows: While she was sitting in her bedroom at Bulstrode, she noticed that a piece of Chinese paper and a geranium were the same bright scarlet colour. Delany cut out each petal from the paper which resembled its hue. She then used more coloured paper for the calyx, leaves, and stalk, and pasted them down on a black background (Figure 24). Afier she had created a picture of a sprig of geranium in this way, the Duchess of Portland came in and exclairned, 'What are you doing with the geranium?' having taken the paper imitation for the "'Hrer, Dicfionav of Women Arrisfs, 5 8. '5'From a letter written by Mary Delany on 4 Oct. 1772 to Mary Dewes Port as quoted by Llanover. 11. i, 469. real flo\vsr. Mrs Delany answered, that 'if the Duchess really thought it so like the original, that a new work was begun fiom that moment."" Delany explained the creation of her Flora Delmica in the following excerpt, which she wrote on 5 July 1779 at Bulstrode, and which she placed into the beginning of volume one of the Fiora Delnnica volumes: Plan ts (Copied afier Nature in Paper Mosaick, begun in the year f 774) Hail to the happy hour! when fancy led My pensive mind this flow'ry path to tread; And gave me emulation to presume With timid art to trace fair Nature's bloom: To vievi uith an-e the great Creative pokver That shines confess'd in the minutest flower; With wonder to pursue the glorious line, And gratefully adore the Hand Divine! The paper Mosaic work was begun in the seventy-fourth year of rny age (which 1 at first only meant as an imitation of a hotrus siccus) and as an employment and amusement to supply the loss of those which had formerly been a delight to me, but had Iost their power of pleasing, being deprived of that ffiend whose partial approbation was my pride, and had stamped a value on them. Tho' the effect of this work was more than 1 expected, 1 thought that a whim of my own fancy might fondly beguile my judgement to think better of it than it desewed; and 1 shou'd have dropp'd the attempt as vain, had not the Duchess Dowager of Portland look'd on it with favourabie eyes. Her approbation was such a sanction to rny undertaking, as made it appear of consequence and gave me courage to go on with confidence. To her 1 owe the spirit of pursuing it with diligence and pleasure. To her 1 owe more than 1 dare express, but my heart will ever feel with the utmost gratitude and tenderest affection the honour 1 have enjoyed in her most -cenerous, steady. and delicate friendship for above forty years. - The same desire, the same ingenious arts Delighted both. we owned and blessed that power That joined at once our studies and Our hearts. Mason, Elegy 3rd."' "JWoolsey, 1, 286-287; and Hayden, Mrs. Delany and Her Flower Collages, 13 1. 2s5Writtenby Mary DeIany in July of 1779 whiIe at Bulstrode as quoted by Johnson, xxxix-XI. There are many important facets of this statement. First, it is interesting to note Delany's reference to the 'Hand Divine', and to reiterate her belief that al1 that was beautifiil in nature was created by God. Second, one will note that she States that she began her Flora Delanica in 1774, when it is clear from her letters that she started in 1772. It may be that Delany did not include her first tw-O years of work on the collages because she considered that to be a trial period and that it was not until 1774 that she began serious work on her Flora Delanica. The third point of interest here is that she calls this work "an employment and amusement to supply the loss of rhose which had formerly been a delight to me." This statement, along with her calling her n-ork "a whirn of my own fancy", serve to both justifj and to diminish the importance of her Flora Delanica. Many scholars have taken Delany's statement at face value and claimed that she invented paper collage in order to fil1 the gap lefi by the death of Patrick el an^.''^ ~lthough1 recognise the void left by Patrick Delany's death, 1 think it more probable that this was not Delany's only impetus for the creation of paper collage. 1 would suggest that this medium was also developed for practical reasons, like the fact that painting was becoming increasingfy difficult as Delany grew older, and that she Oevised a way to do botanical illustration in a way that would not challenge or upset the sratus quo. The fourth and Iast point that 1 feel needs to be stressed here, is the importance of the Duchess of Portland's support of Delany's art work. Given that Delany did not have the conventional public avenue of artistic display available to her, it is not surprising that she \vas so reliant on the approval of those close to her. 2'bLlanover, II, ii, 443-4: \VooIsey, 11.404-405; and Hayden, Mrs. Delany and Her FIower Collages, 132. 86 Delany esecuted her F20rc-1Delanica in the following manner: She began with a cutting or a live specimen of the plant placed before a sheet of black paper, doubled in the form of a folding screen. This dark background aided her work as it made the outlines of the leaves and flowers more prominent. Delany did not draw the plant beforehand, but cut minute particles of coloured paper to represent the petals, stamens, calyx, leaves, veins, stalk and other parts of the plant by eye; the highlighted and shaded areas were afterwards cut out and pasted one over the other. By placing one piece of paper upon another she sometimes built up several layers and in a finished picture there may be hundreds of pieces to form one plant. At first she used a thin. shiny black paper for the background, but in 1774 she switched this for a bener man paper, from a newly established paper-mil1 in Hampshire, which she painted in Indian ink.'" She worked with a wide range of coloured papers, which she coIlected from sailors who were bringing it to Britain from China, from paper-stainers (wall-paper rnanufacturers) from whom she used to buy pieces of paper in which the colours had run and produced unusual tints, or she dyed the paper herself to get the correct shade. She was able to produce remarkable harmony of colouring from the various semi-tones of tint she had available to her. She was able to cut, by eye alone, shapes of paper that fit each othrr exactly and that worked together to create a perfect image of an plant she chose."8 It is uncertain exactly which tools Delany used to produce the finely cut paper for her collages, but we have a pretty good idea, thanks to a gifi Delany received from Queen Charlotte. In 1779 Delany wrote: "The Queen sate down to my working table, view'd al1 my 257Thereare a few exceptions to her use of a black background. Annona Triloba (Hardy Papen) was done on a pinky purple background, and Campanula Glornenta, Campanula Trackelium, Dolichos Lablab, Phylica Cricoidies, SciIla Peniviana, and Viola Calcarata were al1 done on a white background. 25sLlanover,II, iii, 95- 98; Woolsey, II, 405-406; and Hayden, hfrs.Delany and Her Fiorver Collages, 132-133. 87 impIeinents, look'd over a volume of the plants, and made me sit down by lier a11 the tin~e."'~' In December of 1779 Mrs Rea, Delany's waiting woman, described a gift Delany had received £Yom the Queen in a letter to Miss Port: Inside was a beautifûl pocket case, the outside satin work'd with gold and omarnents with gold spangles, the inside lined with pink sattin, and contains a knife, sizsars, pende, rule, compas, bodkin, and more than 1 can ~ay...~~' The uses of each of the contents are fairly self-explanatory, except perhaps the 'bodkin', which was used when she worked the Eatable Wake Robin where holes of varying size have been pierced in the yellow paper of the pistil to reveal off-white paper beneath (Figure 25).'61 From 1772 to 1782 Delany compIeted ten calf-skin ledger volumes of Flora Delanica, of which nine volumes contain one hundred coliages and the last contains seventy- two. Delany had the title, FIora Delanica, and the volume number of each book engraved on the spine of the volumes. The collages were not attached to the pages, rather they were placed bet~veenthem. Each volume has a section of green silk attached to the back cover; the material is folded over al1 the pages in order to keep the collages from falling out. Each volume contains an index in the front, with the plants arranged according to their Latin names. This system was very effective because it groupec! the plants in their families; for example it placed al1 eleven examples of lilies together. Each collage is marked on the back with all, or most, of the following information: Delany's number, the plant's Latin and comrnon names, the plant's Linnaean classification, the place and date of the "'From a letter written by Mary Delany as quoted by Hayden. Mrs. Delany and Hm Flower €ol/ages, 155. 'bOFrom a letter written by hfrs Rea (Delany's waiting woman) in Dec. 1779 to Mary Dewes Port as quoted by Llanover, II, ii, 496. "' Hayden, Mrs. Delany and Her Flower Collages, 155. 8 8 composition, the narne of the donor, and the location of where the plant was grown. Dclany placed a white rectangular label on the front of each collage, upon which she wrote the plant's Latin and common names. The first fi@-two collages are numbered, but after that Delany decided to record the date that each was completed instead. These dates are particularly interesting because her collages include several of the seven thousand new plant species to arrive in Britain during the eighteenth century, which were brought back by explorers as proof of reaching new places, and for their economic and rnedicinal value^.'^' These historical and social notes on the backs of the plant pictures greatly add to their value, making the collection an original herbarium, as well as a work of art. The dimensions of the Flora Delanica Vary slightly; most are approximately twenty- five centimetres by thirty-five centimetres, and al1 the plants are cut to life-size. In the case of vsry small plants, such as the Saxifraga caespitosa (Tufied saxifrage), she retained a life- size scale by depicting the plant at the bottom of her standard sized background.'" More interesting are her innovative techniques for depicting Iarge plants. In the case of the Allium arnpeloprasrrrn (Holm's Garlick) and the Orniihegdum arabicim (Arabian Star of Bethlehem), Delany depicted the stem cut off in mid section and placed the stem and leaves beside the section of the stem which held the flower (Figure 26). For the Crinurn asiaticum (Asiatic Crinum), shs compensated for the plant's large size by showing the leaf behind and detached from the flotver. And finally, Delany depicted the Alerris cupensis by keeping the Ieaves and flower in line, but cut away a long section of the stem. '62Hayden,Mrs. Deiany and Her Flower Collages, 133. '6'When refering to individual Flora Delanica, 1 have retained Delany's original titles, including the plant's eighteenth-century cornmon names which are not directly translated from their Latin names. 89 Delîny framed most of the collages with a greyish-brown paper mo~nting.'~The lines of the mounting were not always cut in straight lines and while the joints of the he are most often at the corners, some are joined mid-way through the line. Occasionally she touched up the collaged paper with water-colour, but this was the exception rather than the nile. By 1775 Delany's cutting skiils were at their peak and she virtually eliminated the need for water-colour. Delany's Iatter flower collages show more rnovement, with leaves curled to show the lighter shades beneath, and strips of paper cut with hair-like precision for the veins and starnens, achieving a more life-like appearance (Figure 27).'" There is uncertainty over which type of glue she used; Hayden makes reference to a laboratory test on one picture which detected a starch-based agent, which she hypothesises is either egg-white or flour and va ter.'^^ 1 think it most likely that she used flour and water to paste together her collages; in the following escerpt she shares her instructions for gluing paper with her sister: "As to pasting paper, 1 use flour boiled in water as smooth as it can be boiled, and paste both the papers very evenly that are to be pasted t~gether."'~' Each picture is signed with her initials, MD., which are generally placed in a corner below the plant, and always cut from paper with the letters attached to each other, although the style of the initials varies. According to Delany her initials were cut out of a different colour of paper for each year that she made the 2UTwocollages were left unmounted; these exceptions are Papaver Cambricum (Yellow Welsh Poppy) of 1774 and IobecIa Cardinalis (Scarlet Gennium) of 1773. '65H ay den, Mrs. Delany and Her Flower Collages, 1 3 3. 'bbHayden,Mrs. Delany and Her Florver Collages, 133. '67Frorn a letter written by Mary Delany on 7 Feb. 1743-44 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, ii. 259. 90 collages.268 However upon close inspection 1 found that this was not always the case. She used the following colours on the following years: red for 1774, orange and purple for t 775, purple and red for 1776, purple for 1777, red and purple for 1778, brown and red for 1779, brown and purple for 1780, red and purple for 1781, and white for 1782. However, it is possible that Delany did in fact use one different colour for each year and that the colours have changed or faded at different rates over the years. Ruth Hayden hypothesises that it is possible that Delany's Flora Delanica were influenced by the seventeenth-century Turkish art of inserting flowers cut from coIoured papers into the borders of manuscnpts, but she notes that there is no evidence that Delany ever saw any of the~e.'~~Hayden also writes that it is also possible that she was influenced by the work of the Dietzsch family, who often made drawings of flowers in opaque colours on deep brown or black paper."O 1 think that Delany may have been influenced by Asian art; her work is similar to Chinese lacquer, she used Chinese paper, her Ietters contain many references to Japanese cabinets, and she practised the art ofjapanning. What is certain is that Delany was influenced by George Dionysius Ehret (1 708-1 770) and by the popularity of botanical illustration during the middle of the eighteenth century (Figure 6). Given that, it could be that her flower collages began just as she described. Her knowledge of botany, her highly developed colour sense, and her ability to cut out images as easily as she could draw them, are sufficient evidence to account for the invention of paper collage."' '68 Vulliarny, 257. 269Hayden,hfrs. Deiuny and Her Fiower Collages, 1 32. 270Hayden,Ms. Delany and Her Flower Collages, 132. '"Ha y den, Mrs. Delany and Her Flo~wCollages, 1 32. 9 1 According to Linnaeus' system of classification, plants were categorised according to their starnens and pistils. Delany followed this system, and therefore concentrated on the depiction of the heads of plants, only rarely showing roots or b~lbs.~'*Delany was very careful always to portray the correct number of stamens and styles, and to record the Linnaean sexual system of classification on the back of most of the collages. For example, Delany recorded that both the Penivian Lily and Yellow Autumnal Amaryllis are Hexandria Monogynia; each flower has the six stamens and single style cut with such ski11 that even the anther at the end of the stamens, and the stigma on the style are visible. In the rare cases of the kia crocata and Bomba. Ceiba,Delany depicted a separate close-up detail of the flower's starnen and style beside her collage of the plant (Figure 28). Occasionally, as in the case of the Pisum marinirm (Sea Pea), and Mimosa latisiliqua (White Flowering accasia with broad pods), and the Quercus roburis (Oak tree with short stalk'd acorns), Delany included the plant's seeds along side the depiction of the plant (Figure 29). More frequently she included representations of the plant's fruit with her depiction of the plant; examples of this are the Passzflora cerzrlea (Common Passion Flower), the Pyr-rrs rnafrrs (Apple Blossom), the Pzlnica grnnathzrm (Pomegranate), Prztnzrs arrnirnaca (Apricot), Pyrus commzrnis (Cornmon Pear), Solnnurn melongena (Egg Plant) and Fragaria vexa (Wood Strawberry) (Figures 30 and 3 1). "'Some exceptions to this mle are as follows: the Colchicum Autumnale (Meadow Saffron) in which she . incIuded the flower, stem. bulb, and roots; the Hienciurn aunnhacum (Grirn the Collier) in which she included roots; the Hieracium dubium (Creeping smooth Hawkweed) in which she included the creeping roots which start new plants; the RanuncuIus Ficaria Pilwork in which she included roots with srnall oblong bulbs; the Byms Cydonia Quince in which she included a separrite depiction of a sprouting bulb beside her depiction of the full grown plant; and the Scilla Autumnalis (Hyacinth) in which she included a bulb and roofs. 92 Delany often included real plant parts in her collages. She did this in the tradition of the Hortlrs Siccus, a collection of dried plants, the formation of which was a popular botanical occupation during the eighteenth century. Most frequently, Deiany included one or two leaves, such as in the Anfurrhinum Spuritrrn (Round-fluellin), Erica coccinea (Scarlet tubular flowers), and Tamus comrnunis (Black Briony) (Figure 32). She would also occasionally include pressed flowers in her collages, examples of which include the Erica cruenra (Scarlet FIower'd Heath), the Pisurn marinum (Sea Pea), the Rosa canir~a(Dog Rose), and the Selinzrm palustre (Marsh Selinum). Among the more unusual pressed plant parts are the seed pod of the Asclepias frzrricosa (Willow Leav'd Dogbane), the cotton-like thistle substance of the Carduzrs eriophorrrs (Cotton-headed Thistle) and the delicate skeleton of the seed pod of the Phpalis (Winter Cherry) (Figure 33). The level of intricacy and detail which Delany achieved in paper collage is remarkable. One of Delany's most detailed collages is the Cactus grandiflorus (Melon Thistle) with its bloom of 190 parts and stem of 399 spines; she used eleven different shades of paper to portray the stem alone (Figure 34)."' Some of the pieces of paper that Delany cut were as thin as one quarter of a millirnetre and small flowers, such as diat of the Callicarpa arnericarra, are as small as three millimetres across (Figure 35). It is very hard to cut thin straight strips of paper. but is much more difficult to cut curvy thin lines; Delany proved she was able to do this in hsr depiction of the Vicia sylvalica (Wood vetch) and the Furnaria Fungosa (New species of Climing fumitory), with their incredibly narrow twirling tendrils (Figure 36). Hayden, Mrs. Delany and Her Flower Collages, 146. 93 Delany's production was astounding. She executed four collages her first year, sixteen in the second, and in the third, 1774, she cornpleted 169 collages.274 By 19 Sept. 1777 Delany had finished her 400th botanical collage.27s On 29 April 1776 Delany wote a letter to Mrs. Port which included the following passage: "...the springjlowers now swy me wirh work, for 1 have already done since the begiming of March mentyplants. "276 In October of 1777 Delany's speed had hit its peak; she completed a record twenty-eight collages in a single rn~nth.'~'On 17 Sept. 178 1 Mrs Boscawen wrote Delany the follouing letter: "1 congratulate you on completing your 9th admirable vol.: their drrration will be equal to that of the oak with which you close them so properiy, and so fike a good English woman- If English women (in return) were but like you!""' In four years time Delany completed 500 collages. She was so dedicated to the production of her Flora Delanica, that she travelled with tools and supplies; she spent four days of August 1776 visiting Lord and Lady Bute at Luton Park, where she cxecuted portrayed Huemanthus coccineus (Scarlet Blood Flower) and Agrrpanrhzis zrmbellalus (Blue African Crinurn). Later that same month, she visited Lady Gower at Bill Hiil, near Reading; she carried with her the Laryrhzrs safivrrs (BIue Garden Chich Vetch) and the Fumaria Fungosa (New species of Climing fumitory) from the garden "'"This morning 1 finished my 400th plant!" From a letter written by Mary Delany on 19 Sept. 1777 to Mary Dewes Port as quoted by Llanover, II, ii, 320. '7bFrorn a letter written by Mary Delany on 29 April 1776 to Mary Dewes Port as quoted by Lianover, II, ii, 213. 37 Hayden, Mrs. Delany and Her Flower Colloges, 1 43. 278Froma letter written by Mrs Boscawen on 17 Sept. 1781 Mary Delany as quoted by Llanover, Il, iii, 52. at Luton, in the tin box in which she camed her precious plants. She spent a week at Bill Hill, during which she completed not only the two plants fiom Luton, but also another of a magnolia tree flower fiom Lady Gower's garden (Figure 37).279 Many of the FIora Delanica portray flowers fiom the garden or hot-house at Bulstrode. As her fame for the collages spread, plants were sent to her fiom many sources. Delany was supplied with flowers from fiends, farnily, the Chelsea Physic Garden, and the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, which supplied her with plants for eighty-four of her picture~.'~~In 1777 she wrote the following passage: "1 am so pZenti/uZZy supplied with the hot-house here, and fiom the Queen's garden at Kew, that natural plants have been a good deal laid aside this year for foreigners, but not less in favo~r."'~' In March of 178 1 Delany executed a collage portraying the Amaryllis Regia, which had been sent to her fiom Queen Charlotte and about which Delany wrote: I hope the regal flower has returned safe in to your hands, tho' not so blooming as when 1 received it: I fear 1 have kept it too long, but my vivacity (like the flower) droops with tirne and 1 truly think nothing less than the honour and delight of having been thought worthy of szrch a tusk by her Majesty cou'd have given me the power of a attempting it; you know, my dear madam, how tmly sensible 1 am of the Queen's goodness, and you also know how difficult it is to do justice to that gratitude which an honest heart must feel."' It seerns that Lord and Lady Bute also offered Delany a good supply of flowers; on 3 1 Aug. 1777 she cvrote: ''1 am now very busy with my hortus siccus, to which 1 added, at Luton, '"Hayden, Mrs. Deluny and Her Flower Collages, 1 39- 140. 2B0RaymondDesmond, Kew: The Hisrory ofrhe Royal Boranical Gardens, (London: Harvill Press, 1995): 79. '"Frorn a letter wrinen by Mary Delany in 1777 to Mary Dewes Port as quoted by Hayden, Mrs. Delany and Mer Flowver Collages, 1 36. 'S'Frorn a letter written by Mary Delany on 13 March 178 1 to Miss Hamilton as quoted by Llanover, II, iii, 8. twelve rare plants."" In 1778 Delany had a wide range of plant benefactors: Lord Dartmouth, Secretary for Trade and the Plantations, gave her the Heliofropiumpemianum (Turnsole); Mrs Astley, her waiting-woman, brought hcr the Prunus persica (Double Flowering Peach) fiom Bames; Charles Watson-Wentworth, Lord Rocltingham (1730-1782). a former Prime Mi~ster,presented her with the Crinum fatfiohm var zeyfanicum (Asphodil Lilly); fiom Lord Willoughby's marsh garden carne the Prunus tenelia @warf Almond Am ygdalus Nana) and from Lord Mansfield, she received the Cassia maryfandica which he probably brought from his garden at ~enwood.~~On 17 Apnl 1779 Delany had the opportunity to visit Dr Fothergili, a Quaker and philanthropist, who gave her six new plants; she wrote the following letter regarding the visit: 1 began this yesterday, and have scribbled it at such a rate that it is scarcely legible, but 1 am so busy now with rare specimens fiom al1 my botanical fiiends, and idle visitors and my little charge must have a share of my time that it generally drives my writing to candlelight, which does not suit my age-worn eyes. Last Thursday 1 took my little bird and blrs Pott to Upton in Essex, 10 miles off, to Dr Fothergill's garden crarnmed my tin box with exoticks, overpowered with such variety 1 know not what to choose! Georgina delighted fluttered about like a newbom butterfly.'" Other notable donors were Mr. James Lee, Francis Masson, John Stuart the Earl of Bute, General Henry Seymour Conway, and Philip blillsr.2'6 Another kind of donor is found in the example of Lady Ann Monsons; in 1780, Delany made three collages after her drawings of '"From a letter wnnen by Mary Delany on 3 1 Aug. 1777 to Mary Dewes Port as quoted by Llanover, II, ii, 3 18. ZDHayden, ,Lirr. Delany and Hzr Flower Colhges, 143. "'From a letter witten by Mary Deiany on 17 April 1777 to Mary Dewes Pon as quoted by Llanover, II, ii, 42 1. 'xbXlr. James Lee &-rote Inrroduciion to botany. exrracredfiom the work of Dr. L innaeus (London, 1 760); and Philip Miller was the Superintendent of the Chelsea Physic Garden. the Volkameria lanceolara, .hrm esctrlentzrrn (Eatable Wake Robin), and Bomba ceiba (Figures 25 and 25). It was in her eightieth year that Delany began to teach her an tom to others; on 3 Xov. 1780 she \\ri.ote: "Miss k~ings,who I believe 1 have mentioned to you as a sensible, agreeable, and ingenious wornan, a pupil of mine in the paper mosaic work (and the only one 1 have hopes of ), came here last Thursday, but went away this rn~rning."~"Some of Delany's collages done in the 1780s have 'begun by Mrs Delany and finished by Miss Jennings' u~ittenon the back of them.'ss Delany continued to produce a large quantity of coIIages, she was much aided in this dedication by the intelfectually stimulating environment of Bulstrode; on Sept. 21 1780 she wrote Miss Port the following account: "1 have done some rare flowers and the Dss has been very busy, and Mr Lightfoot (who always desires his compliments) ranging the birds' nests and eggs in their proper cabinet."'s9 It \vas at Bulstrode that she became aquatinted with King George III. Quern Charlotte, and their children; in a letter of 17 Nov. 1780 to her friend Mrs Frances Hamilton. she wrote: Last Saturday, the 1 I th of this month, about one o'clock, as 1 was sitting at work at my paper mosaic, in my working dress and my papers littered about me, and the Duchess Dowager of Portland very intenf at another table, making a catalogue to a huge folio of portrait prints, the groom of the chambers announced "the Queen and Princess Royal," who were just driven into the court: 1 retired to change my dress, and wait for a summons, should her Majesty send me her c~mrnands.'~~ "'From a lener wrinen by Mary Delany on 3 Nov. 1780 while at Bulstrode as quoted by Woolsey, II, 378. lSgHriyden, hfrs. Delany and Her Flower Collages, 1 57. 'SgFrom a letter wrinen by Mary Delany on 21 Sept. f 780 to Mary Dewes Port as quoted by Llanover, II, ii, 563. '"OFrom a iener written by bfary Delany on 17 Nov. 1780 CO Francis Hamilton as quoted by Llanover, 11, ii, 578. DeIany continued to appreciate and celebrate the suppon of her good friend the Duchess of Portland. On 9 August 1782 Delany dedicated her collage of the PorrZundis grandij7ora with the following inscription: Fair flower! that bears the honoured name Of HER whose fair and spotless fame Thy purity displays. Emblem of Friendship's sacred tie. Thy form is graced with dignity Superior to ail She also copied out the following account of the Portlandis grandij7ora from Brown's This shrub grows chiefly about the foot of the mountains in Jarnaica, and thrives very luxuriantly arnong the rocks; it rises to a branched stem, and shoots generally to the height of eight or nine feet; but the trunk seldom exceeds two inches and a half in diameter, and is covered with a thick furrowed bark. The leaves are large; smooth and oppositq of an oval form, and entire at the edges; the flowers are white, pretty open and long; and the fruit, a moderate lignous capsula. crown'd with five distinct Isaves, and divided into two cells, adomed with five Iongitudinal ridges. This plant is called by the name of 'Portlandia' after the present Duchess of PortIand, who is a ereat lover of botany, and weil acquainted with the English plants.'" C The original specirnen of the Portlandis grantirj7orcz was sent to Delany by the command of the King and Queen who always desired that any curious or beautiful plants in the Raya1 Gardens at Kew should be sent to Delany when in blossom. Delany's humble opinion of her art work is evident in her references to her Flora Delnnica; "1 have been busy at rny usual presumption of copying beautifd nature: I have bungled out a horse chestnut blossom that wou'd make a fine figure in a lady's cap, or as a "'Mary Delany as quoted by Llanover, II, iii, 94. 2"fBrcwn as quoted by Delany as quoted by Llanover, II, iii. 94. 9 8 sign.""j (Figure 38) Her unassuming attitude toward her art is also evident in the following rsmark: "How 1 am flattered with her Mrijssty's gracious approbation of my - "works!" afier such an honour 1 musc not give them any drgrading epithet.""' Delany's humility is not surprising when one considers that the social construction of eighteenth-century British society taught females from a very early age that humility and modesty were the most desirable character features a woman could possess. Delany's last reference to her work on the FIora Delanica is dated 1 September 1782, whsn she came to the sad realisation that her eyesight \vas no longer strong enough to continue her Flora Delmica. That year, she wrote the following poem and placed it in the beginning of volume one of the Flora Delanica: A Farewell The time is corne! 1 cmno more The vegetable world explore; X'o more with rapture cul1 each flower That paints the mead or twines the bower; No more with admiration see Its beauteous form and symmetq! hTomore attempt with hope elate Its lovely hues to imitate! Farewell! to al1 those fnendly powers That blest rny solitary hours; Alas! farewell! but shall 1 mourn .AS one who is of hope forlom? Ah no! my mind with rapture feels The promise which thy word reveals. Corne Holy Spirit, on thy wing Thy sacred consolation bring. Teach me to contemplate that grace Which hath so long sustained my race; '"From a letter written by Mary Delany on 9 June 1776 to Viscountess Andover as quoted by Llanover, Ii. ii. 224. 'cAFrom a lener written by Mary Delany on 27 Dec. 1780 to Miss Hamilton as quoted by Llanover, II. ii. 586. Which various blessings sti1L bestows, And pours in balm to al1 my woes! O sanctifi the pointed dart That at this moment rends my heart; Teach me, submissive to resign When summoned by thy Will ~ivine."' Mary Delany's work in paper collage is representative of the impressive degree of invention and ingenuity evident in the art practices of eighteenth-century amateur female anists. Her use of paper as an 'alternative' medium gave Delany the freedom to express her own cultural agency and authority. By working in a 'marginal' technique, Delany's work was socialIy acceptable because it did nut compete with the work of male artists. Working outside of the establishment created a situation in which wornen artists. such as Delany, had the freedom to experiment with media, technique, and subject matter on a level which \vas rarely open to professional artists. '"'Written by Mary Delany in 1782 as quoted by Johnson, xli. CHAPTER 6: MARY DELANY'S ARTISTIC STATUS AND COMlMUNITY The art historical discourse has been dominated by the study of professional and acadrmic art. While this pursuit has kept Western art historians occupied since the sisteenth century, it portrays a truly limited scope of the visual culture of the past. Just as artists have crsated art out of a wide variety of media. they have also worked within many different artistic communities. The following chapter focuses on Mary Delany's participation in the much neglected, but remarkably active and productive community of fernale upper-class amateur artists working in Britain during the eighteenth century. Delany is used here as an example with which to study the privats, public, and self-defined artistic status of one of Amateur Artists According to the Encycfopaedia Brirnnnica, the primary meaning of the word -amateurqis 'someone who participates in any art, crafi, game, sport or other activity soIely .- for pleasure and enjoyment', the secondary meaning of 'amateur' is more drrogatory, it indicates 'a person of inferior or superficial skill. ability or proficiency. as compared w-ith others who specialise in and are expert in any field'. The term amateur signifies pnctitioners at the marçin of the official artistic circuit; today the term 'professionai' is seen as the opposite to the term 'amateur', which ofien implies a sub-standard art object produced by those who lack commitrnent, training, or ta~ent."~During the eighteenth century the word 'amateur' indicated "a vimioso; a lover of the arts."">' When one spoke of an amateur that '%Heer, Dicrionary of Women rlrrisrs, 70. "' A Dicrionary ofthe English Language, (London: 1. Jarvis, 1793). It is also interesting to note that the word 'artist' was defined during the eighteenth century as "a professor of an art; a skilful man." IO 1 most often referred to somsonr who was a mrmber of the upper-clus; one who had a great intcrest in art, but primariiy as a co~oisseur.it was often this initial co~oisseurshipthat motivatsd upper-class art lovers to experirnent with their own artistic impulses. Amateur artists were most oFten found in the upper socio-economic classes. as an abundance of free time is required for the person who pnctices the arts for pleasurs ivith no intention of providing a living for himself or herself with this activity."' During the eighteenth century it became very fashionable for wedthy women to produce amateur art ~vork,or artistic 'accomplishrnents' as they were often referred to as. These activities were encouraged as they provided women with entertainment, acted as an outlet for their creative impulses and intsllrsctual curiosity, sewsd as busy work or diversion to fil1 excess time. adoras an escape for those whosr w-ho had an unhappy persona1 life."g After Delany was ~vidowedfor the second time, painting. drawing and paper collage served not only as amusements, but also complemented and augmented her intellectual interest in the art C collections of her frirtnds and relatives. .As anistic accornplishrnents became important social assets, artistic training became an important part of a young girl's educati~n.'~~Some women chose to continue their artistic training. but the training they received differed greatly from that of professionai apprenticeships. Women were encouraged to practice an with distinct media and techniques: Iine-draw-ing. crayon, water-colour, pastel and occasionally miniature painting on ivory were '"'Katlijne Van der Stigheien, "Amateur Anists: Amateur art as a Social Skill and a Feminist Perspective. 16th and 17th Centuries." Dicrionary of Women Rrrisrs, editor Delia Gaze (London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997): 66. "Heer, Dictionaty of Women Artisrs, 72. 3 Or) Heer. Dictionaty of fVomen Artists, 74. deemed proper media for wornen's art. These media had perceived qualities of delicacy, méticuious rxecution, and preciousness that werr considered to be innately feminine.30' The roots of some of these feminine qualities were ofien as simplistic as the fact that the Venetian artist Rosa1ba Cariera excelled at pastel, thus it was associated with her and seen as a feminine art rnedi~rn.'~'Lisa Heer writes the following conceming éighteenth-century \vomen's artistic media: Apart from the more traditional media of 'high art', women artists worked in a variety of materiais and methods ranging from embroidery and needlework, wax modelling, shell and beadtvork, cut-paper work and collage, the painting of fans, china, srnaIl fumiture and other decorative objects, to the construction of jeweilery and other artistic objets, with unusual material such as hair and feathers .... Several of these media - particularly textile work - were considered to be appropriate for female practice because of their applicability to the functioning of decoration of the domestic context. Their focus on small minute detail also called forth - and served to display - the female vinues of patience, diligence and perseverance.303 The choice of alternative artistic media or techniques served as an ingenious and imaginative way to fulfil creative aspirations w-ithin women's gendsr-specific social contexts. The most , important aspect of women displaying their artistic ski11 in 'marginal' media, was that it was seen as acceptable bscause they Lvere not competing with male artists on either a professional or amateur le~el.~~ Subject matter, as well as media and technique, took on gendered implications as certain genres were both popular and deemed appropriate for women. As it was deemed inappropriate for women to sketch fiom models, both professional and amateur female artists 'O' Heer, Dicrionav of Wornen Arrisfs. 74. '"Heer, Dicfionory of Women Arfisrs, 75. '03Heer, Diclionas, of Wornen Arfisfs,75. "%tter. Dictionav of CVornen Arfisfs,75. were expected to produce art works fiom the lower genres of stlll-Iife, flowcr-painting, landscapc. domestic scenes, and p~rtraiture.'~'This limited range of subject matter borh reflected and perpetuated conternporary polarisations of femaIe and male spheres, which were linked to the gendered opposition of 'ferninine nature and emotion' versus 'masculine culture and reason' .'O" Many female amateur artists hung their own work in their homes, which served many purposes. During the eighteenth century there were no formal or public venues for the display of amateur art works, the private home being the only place available in which to display these works. Amateur art works were also very usefùl to any women who lacked the economic resources to purchase works by professionai artists. The display of amateur art also enabled many women to inject an element of self-expression, or to assert personal over their immediate -4 Community of Women Artists C Women amateur artists of the eighteenth century worked out of their homes, not ~vorkshopsor studios. Due to the domestic nature of their production. the creation of art was ohen practised while in the Company of other women. Women amateur artists gathered together for advice, inspiration, encouragement, audience, and understanding. The production of art sewed as a social activity for many women; for exampIe, Mary Delany wrote the following letter: ;O5 Srverri1 women, including Delany, acted in opposition to these expectations. Delany, along with Angelica Kauffmann, did indeed practice history painting. '"Wezr, Dicfionaty of Wornen Arzisa, 76. "'Heer, Dicrionaty of Women Arzists, 72-74. Yssterday arrived our ingenious Letty; she has brought good heaIth and fat sides, and 1 am very happy to have her; she has spread before me some of her drawings that she has done sincr 1 s3w hrr, and they are charming. I lent hsr some prints of Claude Lorraine. that she has copied to great perfection; and now we shall paint and draw and chatter together as fast as our hands, eyes, and tongues can go?" -4 sketch of Mary Delany by Lady Catherine Hanmer provides visual proof of an eighteenth- century British female artistic community (Figure 39). In this drawing there are two women artists \vho work side by side; Delany is depicted at her easel, while Hanmer records the moment in 3 draw*ing. Art as a social past-time was very important to Delany, especiaily ivhen it came time to spend the day with Mrs Bushe: 10 Dec. 1750. Tuesday 1 sat domto my painting, and Bushe to her drawing.'09 1 6 Feb. 1 75 1. Thursday and Friday Bushe and 1 worked like dragons; she is finishing a picture in oil colours for Mrs Hamilton and 1 finishing some dra~ings."~ Frb. 175 1. Tuesday, Bushe painted, and I finished the drawing of Calwich; my drawings have gone on slowly this year. I have had so rnuch painting that 1 had not time for both."! 2 1 pl7 blrs Bushe draws and reads and prates when we are' together ...."' Thsse cornmunities of women artists provided each other with invaluable artistic expertise and advice. Delany shared much of her artistic knotvledge with her sister Anne. In 'CEFroma letter wrinen by Mary Delany cm : 1 Jan 1735-46 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover. 1, ii, 4 12. jo3From a lettsr written by Mary DeIany on 10 Dec. 1750 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, ii. 625. "'From a letter written by Mary Delany in Feb. of 175 1 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, iii, 16. "'From a letter written by Mary Delany in Feb. of 175 1 as quoted by Johnson, 184. "'From a lener written by Mary Delany on 2 1 April 1753 to Anne Granviile Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, iii, 222. 1 734 s he wrote of her approval of her sister's decision to take up drawing, which she promised would provide a "great deal of entertainment"."' Delany wrote Anne the following advice on 3 Feb. 173 1-32: 1 hops you draw sometimrs. 1 fancy if you copied some landscapes, and did them in Indian ink, you would Iike it better than faces. 1 am sure, with very little application, you would do them very well; but copy only from the best print~."~ Advice was also given in the folIowing letter: 1 am to make rny acknowledgernents to you for the help of your scissors. The tittle poppets are very well cut, but you must take more pains about the trees and shmbs, for no white paper must be lefi, and the leaves must be shaped and cut distinctly round the edges of the tree; mostof the paper 1 have cut has cost me as rnuch pains as if it was white paper."5 It is clear from the excerpts cited above that Delany offered constructive criticism of the art \vork done by other female amateur artists. Not having a public venue in which to display their ~vorks,these women relied on each other for the feedback ~vithwhich they could improve their art works. / .rirtists influence each other, and these communities of female amateur artists were no exception to this rule. Delany \vas clearly influenced by the work of her fiiends; she was particularly influenced by Mrs Forth Hamilton's embroidered flowers and insects, and by Lady Andover's paper cutting. Delariy described one of Lady Andover's cut-paper landscapes as being as delicate as lace, and only able to be appreciated with a magnifying '"From a lener written by Mary Delany on 9 Fcb. 1724-5 ro Anne Granville Dcwes as quoted by Llanover, 1. i, 102. "'From a lener written by Mary Delany on 3 Feb. 173 1 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1. i, 336. ji5Frorna lerter written by Mary Delany on 20 Dec. 1729 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, 230. glass.'" Delany also influenced other amateur female artists. In 1788 Queen Charlotte shouzd Lord Bute 'the begiming of an Herbal from Impressions on Blsck Paper' that she was composing with pressed flowers, no doubt in emulation of Delany's FZora Delonica."' Among the many female artists mentioned by Delany are Lady Anson, Lady Betty Bentinick, Jsmy Glegg, Lady Andover, Lady Anne Monson. and her very good friend, the Duchess of Portland, about whom she wote the following: The Duchess has just finished a bunch of barberies turnsd in amber, that are beautifbit and she is finishing an ear of barley - the corns amber, the statk ivory, the beards tonoiseshell. At candlelight, cross-stitch and reading gather us together."' The only professional female artist that Delany rnakes mention of is Angelica Kauffmann; in 177 I DeIany wote the following: 'This morning we have been to see Mr West's and Mrs Angslica's paintings. My partiality leans to my sister painter. she certainly has a great deal of merit. but 1 like her history still better than her p~nraits.""~Drlany's choice of wording when referring to Kauffrnann as her 'sister painter' is indicative of the true sense of camaraderie and alliance that both professional and amateur women artists felt toward each other in the eighteenth century. Delany was considerably supportive of other female artists. She wote the following about Miss Bushe: "1 believe I told you she has a fine genias for painting; she is hard at \vork for me, she paints both in oil and water colours. 1 have enclosed you a Little scrap of ""From a lener written by Mary Delany on 25 Nov. 1752 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1. ii i, 1 76; and Hay den, Mrs. Deiany and Her Ffower Collages, 1 36. "'W il fred Blunt, In for a Penny: A Prospecr of Kew Gardens. Their Flora, Fauna. and Folballus (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1978): 56. 3 18 From a letter wrinen by Mary Delay on 29 Dec. 1757 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, iii. 473. 1 O7 her drawing. which she scratched out by candlelight in a rnin~te.""~Delany also encouraged Young girls to practice art. She taught her grand-niece and Miss Keate to do flower collages."' In 1779 George Keats. Miss Keate's father, wrots the following poem about the lesson: With that benwolence which condescends To glide its knowiedge to the youthful heart, O'et thee, my child, the good Delany bends. Directs thy scissors, and reveals her art. Ah! seize the happy moment! she can show The mazy path rnysterious Nature treads; Can steal her varied grace, her varied glow, And al1 the changeful beauties that she spreads. Then mark thy kind instructress, ivarch her hand, Her judgement, her inspiring touch attain; Thy scissors make, like hem, a rnagic ivand! Tho! much 1 fear thy efforts will be vain. Failing in this. my child, forbear the strife; fnother parh to farne by her is shown; - Try, by the pattern of her honotrr 'd li$ie, With equal virtue to czrt otir rhine oivn."' Dslany \vas especiaIly concemed with her grand-niece Georgina's education and artistic activities; she wote a Ietter entitled 'Rules of Conduct for a Young Lady', in which she u-rote: "...if you have learned to draw, give one hour to that every day, but not tu interfere 119 From a lener written by Mary Delany on 177 I as quoted by Dewes, 237; and Paston. 20 1. '''From a letter written by Mary Delany on 3 Feb. 173 1 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, i. 336. '" Dewes, 269-270. '"George Keate as quoted by Llanover, 11, ii, 435. with what is more necessary."'" On 17 Feb. 1753 Delany wrote the following advice concerning Georgina's education: 1 think it prudent in a moderate degree to encourage in young people an inclination to any innocent amusement, and am happy when I find they have a tum for any art or science; the mind is active, and cannot always bend to deep study and business, and too often bad Company and bad ways are the relaxations sought; to guard against that, nothing is as likely as any amusement that will not tire, and that requires application to bring to any perfection, and of course must prevent that idleness which a[ besl makes them very insignificanr. I agree with Mr Dewes, that an immoderate love to music may draw young people into many inconveniences: 1 tvould therefore confine it as rnuch as 1 could to an amusement, and never allow it to be their business. Painting has fewer objections, and generally leads people inro rnuch better cornpanY."'l \,'hile it is clear that Delany desired that young women be given encouragement and artistic training- she was careful to qualiQ that art was not to be the primary focus of any young \voman's life and that it was 'not to interfere mith what is more necessary'. Mary Delany's Artistic Reputation When it came to her artistic works. it was very important to Delany that she receive the approval of fiiends and farnily. This is not particularly surprïsing wherr one considers that the audience for Delany's work was limited to the private sphere, and therefore to those \vho kvould visit her home. It was especially important for Mary Delany that Patrick Drlany looked upon her art ~vorksfavourably. In 1745 Delany wrote the following regarding the importance of her husband's support: 1 have been sorting my mosses and ores, and am going to new arrange my shells, and to cover nvo large vases for my garden: my painting has lain dormant some time, having been in expectation of their excellencies every moming; and 1 did not care to '"From a letter written by Mary Delany as quoted by Johnson, xx. '"From a letter written by Mary Delany on 17 Feb. 1753 as quoted by Woolsey, 1,427. be found in a litter; and Shakespeare and the harpsichord fil1 up the evenings. These are my drams, and such as refresh wïthout intoxicating; but 1 believe my spirits would flag sven \?th these amusements, did they not give so much pleasure to D.D.;his approving of my works, and encouraging me to go on, keep up my relish to them, and rnake them more delightful to me than assemblies, plays, or even an opera would be without he shared them with me. Eager as I am in al! my pursuits 1 am ensi!y checked, and the lest disapprobation or snap, from the person 1 wish to oblige. in thought, word, or deed, would soon give me a distaste to what was delightful to me before! 1 hope this does not proceed fiom pride, but fiom a disposition in my heart that will not suffer me to enjoy any pleasure that 1 cannot communicate.'" It is important to note that DeIany continued to produce vast quantities of art work afier her husband had passed away. and that his pleasure was not the only impetus for her work. It is clear that Delany created art not only as an amusing past-time, but also in order to share pleasurable experiences or observations with her audiences. During the 1780s DeIany gained a public reputation for her Flora Delanica in English art and botanical cornrnunities. This positive reception of Delany's work is proof that women were able to negotiate specific places for themsehes in the artistic and scientific spheres of the ctightsenth century. Mary Delany was so successiùl at creating her avri space for cultural agency and authonty that not only were male artists and botanists not threatened by her. but thsy gave hsr great praise. Sir Joshua Reynolds, who in 1768 becarne the first president of the Royal Academy, acknowledged Delany's flo~vercollages as being unrivalled in the perfection of outline, delicacy of curting, accuracy of shading and perspective, and harmony and brilliancy of col~urs.~'~Horace Walpole mentioned Delany's FIora Delanica in his Anecdotes of Painring: "'Frorn a letter written by Mary Delany on 22 Oct. 1745 as quoted by Woolsey, 1, 32 1-322. '26Hriyden,Mrs. Delany and fier Ffower Collages, 1 58. ...[ Delany was] a lady of excellent sense and taste, who painted in oil, and who at the age of 74 invenred the an of paper mosaic, with which rnaterial (coloured) she esecuted. in cight years, within 20 of 1000 various flowers and flowering shnibs with a precision and irurh zinparalleled. "' In 1782 Opie painted a portrait of Delany for the Countess of Bute, which \vas placed in a frame designed by Horace Walpole. This wooden frarne is decorated with carved depictions of musical and anistic instruments, meant to celebrate Delany's accornplishrnents. At the bottom is a palette, on which the following inscription is written: Mary Granvi Ile Niece of Lord Lansdowne Correspondent of Dr Swifi Widow of Mr Pendarves and of Dr Delany, Dean of Downe -Her Piety and Vitures, her excellent understanding and her Talents & Taste in Painting and Music were not only the Merits, Ornaments & Cornforts of an uniforrn life, but the blessing that crowned and closed the terrninatiori of her existence at the uncommon age of 88 She died April 15th 1788 .- blarcia Pointon notes that Walpole signed his name on one of the brushes near the palette, thus inviting viewers to see his role as author. Pointon reads this signature as a sign of Walpole's intended pre-eminence over anist (a carpenter's son) and subject (a fernale)."' She asserts that Walpole's frame acts to appropriate the sitter and eraçe the artist. While it is possible that Pointon is correct in her reading of Walpole's attitude toward Delany, his '"Horace Walpole, Anecdotes of Painring in Engiand 1760 - 179j (New Haven: 1786 edition, reprinted in 1937): 11, 242. '"Marcia Pointon, Hanging the Head: Porrrairure and Social Formation in Eighteenth-Cenruty England (London: Yale University Press, 1993): 35. 111 inclusion of her in his book and his decision to design hsr portrait frame indicates that he had ci certain amount of respect for her. The botanist Sir Joseph Banks said that Delany's representations of flowers "...were rhe onZy imitations of nature that he had ever sesn, from which he could venrure to describe botanically any plant without the least fear of committing an err~r.""~In 1788 Erasmus Danvin, a doctor and poet, publishsd The Botanic Garden; incIuded in this book is the poern "The Loves of the Plants: A Poem with Philosophical Notes". One section of this poern is dedicated to papyrus, in which Darwin included the following homage to Delany: So now DELANY forms her mimic bowers, Her paper foliage, and her silken flowers; Her virgin train the tender scissars ply, Vein the green leaf, the purple petal dye: Round wiry stems the flaxn tendril bends, Moss creeps below, and waven miit impends. Cold Winter views amid his realms of snow DELAiiY'S vegetable statues blow. Smooths his stem brow, dslays his hoary wing, And eyes ~vith\onder al1 the blooms of ~pring."~ Delany's FZorn Delanica w-ere highly regarded within the upper echelons of eighteenth-century English society. Arnong those who admired Delany's collages are King George III and Queen Charlotte; Viscountess Andover; Lady Weymouth; Mrs Boscawen; Lady Cecilia Johnson; Dr Hurd, Bishop of Worcester; Dr Richard Pultcney, physician and botanist; Dr Joseph Warton. Headmaster of Winchester College; and Rev W. Gilpin, author of several books on picturesque landscape, including Observations on Forest Scenery and Pic~uresqzreBeauîy. Rev Gilpin wrote the following to Delany: 3'9Woolsey,II, 404405. 'lOErasmusDanvin. Botanic Garden, (New York: Garland Publishing, 1978, facsimile of 1791 edition): 69-70. 112 If a half horir s cal1 would no[ be inconvenient. may I ask the fmher favour, that you wou'd be so good as have one of your delightfûl volumes of plants on the table. that blrs Gilpin (~vhotravels with me) may have ii ro say she "has looked into thern. " The only amusement in which she indulges herself is pfanrs, of which she is enthusiasticalIy fond.)" This praise from important members of British upper-class society is indicative of how well Dclany constructed în acceptable role for herself uhich satisfied both socially prescribed gsndsr roles and fulfiiled ber interests irr art and science. Mary Delany's Self Image as an Artist As indicated above, many of Mary Delany's contemporaries praised her art work. But ~vhatof Delany's witing regarding her own artistic practice? Delany held views of herseif as an artist that were often contradictory, and far more complicated than others' opinions of her. The foliowing is a good example of a situation in which Delany wrote both positive and negative comments about her practice as an artist: I am going to make a very cornfortable closet; - to have a dresser, and al1 manner of working tools, to keep al1 my stores forpainring, carving, gilding &c.; for my own room is now so dean and pretty that 1 cannot suffer it to be strewed with litter, only books and work, and the closet belonging to it to be given up to prints. drawings, and my collection of fossils, petrifactions, and minerais. 1 have not set them in order yet; a great work it will be, but when done very comfortabIe. Thcre is to my \vorking closet a pleasant window that overlooks al1 the garden it faces the east, is always dry and wann. In the middle of the closet a deep niche with shelves, where 1 shall put whatever china 1 think too good for cornmon use, but trifling and insignificant is my srore-room to what yours is! Mine fits only an idle mind that wants amusement; yours serves either to supply your hospitable table, or gives cordial and healing mzdicines to the poor and sick. Your mind is ever tumed to help, relieve, and bless your neighbours and acquaintance; whilst mine. 1 fear (however 1 may sometimes flatter myself that 1 have a contrary disposition), is roo rnuchfilled with amusements "'From a letter wrinen by Rev. W. Gilpin on 24 April 1786 to Mary Delany as quoted by Llanover, II, iii, 336. of no real estimation; and when people commend any of my performances 1 feel a consciousnrss that my time might have been better employed.j3' Delany's letters contain numerous comments revealing the guilt she felt about time spent practising an. In the above letter to her sister, she wote that her time was 'rnzlchfillrd with amusements of no real estimation' and tnat her time could have been better employcd than nith art. In another letter DeIany mentioned that she was putting her house in order. afier which she will retum to her -'...less necessary, but more pIeasing employments of painting, &c."~'~ In 1750 she promised her sister that she would finish a pattern at -'the first leisure lazy hour that cornes in my way". "' It appears that Delany dclegated her an practice to her -free time' in order to justify her time spent on such an 'unimportant' task. Delany's most cornmon attitude toward her art production is one of humility. The social construction of eighteenth-century British society taught females fiom a ver). early age that humility and modesty Lvere the most desirable character features a woman could possess. One of the most significant limitations facing amateur Lvornen artists \vas this conception of fernale humility; ivhen DeIany was seventy-tïve years old she wote the follow-ing: The longer I live in the world the more 1 am convinced that the happiest people are those ~vhomake their besr of rheir lot and keep their minds unrainred with ambitious views. Ambition's ladder is very treacherous; when you have taken one step you are deluded to anoiher, not considering your airy situation, and that if a step fails your faIl is so much the more dangerous for having lefi the ground you stood on bef~re.~~' "'Frorn a letter wrinen by Mary Delany on 6 Oct. 1750 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by WooIsey, 1.381. 3;3Frorna letter written by Mary Delany on 18 May 1750 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, ii, 545. "'From a letter wrinen by Mary Delany on 28 JuIy 1750 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, ii, 576. ';5Frorn a lener tvrinen by Mary Delmy on 21 Feb. 1775 to Mary Dewes Pon as quoted by Woolsey, II, 216. II4 There are many examples of Delany's diligent acts of modesty. In one instance, she wrote hzr nizcz the following letter: Now I know you srnile, and say what can take up so much of A.D.3 Mary Delany's] time? No children to tsach or play with; no house matters to tonnent her; no books to publish; no politicks to work her brains? Al1 this is me, but idleness never greiv in my soif,tho' I can't boast of any very usehl employments. only such as keçp me from being a burden to my friends, and bunish the spleen; and therefore, are as important for the prcsent use as matters of a higher nature.'j6 George Ballard dedicated his book. Mernoirs of Leurned Ladies, to Delany, who in his words \vas "the truest judge and brightest pattern of al1 the accomplishments which adom her 337 DeIany's response to this honourwas as follows: "Well, 1 can't help it, but I wish Mr Bal lard had nor thought of honouring me with a dedication. I have not vanity, nor rnerit of any kind sufficient to be pleased with or wonhy of such a distincti~n."~'~In the 1750s The Hwnanisf, a woman's weekly paper, attempted to publish the following description of Delany in a series of edifj4ng fernale character-studies: Maria was eârly initiated into every art. with elegance and condition; that could fom her into a fine lady, a good woman, and a good Christian. She read and wrote two languages correctly and judiciously. She soon becarne a mistress of her pen in every art to which a pen could be applied. She wrote a fine hand in the most masteriy manner. she drew. and she designed with amazing correctness and ~kill."~ DeIany did not allow the publication of this article. Perhaps her modest reactions are understandable when one considers that both of these instances of praise were to be conductsd in the public realrn. Delany must have been aware that this public attention could "*From a letter wrinen by Mary Delany on 20 Oct. 1777 as quoted by Woolsey, II, 3 10. "'George Ballard as quored by Paston, 152. J'8From a lener wrinen by Mary Delany on 27 Oct. 1750 as quoted by Woolsey, 1,383. J39Theiiunianisr as quoted by Paston, 180- 18 1. have chalIenged her delicatel y balanced position as both a respected upper-class gentlewoman and an artist, Another instance of Delany's huniility is found in the following sxcerpt, in which Dzlany describes her prepmtion for a visit from Princess Amelia: Al1 the comfortable sofas and great chairs, al1 the pyramids of books, and the tables, and even the spi~ing-wheel,were banished for the day ...After dinner she tvould see my own apartments, and made me display my frippery work, which she graciously c~rnmended.~'~ In the above letter, Delany disrespectfully called her art work 'fnppery' and only brought it out to show her distinguished guest upon her request. Despite al1 that Delany wrote to diminish hsr status as an artist, there are instances in tvhich it is cIear that she was proud of her work. In 1743 she referred to herself as "the artist", and wote: "1 think I may say my pencil has produced a good piece."'" On another occasion she \;rote to her sister about a piece of clothing she had made, which she referred to it as a 'Del~ny'.'~'This is in the spirit of traditional art teminology, but seems to be used here by Delany with a hint of self-mockery. It is clear that Delany treasured her work and \vas indeed proud of it; Famy Burney descnbed her 1783 meeting with Delany as folIows: "kirs Delany was alone in her drawing-room, which is entirely hung round with pictures of her o~vnpainting, and omaments of her own designing ...."3" The fact that she displayed her "'From a lener written by Mary Delany between 1767- 1772 as quoted by Paston, 205. 14 1 From a lener written by Mary Delany in 1743 as quoted by Woolsey, I. 264; and from a letter written by Mary Delany on 18 Nov. 1743 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, ii, 226. 342Froma lener written by Mary Delany on 12 Dec. 1756 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by LIanover, 1, iii, 453. "'Fanny Burney as quoted by Paston, 240. 116 o\vn art work suggests that she was indeed proud of her artistic accomplishments. There is conflict between her words. which act to dirninish the importance of hrr work, and her actions, which indicate that she had great respect for her creations. Mary Delany worked within a community of female amateur upper-class artists. These w-omen devised specific ways in which to practice art. They created their ow-n realm of anistic training, chose media and subject maiter which were seen as acceptable, and utilised domestic space for artistic display. Al1 the while these women rnanaged to act within thé socially prescribed rules of their gender. The fernale amateur artistic comrnunities of the eiçhteenth century acted as significant resources and support for their members. -4 close esamination of Delany's private, public, and self-determined status as an anist tells the modem audience much about the gender politics of the eighteenth century. Delany placed great importance on the reception of her an work by her fiends and family brcause as a female artist exhibiting in the domestic realm these people served as her primary Z audience. The positive public reaction toward Delany's collage work is indicative of how carefully crafied her role as an artist was. Delany's witing concerning her art practice is complex, and I would venture to guess that it is reflective of the her precarious balancing act between the worlds of high society and fine art. The study of Mary Deiany's artistic community and her status as an artist illustrate how some British wornen of the eighteenth century negotiated their omn artistic realm. So successful \vas their practice, that they not only maintained their social positions, but were also praised by some oithe most powerful members of their society. 117 CHAPTER 7: 3IXRY DELAXY'S ARTISTIC DISTRIBUTION. CFUTICISM, AND COLLECTION The distribution, criticism, and collection of art work is a very important realm of anistic activity. Fernale amateur artists of the eighteenth century devised their own method of dispersing their art; they gave it away as gifis. This system ensured that their art reached a \vide vanety of audiences, without challrnging the predominantly male dominated professional an systrm. Another area in which women were able to express their unique cultural agency and authonty was the field of art criticism and collection. A detailed enamination of Mary Delany's distribution, criticism, and collection practices shows the modem scholar how one eighteenth-century woman negotiated a place for herself in these male dominated realrns. Gifts of Art Since Delany chose to practice art within the category of 'amateur', she did not sel1 her \vork. rather she dispensed of her art through the practice of gifi giving: Many of Delany's art works were created with a specific recipient in mind. An example of this is found in the following excerpt: "1 shall take it extremely il1 if you rob Court [Delany's nephew] of his pictures; al2 brrr Summer and Faustina's pictures are his, and to be hung up in his nursery.""' Delany was very generous with her drawings; she gave many of them to friends and farnily. If Delany had a particular liking for a drawing she would make copies of 'UFrom a letrer writren by Mary Delany on 10 Sept. 1744 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1. ii, 322. it for friends; for example, she wrote: "1 have dnwn the picture of a fine bull. and will as soon as 1 have leisure send you a copy of it.'"" (Figure 40) Delany's sister was the recipient of rnany art works; for example, Delany wrote: will cenainly bnng my book of drawings, asharned of having added so linle to it. You know 1 cannot have a greater pleasure than employing my pen or pencil for you. The book is yours; 1 only keep it to fil1 it, which 1 will do as fast as 1 can."jJ6 Patrick Delany was also the recipient of many of his wife's works; Mary Delany wrote, "1 have begun to copy an old picture of Mary Queen of Scots, which is but indifferently painted but the face is pretty: and to indulge the Dean, who is smitten with it 1 have undertaken to copy it.""' The following lrtter to her sister is indicative of Delany's generosity and her practice of working on numerous gifis simultaneously: "1 am copying an angel for the Dean after a Guido, finishing a half-length of the fmous Duchess of Mazarin for Miss Bushe, and must give my mother's picture (1have copied for yotc) another painting. it does not content me."3J8 P Delany gave away many of her Flora Delanica; she %-rote the following to her fnend, Anne Viney: 1 am ashamed to be so ofien put in mind of my promise of sending a specimen of my paper mosaic, and was resolved not to tvrite till 1 cou'd perform my promise, which 1 fiar uill not answer your expectations; I intended sending it under a frank, which crampt me in the size, and when I had done it, found it rather too large for such a conveyance. I have sent you a flower, a piece pack'd in a little case, by the rom a lener written by Mary Delany on 28 Dec. 1753 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1. iii. 363. i4bFroma letter wrinen by Mary Delany on 28 April 173'3 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover. 1, iii. 226. IJ7Froma letter written by Mary Delany between 1743-1 745 as quoted by Johnson, 147. 3JSFroma letter written by Mary Delany on 28 Feb. 1745-46 to Anne Granville Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, ii, 425. Gloucester coach. or rather should say shall send it to-morrow by one of the Gloucester coaches that passes over Gerrard's cross; if you and your sister can judgs of the work bu so imperfect a specimen, and approve of it, and allowance must be made for its bsing the work of an old woman. nearly ent'ring into her 80th year! You would have my lirtle dog - rose and jessamine, a week sooner; but that it has been a week so till'd with Royal favours that it allowed me no leisure for anything else."19 Delriny rtlso gave Qusen Charlotte the choice of her favourite twenty collages. The most significant documentation of Delany's tendency to give her art to friends and family is hsr Lnsr WÏll and Tesrament writtsn on 22 Fsbruary 1778. The foIlo\ving is a list I have constmcted fiom her will, which highlights not only to whom Delany gave her art Lvork, but also which paintings, objects, and books she owned and cherished: To the Duchess of Portland - Holy Family, in crayons, after Trevasani by herself; Wornnn ond Child, in oils, afier Guido by herself; two paintings of beggars by Scaglioni; two water-colours of mins by Ricci; a self-portrait by John Stephen Liotard; any flowers she selects out of "rvhat I call 'Ehret 's Book, ' or an); other picrrires ofmy painting "; her collection of shells and fossils; a book of paintings of fish; and the collection of plants "1 iised ro call my Hortus Siccris paper mosaic; " but ~vhenno longer an amusement to her to go to kir Court Dewes and his heirs. To Lady Weymouth - Chariy, in crayons, afier Paris Bourdon by herself; and the Hoiy Family. in crayons, afier Trevisani by herself; enamel portrait 'of Petito by himself. To the Countess of Stamford - hfadonna and Child, oval, in oils, afier Guido by herse1f. To the Countess of Bute - Three ~bfarysat the Tornb, after Salvator Rosa by herself; and The Raising of lazartrs. To Mrs. Boscawen - &fadonna in rhe Blue Veil, in crayons, after Guido by hsrself. To the Viscountess Andover - Portrait of King Charles rhe Firsr, after Vandyke by herself; and Landscape, afier Salvator Rosa by herself. To Miss Frances Howard - Holy Family. by Raphael. To Mr. Frederic Montague - Porrrair of lC.ladame de Sevigne, in oïl, copied afier one in the possession of Mr Horace Walpole. To Mrs. Sandford - Portraif of Letitia Brishe, in crayons. To Mas ter Thomas Sandford - Portrait of Mrs Sandford and Mrs Preston by herself. To Master Daniel Sandford [Delany's godson] - Butter-ies by Wilks and Abin [a book] J 49 From a letter written by Mary Delany on 3 1 Oct. 1779 to Anne Vinoy as quoted by Llanover. II, ii, 48 1. 120 To Mr. J Dewes [nephsw] - Portrait of Delnny Sfarher, morher and brother, in oil; Porrmir of Lady Johanna ThornhiU kaning on het hand, by Wright, in oil; Lady Sfanley, by Huysrnan. in oil; and Lady Dysarr, by Pond. in crayons. To Bernard Dewes [nephew] - Farher and ntorher Sportrair, in oils; Landscape rvirh Cade, in oïl, by Wootton; SmalI Landycupe with Lady on Horseback, by Woonon ; Calmer S Dicrionary, 3 vols. folio; Collier S Dicrionary, 3 vols. folio; Hisrory ofrhe WorM by Sir Walter Raleigh, folio; tlesop by Ogilvy; Virgil; and the History of China, with Hollar's pnnts; Bayle 's Dictionary, folio; Sherlock S, Newon 's and Hrrrd 's CYorks: and Porrrcrit of Cottrr Derves, in oils. To Anne Dewes [great niece] - picture in water-colours of flowers with the vine frame. To Court Dewes - al1 her books on botany and natural history (except Physique Sacre, lefi to Mrs Pon of Ilam); a copy after Claude Lorraine; and many 1st edition prints; Portrait of Dr. DeIuny, by Soldi; Portrait ofAnne Deives, in oils. Mrs Ravaud - Copies in crayons afier Raphael and Leah at the WeII by herself. Mrs Shelley - a Japan box in the shape of a heart. Dr Hurd - The Head of ozrr Suviorrr, in oil. Dr Ross - .Ange( Looking Up rvirh Etpanden Wings, after Guido, in oils. the Eari of Dartmouth - Angel wirh hands across, afier Guido, in oils. the Rev. %IrMason - Sacharissa 's Portrait, afier Vandyke by herself. Lady Clanbrassil - Two Boys and Lamb, afier Guido by herse1f. Mrs. Dickenson - SI. Carherine, afier Paul Veronese, in crayons- Lord Guilford - Transfigrrration, afier Car10 Maratti, in oil. King George III - Picrzrre of Grapes, by Michael Ange10 Caravaggio. Miss Burney - Sacharissa, afier Vandyke by her~elf.~~' It is apparent from the above that Delany held her art work in high regard, as she so carefully chose to givs it to individuals ~vhowould cherish and protect her art. It is thanlis to Delany's friends and family that so much of her artistic oeuvre has survived to date. Artistic Connoisseurship and Criticism Connoisseurship and criticism were among the lirnited artistic activities in which Lvornen m-ere relatively free to participate. Lt was more acceptable for women to receive training in art criticism than it was for them to receive training in artistic production. During the eighteenth century, women were praised for their knowledge of the finer things in life, '"1 have exrracted this list frorn Mary Delany's will, which was written on 22 Feb. 1778, and can be found in fuIl in Llanover, II, iii, 483-488. 12 1 especially their intelligent criticism of paintings.3s' Women were encouraged to improve on their family's social statu by the collection and domestic display of great works of art. (For a list of paintings collected by Delany see Appendix III). Mary Delany had significant knowledge of art and she was not one to hide her opinions. In the summer of 173 1, Delany =.votethe following letter conceming William E-fogarth's painting: 1 am grown passionately fond of Hogarth's painting, there is more sense in ir than any I have seen. I believe 1 wrote you word that Mr. Wesley's family are drawn by him, and Mrs Do~elianwith them. 1 have had the pleasure of seeing him paint the greater pan of it. He has altered his manner of painting since you saw his pictures; he finishes more a good deal. 1 have released Lady Sunderland fiom her promise of giving me her picture by Zincke, to have it done by Hogarth. 1 think he takes a much greater likeness, and that is what 1 shall value my fnend's picture for, more than the excellence of the painting.352 It is clear frorn the above excerpt that DeIany closely followed Hogarth's stylistic progress, and appears to have felt no fear in expressing her preference for Hogarth's work over that of Zincke's. Delany Las acquainted with some of the wealthiest families of Bntain, and through these friendships she çained access to the best art collections in England. On 10 Nov. 1743, she Lvrote the following frorn Rouseham, Oxfordshire: 1 have alrnost forgot to speak particularly of the pictures: they are excessivély fine, most of thern Vandykes, whole lengths, and a vast number of them. Either the painrer or the persons painted had more gracefûlness than the modem nobility, for they al1 look 1i ke valers-de-chambre compared to their ance~tors."~ 151 L isa Heer, Problems in Copies: The Producrion, Conrumprion and Criricism of Copies aper rhe Old Masfers in Eighreenrh-Cenrury England. PhD Dissertation (Bryn Mawr College, 1995): 238. '51Froma lener written by Mary Delany in the summer of 173 1 as quoted by Paston, 58. '"From a lener written by Mary Delsny on Io Nov. 1743 while in Rouseham as quoted by Woolsey. 1,254. Shr had a particularly intimate knoxvledge of the collection of her closest friend, the Duchess of Portland, about which she wrote the following: "1 have undertaken to set the Duchess of Portland's miniatures in ordrr, as she does not like to trust them to anybody else. Such Petitots! such Olivers! such Coopers! You may believe the employrnent is not unpleasant.""' Delany wote about the Bishop of Derry's collection in the following: Last Monday we dined at the Bishop of Derry's, Mrs Stone and Mrs McAulay of the party. 1 was very well entertained with looking over the Bishop's pictures: he has a very good collection, by above 200 different masters' hands, original pictures, well prese~ed,and in good order; not many Italian, but the greatest variety of Dutch and Flemish 1 ever saw in one collection.35s The painting of Anthony van Dyck were favourites of Delany's. On Feb. 175 1 she Lvrotr: --Wednesday Bushe and 1 went to see some fine pictures at a Major Whitlock's; he has not many, but some very good and capital picfures of Vandyke: arnong them Our Saviour, the Virgin, and a Cardinal praying ad~ration.""~On 1 Sept. 1773 Delw had the opportunity to view Mrs Stainford's art colIection, about which she \;rote the follo\ving: She [Mrs Stainford] treated me with a sight of three beaztrifrtf, cnpiral pictures of Vandyke, that have been brought from Carleton Houe to put up at the Queen's House. T\vo whole lengths of Henrietta, the Queen rnother, and Lady Carlisle, that has al1 the warrnth and force of Titian, but with al1 Vandyke's tenderness and gentiliry; the other picture is of Phillip the 4th of Spain, a horseback and an angel crowning him with iaurels, exquisitely painted. It has a cornpanion which has gone to be cleaned; and St. Martyn on horseback too, dividing his mantle ...when 1 was at Sevenoak, I \vent to see Knowt Park and House; the park very fine indeed, the house d~illyrnagnijicent, but U \vas amused with the pictures, of which there are abundance, particularly portraits, some very bad. a few very good. The present Duke of Dorset had brought a good many out of Italy ~vithhim. reckoned pretty good, tho' I can't say '"From a lener wrinen by Mary Delany in 1757 as quoted by Paston, 179. jS5Frorna lener written by Mary Delany on 10 Dec. 1750 to Anne Granvilte Dewes as quoted by Llanover, 1, ii, 625. '56From a letter written by Mary Delany in Feb. of 175 1 as quoted by Johnson, 182. 1 was much struck with them. There is a Raphael, half length, by hirnself, which 1 believe is good and certain& an original, and thm is a whole length of Lucretia by Guido, that Sir kshua Reynolds offer'd 1400 pounds for. There is a very good portrait painted by Holbein, on a pale green ground, of Aurelius, inventor of geography.'" Delany often had the opporhmity to visit artists in thei studios. As previously mentioned, she watched Hogarth paint a portrait of the Wesley family in 1731. Delany wrote the following afler visiting the Itaiian painter, Andrea Soldi: 1 have been with Soldi, and think the picm very pretty, though it does not strike me with the resemblance you wanted. The eyes were too staring: he has sofiened hem, and altered some other things, which has given it a little more the look of what 1 suppose my mother might be at that the; he has thrown a white tiffany over one of the shoulders, that has a good effect, and is charmingly painted. The purple nbbon in the hair is simple, and becoming, and helps to relieve the head fiom the ground; the light touches of the hair were too yellow - he has mended them. i sat an hou by him, and was not only entertained, but edified; he is good-humoured and very communicative; 1 wanted to coax him out of some of his pencils, but he did not, or would not, understand me? Her artistic criticism was not always favourable; she wrote the following after a visit to the Swiss artist Listard's sîudio: Here is Miss Foley come to carry me off to Lestart's, Fistard] where she is to sit for her picture. Just retumed, not quite satisfied. The picture is like, but not favourably so; another sitting 1 hope will improve it. Lestart is a great artist in his way, but not as a portrait painter, in my poor opinionT9 jZ7Frorna letter written by Mary Delany on 1 Sept. 1773 to Rev. John Dewes as quoted by Llanover, II, i, 537- 8. '58From a letter written by Mary Delany on 20 luly 1755 to Bernard Granville as quoted by LIanover, 1, iii, 359. Andrea Soldi, along with many other Italian painters, visited and set up studios in England during the middle of the eighteenth century. 359From a lener wrirten by Mary Delany on 1 I April 1772-76 as quoted by Paston, 208. (Previously unpublished). 124 In 1774 Delany visited Sir Joshua Reynolds' house to see the portraits he was workïng on? In 1760 Delany met Thomas Gainsborough for the fhttime and wrote the following: This moming 1 went with Lady Westmoreland to see Mr Gainsborough's picnires, and they may well be called what Mr Webb unjmti'y says of Rubens - they are "splendid imposifiom". There 1 saw Miss Ford's picture - a whole-length, with her guitar, a most extraordinary picture, handsome and bold; but I should be very sorry to see any one 1 loved painted in such a manner!M' Ruth Hayden reports that Delany was upset because Gainsborough had painted Miss Ford in full length with a musical instrument, which was a seventeenth-century signal that a woman was sexually promiscuous.~211 is interesting to note that Delany later had her portrait painted by Gainsborough, in which she is depicted in a traditional position, seated half- profile and giancing toward the artist. Delay's opinions were not limited to paintings, the following excerpt gives one an idea of exactly how strongly Delany felt toward garden design: Today we dine at Lord Chief Justice Singleton's at Dnuncodra. HE has given Mr Bristowe full dominion over house and gardens, and like a conceited connaisseur he is doing strunge things building an absurd room, tuming fine wild evergreens out of the garden, curling down full growing ehsand planring ~igs!D.D. has no patience with km, and 1 shall be under some difficulty today to know how to commend anything which is what 1 wish to d0.l" Delany worked diligently to promote her favourite artists. She was neighbours with a Mr Barber, whom she encouraged to pursue a career as a painter and rniniat~rist.'~In 1782 3 W Hay den, 'tirs. Delany and Her FIo wer Collages, I 23, j6'From a lener written by Mary Delany in 1760 as quoted by Paston, 186. '62Hayden,Mrs. Defany and Her Flower Collages, 96. '63Frorna letter wrinen by Mary Delany as quoted by Hayden, Mrs. Delany and Her Flower Colfages, 79. 'aHayden, Mm Delany and Her Flower Collages, 96. 125 Delany's failing eyesight forced her to give up her own work on her FhaDelanica, but this did not diminish her keen interest in art. That same year she brought the young pomait- painter Opie to the attention of King George III and Queen Charlotte; it was Opie who was comrnissioned by their Majesties to paint the portrait of Delany which hung in their bedroorn at Windsor The study of Mary Delany's artistic distribution, criticism, and collection practices reveals yet another facet of her ability to participation in the artistic world of eighteenth- century Britain. Delany's practice of giving her work away as gifis is an example of the ingenuity evident in many wornen's negotiation of the role of artist. Records of her gifts indicate that Delany held her own art work in hi& regard and cared that it went to people who would enjoy and care for it. Delany's roles as art critic and collecter were socially condoned; she was able to give both positive and negative reviews, visit professional art studios, and promote young artists, without fear of social disapproval. Through artistic distribution, criticism, and collection Mary Delany was able to express her own knowledge and opinions. 126 CONCLUSION Mary Delany's amateur status, 'appropriate' subject matter, unconventional media choices acted as a 'safe-zone' in which she could produce art under socially acceptable tems. So successful was her negotiation between her status as an upper-class female and as an amateur artist, that she received artistic approval and praise fiom Sir Joshua Reynolds, Horace Walpole, Hannah More, Sir Joseph Banks, Erasrnus Darwin, Edmund Burke, the Duchess of Portland, and King George III and Queen Charlotte The British definition and understanding of 'fine art' changed drastically during the eighteenth century. During the first three-quarters of the century, a wide variety of artistic media were highly respected. For instance, the woodcarver Grinling Gibbons (1 648-1 721) was highl y acclaimed and his sculptures were compared to those of Michelangelo. It was wiîh the foundation of the British Royal Academy in 1768 that the distinction of the 'fine art' came to England. This was a time of great transition in the art world - categories of art were being invented and defined. The Royal Academy crystallised artistic hierarchy in their attempt to distinguishing themselves fiom guilds, thus setting thernselves up as a reputabte body of 'fine artists'. In 1769, the Royal Academy Council outlawed the inclusion of any type of artistic copy in their annual exhibition. Four years later they prohibited the display of needlework, artificial flowers, and models in coloured wax.366The fact that the Royal Academy made these rules suggests that these types of art were allowed in other exhibitions of the time. These rules not only acted to establish new artistic categories, but aiso widened the divide '&Sidney C. Hutchison, The History ofrhe Royuf Acedemy / 768 - 1986 (London: Robert Royce Limited, 1986): 36,40. 127 between amateur and professional, as it did between male and female artists, as the media they choose to exclude was predorninantly practised by amateur women artists. My work on Mary Delany has revealed a void of similar case studies on other female artists of the eighteenth cenniry. In order to attain a clearer concept of the collective experiences of female artists living in Britain during the eighteenth century, many more in- depth case studies are needed. The experiences of individual women will broaden the picnire that traditional and feminist scholarship has painted of this time. Delany's case demonstrates that the situation of amateur women artists living in eighteenth century Britain was actually more complex and interesting than the present academic stereotype. For instance, Delany did practice history painting; she was also known and respected by major professional artists of her era. Part of the popular misconceptions toward these artists can be attributed to the lack of case studies. Another explanation to this problem may stem fiom the fact that many scholars who make generalised statements regarding the eighteenth century base their observations on the last quarter of the century and not the decades preceding. Mary Delany did not outwardly challenge the gender inequalities evident in eighteenth-century scientific and artistic communities, however I do contend that Delany acted to subvert social gender expectations by negotiating a distinct realm in which to practise science and art. It is obvious fiom Delany's illustrated artistic creativity, skill, and dedication that she was indeed a prolific artist. And while it is clear that women were not encouragea to practice art in the same fashion as male professional artists, it is also evident that many women were relatively free to create their own spheres of artistic practice. Recognising women, who have acted within patriarchy to achieve their goals, is one way of 128 alleviating the tendency to look at history as a place where women were either radically defiant or helplessly oppressed. The historian Amanda Vickery writes that, Propnety rnight have made a tight-fitting suit, but it could be wom in a far wider range of situations than we have ken apt to think."' The history of Mary Granville Pendarves Delany provides the modem day scholar with a superb example of the invention and ingenuity evident in the scientific and artistic practises of women who lived in Britain during the eighteenth century. I6'~rnandaVickery, The Gentleman's Daughter: Women's Lives in Georgian England (London: Yale U Press, 1998): 284. Figure 1: Barber, Mary Delany Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden. Figure 2: Jan Sieberechts, Longfeat/rom the South, 1695 Reproduced by permission of the Courtauld Institute of Art. Figure 3: Mary Delany, Anne Granville Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden. Figure 4: Zincke, Margaref Cavendish Hnrley, Duchess of PortIand Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden. Figure 5:Unkaowen Artist, Dr. Patrick Delany, Dean of Down Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden. Figure 6: C. D. Ehret, Bull Bay (Magnolia grandtyora L.), 1743 Reproduced by permission of Victoria and Albert Museum. Figure 7:Mary Delany, Rosa gaffica(Cfuster Dammk), 1780 O Copyright The British Museum. Figure 8: Unkaowen Artist, Engkh Courtdress, 1745-1750 Reproduced by permission of Victoria and Albert Mwum. Figure 9: Mary Delany, Overskirt of Delany's Courtdrcrs Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden. Figure 10: Mary Delany, Design for Cnurtdress Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden. Figure 11: Mary Delany and Anne Granville Dewes, Shellwork on Mantelpiece Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden. Figure 12: Mary Delany, Sheliwork an Cornicefrom the Chapel al DelviIIe Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden. Figure 13: Mary Delany, Sketch of Dr. Delany Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden. Figure 14: Mary Delany, The Rocky Hills and Mountains leading tu the Gianf's Causway itz the County of Antrim, Ireland Reproduced by permission of the National Gallery of Ireland. Figure 15: Mary Delany, A view ofye Beggars Hut in Delville Garden Reproduced by permission of the National Gallery of Ireland. Figure 16: Mary Delany, The Cottage Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden. Figure 17: Mary Delany, Painting done after Correggio, 1760 Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden. Figure 18: Mary Delany, Catherine Hyde, the Duchess of Queensbury Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden. Figure 19: Mary Delany, Wonten Reading and Twirring Tl'read Reproduced by permission of the Marquess of Bath, Longleat House, Warminster, Wiltshire, Great Britain. Figure 20: Mary Delany, Chiftiren of Vkcount Weymouth, late 1760s Reproduced by permission of the Marquess of Bath, Longleat House, Warminster, Wiltshire, Great Britain. Figure 21: Mary Delany, Came of Chess Reproduced by permission of the Marquess of Bath, Longleat House, Warminster, Wiltshire. Great Britian. Figure 22: Mary Delany, Broad Crested Cockatoo, native ofNew Hollond Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden. Figure 23: Mary Delany, Lifium canadense, 1779 O Copyright The British Museum. Figure 24: Mary Delany, Scariet Geranium O Copyright The British Museum. Figure 25: Mary Delany, Arum esculentum (Eutable Wake Robin), 1780 O Copyright The British Museum. Figure 26: Mary Delany, Ornil/rogalum arabicum (Arabian star of Bethlehem), 1779 O Copyright The British Museum. Figure 27: Mary Delany, Passeflora laurifolio (Bay leaved), 1777 O Copyright The British Museum Figure 28: Mary Delany, Bombax ceiba Linn spec. 959, 1780 O Copyright The British Museum. Figure 29: Mary Delany, Mimosa iathi/iqua (w/iile/lowering accasia), 1776 O Copyright The British Museum. Figure 30: Mary Delany, Solanuni melongena (Eggplant), 1777 O Copyright The British Museum. Figure 3 1: Mary Detany, Fragaria vesca (Wood strawbcrry) , 1777 O Copyright The British Museum. Figure 32: Mary Delany, Tamus cornmunis (Black briony), 1776 O Copyright The British Museum. Figure 33: Mary DeIany, Physalis (Winter Cherry) O Copyright The British Museum. Figure 31: Mary Delany, Cactus grandiforus (Melon ThMe), 1778 O Copyright The British Museum. Figure 35: Mary Derany, Mespilus piracanttia (Fiest-thornedpiracanttia), 1780 O Copyright The British Museum. Figure 36: Mary Delany, Furnoriafungosa (Chingfumitory), 1776 O Copyright The British Museum. Figure 37: Mary Delany, Magnolia grandfora (The grand magnolia), 1776 O Copyright The British Museum. Figure 38: Mary Delany, Aescafus Hippocasfanum (Horse Chestnuî), 1776 O Copyright The British Museum. Figure 39: Lady Catherine Hanmer, Mrs. Delany ut her Easel Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden. Figure 40: Mary Delany, Fort St Davids Bull Reproduced by permission of Ruth Hayden. 169 BIBLIOGRAPHY Auchincloss. Eve. "Imitations of hiature: After More than Two Centuries. klary Dçlany's Paper Flo~versRemain a Marvel of Bsauty. Skill, and Accuracy." Cunnoissezir. 216 (September 1986): 1 10- 113. Barkrr-Ben field, G.J. The Cirltzire of Sensibili~:Sex and Society in Eighreenrh-Centzuy Britciin. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1 992 and 1 996. Bermingham, -4nn. "Elegant Females and Gentlemen Connaisseurs: The Commerce in Culture and Self-Image in Eighteenth-Ccntury England." The Consumprion of Cirlrltre 1600 - 1800: Image. Object. Texf. Editors Am Bermingham and John Brewer. New York: Routiedge, 1995. Berrningham' AM. "Women Amateurs and the Language of Flowers". University of British Columbia. 21 January 1999. . Bsrmingham. Ann. Leorning ro Draiv: Srlrdies in the Czilnirol History of ri Polile and Use$rl .4rr. New Haven: Yale University Press, to be published in the Spring of 2000. B lunt. Wilfrid and William T. Stearn. The Arr of Botanicd Illustration. London: Collins. 1950. Blunt. iVilfied. Il7 for a Penny: .4 Prospect of keiv Gardem. Their Flora. Farina. and FalbaZlas. London: Harnish Hamilton, 1978. Brouds, Norma and iMary D. Garrard. The Expanding Discozrrse: Fenrinism and Arr Hisfory. New York: Harper ColIins. 1992. Brown, G. A New Treaiise on Floit~erPainting, or Every Lady her 0ii:n Drawing iMasirr. Third Edition. London: G Riley, 1799. Calmann, Gerta. Ehret: Flower Puinter Exrraordinury. Oxford: P haidon, 1 977. Carroll. B. -4. (editor). Liberaring Wornen's Hisfoty. Chicago and London, 1976. Chadwick. Whitney. CVomen. .-ir.t, and Sociev. London: Tharnes and Hudson, 1996. Cheq, Deborah. "Introduction: What's the Difference, or Why Look at Women's Art." Painting Women: Victorian Women Arrisrs. London: Routledge, 1993. C layton, EUen. English Fernale Arfisis. 2 Volumes. London: Tinsley Brothers, 1876. Colley, Linda. Britons: Forging the Narion 1 707-1837. London: Vintage, 1992 and 1994. C urran. C . P. Dltblin Decorarive Plasrenvork of rhe Seventeenth and Eighreenrh Cenrzrrics. London: .Nec Tiranti. 1967. Dance. S. Peter. -4 Hisrory cf Shell Collecring. Leiden: EJ. Brill. 1986. Dmvin. Erasmus. Boranic Garden. 2 Volumes. New York: Garland Pubhshing. 1978 (Facsimiie of 179 1 Edition). Da:-. Angelique (editor). Lerrers fiom Georgian Ireland: The Correspondence of ,Lhrj Grnnville, 1 731-68. Belfast: Friar's Bush Press. 199 1 . Da\-idoff. L. The Besr Circles: Society. Eriquerre and rhe Season. London. 1 973. Delan>., blq. Caialogue of Planfs copiedfiom h;arure in Paper Mosaick, finishcd in rhe -wm-1 775. and disposed in alphabetical order. according to the Generic and Specific names of Linnaeus. British Museum Prints and Drawings Collection. 1778. Delan',. blarq.. Leuersj-om Mrs Delany ro iWrs Francis HamiZron fiom the year I 779, ro rhe year 1788. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees. Orme. and Brown, 1820. Delan'.. Mary. Specirnens of Rare and Beautiful ~Veedlervork.Designed and Eiecurrd b}~ :\h-s. Delnny and her Friend rhe Hom ~bfrs.Harnilron. London: Dickinson Brothers. 1560. Dssmond. Raymond. Wonders of Crearion: ~VarrrralHisto- Drawings in the Brirish Librar~..London: British Libraq. 1986. Dssmond. Raymond and Anne Scott-James. and Frances iVood. The Bririslz ~lfzrsezrnzBook of Florvers. London: British bluseum Press, 1989. Dssmond, Raymond. Dicrionan, of Brirish and Irish Boranisrs and Horriczdrtrrisrs London: Taylor and Francis, 1994. Desmond. Raymond. Kew: The Hisiory of the Royal Bortrnical Gardens. London: Han41 Press, 1995. Dewes. Simon. pseud. (John St. Clair Muriel). :Un.Delan~ London: Rich and Cowan, 1949. Dic~ionaryof the English Language. London: J. Jarvis? 1 793. Douglas, Aileen. "Popular Science and Women." Eighteenth Century Life, Volume 18. May 1994: 1-14. Grare).. Caroline. Royal Friendrhips: The Srory of Two Royal Friendrhips (Queen .dnne and rhc Duchess of Marlborough, Queen Charlotte and 1b1k Delanyj. London: Digby. Long and Co.. 1898. Granville. Roger. The Hisrory of rhe Granville Famiiy. Exeter: 18%. Greer. Germaine. The Obstacle Race: The Forrunes of Women Painters and rheir Wurk. New York: Farrar Straus Girous. 1979. Gostelow. Mq.. "A Talented Lady of the Eighteenth Century." Antique Dealer and CollecforsGuide. iMarch 1975: 65-67. Hayden. Ruth. Mrs. Delany and Her Flower Collages. London: British Museum Publications, 1980, 1992. Hayden. Ruth. "Mary Delany." Dicrio~ryof Women Arrists. Editor Delia Gaze. London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997. Herr. Lisa. I'roblerns in Copies: The Producrion, Consumprion and Criricism of Copies afrer the Old Masrers in Eighreenrh-Centrrry England, PhD Dissertation, B ryn Mawr College. 1995. Hser. Lisa. "Copyisrs." Dicfionary of Wornen Artists. Editor Delia Gaze. London: Fitzroy Dearborn. 1997. Hèrr. Lisri. ".Amateur Aïtists: Amateur art as a Social SkiIl and a Feminist Perspective. 18th and 19th Centuries." Dicrionnry of Women Arrisrs. Editor Delia Gaze. London: Fitzroy Dearborn. 1997. Hill. Bridget. Wonten, Ctbrk and Semial Polilics in I8lh Cenrtiry Englnnci. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1989. Hufstader. Alice Anderson. "The Artist." Sisrers of rhe Quill. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1978. Hutchison. Sidney C. The History of the Royal Academy 1768 - 1986. London: Robert Royce Limited, 1986. Huges. Bernard and Therle Huges. "Mrs Delany's Paper Flower." Counrry LI*. 25 Jan. 1952: 221. Humm, Maggie. The Dicrionary of Ferninisr Theory Columbus: Ohio State University Press. 1989, 1995. Jones. Vivien (editor). tVomen in rhe Eighreenth Cenrtrry: Consrrucrions of Fernininina. London: Routledge. 1990. JOhnson, R. B rimle y. Mks. Deiany ut Co~irr and Among the N'ifs: Arranged fronr The Arrrobiography and Correspondence of Ms. Delon): wirh Inferesring Remembrunces of George III and Queen Charlorre. London: Stanley Paul, 1923. Keener, Frederick M. and Susan E. Lorsch. Eighteenrh-Cenrrrry Women and rhe Arrs. London: Greenwood Press, 1988. Kelly. J. Chmen. Hisrory, and Theor)... Chicago: Chicago University Press. 1984. Lamb. Sir Walter R. M. The Royal Acadernj-: A Short Hisror): of ifs Foundurion and Development. London: G. Bell and Sons, 195 1. Langford, Paul. A Poiite and Commercial People: England 1727-1 783. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989. Lippincott. Louise. Selling Arr in Georgian London: The Rise of Arthur Pond. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1983. Llanover, Lady Augusta Waddington Hall (editor). The rlzrrobiographv and Correspondence of ilfm-y Granville. Mrs. Delanj.. London: Bentlq-. Series 1 (voi~irnssi - iii) in 186 1 - Series 11 (volumes iv - vi) in 1862. blainardi. Patrïcia. "Quilts: The Great American Art." Ferninisr Arr Journal 2.1 (tvinter 1973): 1. 18-23. 1 I inh-ha. Trinh. FVoman, halive. Other-: Jti-iring Posrcolonialify and Feminism. Bioornington: Indiana University Press, 1989. hl yers. Sy lvia Harcstark. The Bllresfocking Circle: Women. Friendship. and rhe L l# of rhe Mnd of Eighreenth Cenrrtry E~giund.Oxford: Clarendon, 1 990. Sr\\-ton. Stella Mary. "Mrs. Delany and her Hmdiwork." Magazine Anriques XCVI (July 1969): 100-105. Xochlin. Linda. "MyHave There Been No Great Women Artists?" Art News 69.9 (Jan. 1971): 23-38,67-71. Nochlin, Linda and Arin Sutherland Harris. Women Arrisrs: 1550-1950. New York: Alfred Knopf, 1976. Ortner, Sherry. "is femaie to male as nature is to culture?" Women, Culture and Society. Editors bI. RosaIdo and L. Larnphere. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1974. Parker. Rozsika and Griselda Pollock. Old Mistresses: FPornen. Arr and Ideologv. London: Harper Collins. 198 1. Parker. Rozsika. The Subversive Stirch: Embroidery and ihe hlaking of the Ferninine. London: Women's Press. 1984. Paston. George. pseud. (Ernily M. Symonds). Mrs. Delany: A .C.lrrnoir 1700-1 788. London: Grant Richards, 1900. Pearce. Susan M. On Collecring: An invesrigarion into the collecting in the European rradirion. New York: Routledge, 1 995. Pears. Iain. The Discovery of Painting: The Growh of lnreresr in rhe Aru in Englund 1680- 1 765. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. Po inton. Marc ia Rachel. Hanging the Head: Porirairure and Social Formation in Eighreenrh-Centwy England. London: Yale University Press. 1993. Po i nton. Marc ia Rachel. Strategies for Shorving: Wornen. Possession, and Represenrarion in English Plsual Culrure. 1665-1800. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. Pollock. Griselda. "Wornen, Art and Ideology: Questions for Feminist Art Historians." Wornen's rlrr Jozirnal 3.1 (Sprin~'Surnrner 1983): 39-47. Pol1 ock. Griselda. fision and Drflerence: Ferninini': Feminisnz arid the Histories of.4rr. London: Routledge. 1988. Pollock. Griselda. Generations and Grographies in rhe C.Lwal.4rt.~.London: Routkdge. 1996. Price. blargaret luenard. .4 Lady of Eighteenth Centur):England, Mary Granville, Mrs- Pendames: A Stu47 of a Groiip of her Lerrers Written Ma)! 1 733 - October 173 7. Master of Arts Thesis, Sarah Lawrence CoIlege, 1953. Sanders. Lr. The Private Lives of Pïctorian Wornen: A uro biopph-v in .Vineteenth Cenrury England. New York: Sr. ivlartins Press, 1989. Saunders. Gi Il. Picrrrring Planrs: An Ana~ficuiHisror-v of Botanical Illusrration. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995. Schiebinger, Londa. "Maria Winkelmann at the Berlin Academy: The Clash Between Crafi Traditions and Professional Science." Gendered Domains: Refhinking Pzibic and Private in Women 's History. Editors Dorothy O. Helly and Susan M. Reverby. Ithaca: Corne11 University Press, 1992. Sc hiebinger, Londa. The Mind Hus No Se-.?: Wornen in the Origins of Modern Science. Cambridge. iLlassachusetts: Harvard University Press. 1989. Schwartz, Theress. "They Built Wornen a Bad Art Histoq-." Ferninisr -4rr Hislory. Fa11 1973: 10-1 1.32. Shteir. Ann B. "Flora Feministica: Reflections of the Culture of Botany." Lumen 12 (1993): 167-76. Shteir. .AM B. "The Pleasing Objects of our Researches: Women in Botany." Ct'ornen and Hisro-.- Foices of Earljl .b.odern England. Editor Valerie Fri th. Toronto : Coach House Press. 1995. Shteir. AM B. Culrivuting Wornen, Cultivaring Science: Flora 's Daughrers and Borany in England 1760 ro 1860. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 1996. Shapiro. Am-Louise. "History and Feminist Theory or. Talking Back to the Beadle." Fenzinisrs Revision History. Editor -km-Louise S hapiro. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1994. Smith. Hilda. "Feminism and the Methodology of Women's History." Liberaring CPomen's Hisrory: Theorerical and Crirical Essays. Editor Berenice A. Carroll. Illinois: University of Illinois. 1976. Stem. \trilliarn T. Flo~cverArtisrs of Kew: Boranical Painhg b_ir Cor7rernporaiy Arrisrs. London: Herbert Press. 1990. Thaddeus. Janice Farrar. "Mary Delany. Mode1 to the Age." Hisror): Gender and Eighreenrh Cenrttry Lirerarrrre. Editor Beth Fowkes Tobin. Athens: University of Georgia Press. 1994. Tickner. Lisa. "Feminisrn. Art History. and Sexual Difference." Genders 3 (Fall 1988): 92- 128. TilIyard, Stella. Aristocrafs: Caroline. Emily. Lorrisa. and Sarah Lenna, 1740 - 1832. London: Chatto and Windus, 1994. Tufis, E. Oztr Hidden Heriruge: Five Centuries of Wornen Arrisrs. London, 1974. Van der Stighelen. Katlijne. "Amateur Artists: Amateur art as a Social Ski11 and a Feminist Perspective. 16th and 17th Centuries." Dicrionary of Women Artists. Editor Delia Gaze. London: Fitzroy Dearbom, 1997. Vicke~,Amanda. The Gentleman's Daughrer: Wornen 3 Lives in Georgian England. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1998. Victoria and Albert Natural Iltustrators. Ehref 's Flowering Plants. New York: Hmy N. Abrarns: 1987. Vu11 iarnu, C. E. Aspasia: The Life and Letiers of Mary Granville, Mrs. Deiany (1 700-1788). London: Geoffiey Bles, 1935. iVaipols, Horace. Anecdotes of Painring in En,olanci 1760- 1 795. 2 Volumes. New Haven: 1786 edition. reprinted in 1937. Wheeler. Ethal RoIt. Famous Blue-Stockîngs. London: Methuen and Co.. 1 9 1 0. LVol fram. Eddie. Hisrory of Collage: An anthology of collage. assemblage. and evenr snucrures. London: Studio Vista, 1975. Woolsey. Sarah Chauncey (editor). The Aurobiography and Correspondence ol'Mrs. Delanj-: Revisedfiorn Lady Lfanover 's Ediiion. 2 Volumes. Boston: Roberts Brothers. 1879. APPENDICES Appendix 1: Timeline of important Events in Mary Delany's Life 14 May 1700 Born Mary Granville in Coulston, Wiltshire. Spent early years in London. 1708 Sent to live with Aunt. Lady Stanley, in Whitehall. 1713 Faiiily moves to Gloucestershire. Cotswolds. 1714 Queen Anne dies. 1717 Visits Uncle, Lord Lansdown. at Longleat. Wiltshire. 17 Feb. 17 18 Manies Alexander Pendarves. Lives at Peqn. Fahouth- Cornwall, and London. 1723 Her father. Bernard Granville. dies. 1725 Her husband, Alexander Pendarves, dies. 1731-1733 Visits Ireland (Meets Jonathan Swift and Dr. Patrick Delany). 1739 Storms the House of Lords. 1740 Her sister, Anne Granville, mames John Deues. June 1743 Marries Dr. Patrick Deiany. Lives in Delville, Glasnevin, and Dublin. Visits England (Anne Granville Dewes at Wellesbome, Wanvickshire; Bernard Granville at Calwich Abbey, Staffordshire; and the Duchess of Portland at Bulstrode. Buckinghamshire). 1746 Her niece. Mary Dewes. is bom. 1717 Her mother. b1q Westcombe Granville. dies. 1761 Her sister. Anne Granville Dewes, dies. 1768 Her husband. Dr. Patrick Delany. dies. hloves to Lonaon. spending several months each year at Bulstrods, 1770 Her niece, Mary Dewes, marries John Port. 1771 Buys home on St. James' Place, London. 1775 Her brother. Bernard Granville, dies. Jul?. 1785 Her friend. Duchess of Portland, dies Sept. 1785 >lo\.es to LVindsor. 1778 Her great-niece. Georgina Port, begins her regular extended visits. 15 Aprii 1788 Dies. buried at St. James. Piccadilly. London. Appendix II: List of Paintings by Delany 1. Original Delany Compositions Porrrair ofAnne Granville, Mrs Dewes. in crayons. from life. Portrait of Mi-S.Sandford and Mrs. Preston. Portrait of Leriria Bushe. in crayons. frorn Iifs. Porrrair of MsGranville, in oils. (2 times) 3 Oct. 1 745. Porn-air of Duchess ofQueensbury, in oils. tiom Iife (2 times). Porrrair of Colonel Granville (2 times). Porrrair of Mary Deives (Mrs.Port of Ilam). in oils, from life. Portrait of John Derves (later John Granville). in oils, from life. Portrair of Court Dewes, in oils, fiom life. Portrair of Bernard Dewes, in oils, fiom life. Portrait of Dr. Delany, Dean of Dow~n,from life. -4 drawing to illustrate "The Allegro ". - -4 Torroiseshell Car, rvirh a Bull, and n Basket of Flowers, in oils, from life, 25 Dsc. 176 1. Florvers, water-colours, in vine fiame. David and Goliath, in oiIs, based on print from Crozat's Collection, 24 April 1760. 11. Copies Paris Bourdon Chnrig.. in crayons. Rosalba Carricra Srirnnler, in crayons. 1739. Correggio Holy Family, in oils. Portland Collection, 24 April 1760. Sigisnzunda, crayons. Carlo Dolci Hc.d of orir Sclviortr wirh the Crorvn of Thorns, in ails' 13 Dec. 175 1. Guido Reni Itornan and Child ,tfadonna and Child, in oils, (2 times) * First oil painting MD ever did, and 18 Dec. 1750. .Wudonna in rhe Blue Veil, in crayons, 30 Nov. 1750. Our Saviour und SCJohn, and a Lamb, in crayons. An Angel. in oils, 28 Feb. 1745-6. An Angel looking ut a Lily, in oils, (2 times). An Angel lookîng trp rvirh expanded wings, in oiis. An Angel wirh hand across. in oils. Two Boys and Lamb. NOTE TO USERS Page(s) not included in the original manuscript are unavailable from the author or university. The manuscript was microfilmed as received. This reproduction is the best copy available. UMI Angel and Liiy, in crayons. :tfar)l,fhe Maid of the Inn. in crayons. Rachel and Leah ar the Well, in crayons. copy. Mary, Queen of Scors, fiom old portrait, 1 743- 1745. Porrrai! of Madame de Sevigne, in oils. copy of original in H. Walpole Collection. 8 March 1756. An Angel looking ar a Lily, in profile, in oiis. The Marriage of Sr. Catherine, in oiis (2nd one painted on copperj- Singing Bo): and Girl, in oils. Mm. Cavendish 's Head. 9 May 1 754. Sign decorared rvirh a Swan for an Inn. Appendix III: List of Paintings Collected by Delany Paris Bourdon. Chativ, in crayons ~MichaelAngelo Caravaggio, Picture of Grupes Ehret, Book of Ffowers Rare Plants Painted at Bulstrode Huysman, Lady Stanely, in oil John Stephen Liotard, Self Portrait, etched Miller, Cololtred Prints of exotic plants Petito, Self Portrait, enamel Pond, Lad), Dysarr. in crayons Ricci, Ruins, two water-colours Scaglioni, Beggars, two paintings Soldi, Portrait ofDr. Delany Wooton, Landscape with Cattle, in oil Srnall LandFcape wirh a Lady on Horseback \Vrigh t, Porrrair of Lady ThornhiZl Ieuning on her hand, in oiIs