British Wildflowers on Linen Gauze

This striking collection of works depicts a whole range of British wildflowers on linen gauze cloth; flower types include dog-, marsh-, and sweet white violet; crab apple and hawthorn blossoms; dog- and burnet roses; sea bindweed, pennywort and gorse; poppy, buttercup, daffodil, honeysuckle, snowdrop, forget-me-not and deadly nightshade.

The works have a strong decorative quality—bordered by dark grey paper, and often cut to roundel or layered over further paintings on a backing sheet. Painting on silk cloth originated in Asia—predating painting on paper and spreading from China to Japan—and these works share some of the aesthetic qualities of these traditional styles. Silk paintings would often focus on simple subjects, such as a branch with fruit or a few flowers, in a limited colour palette and without any background detail. In Japan such images also featured as woodblock prints—the dark borders encircling these flowers echoing the heavy black outlines often used to define the boundaries between shapes in woodblock prints.

The choice of wildflowers, however, brings a distinctly British element to the paintings. These works were produced at a time when flower-rich grasslands and meadows were a common sight. Observing wildflowers was a feature of everyday rural life, and popular knowledge and appreciation of the simple things growing around us was much greater. It is estimated that over 97% of Britain's wildflower meadows have been lost since the 1930s.

Sheep's Bit & Crocus Flowers – early C20th watercolour painting on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JW-772

£41.00
Daffodil Narcissus Flowers – early 20th-century watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JW-781

£39.00
Common Vetch & Yellow Rattle Flower – Early C20th watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-378

£39.00
Buttercup & Common Spotted-orchid Flower –Early C20th watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-380

£39.00
Milkwort & Marsh Pea Flower – Early 20th-century watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-399

£39.00
Poppy & Dandelion Flower – Early C20th watercolour painting on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-384

£39.00
Southern Marsh Orchid & Brooklime Flower –early C20th watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JW-775

£39.00
Bittersweet & Dog-rose Flower – Early 20th-century watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-379

£39.00
Wood Crane's-bill & Rock-rose Flower – Early C20th watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-383

£39.00
Toadflax & Musk-mallow Flower – Early 20th-century watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-385

£39.00
Bellflower & Red Valerian Flower – Early 20th-century watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-389

£36.00
Lesser Celandine & Dog-violet Flower – Early C20th watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-373

£36.00
Centaury & Knapweed Flower – Early 20th-century watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-391

£36.00
Primrose & Dog-violet Flower – Early 20th-century watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-376

£36.00
Sainfoin Flower – Early 20th-century watercolour painting on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-393

£36.00
Bird's-foot-trefoil & Bee Orchid Flower – Early C20th watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-382

£36.00
Tufted Vetch & Bramble Flower – Early 20th-century watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-386

£36.00
Harebell & Bell Heather Flower – Early 20th-century watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-388

£36.00
Snake's Head Fritillary & Periwinkle – early C20th watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JW-785

£36.00
Knapweed & Tansy Flower – Early 20th-century watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-390

£36.00
Common Centaury & Periwinkle Flower – Early C20th watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-375

£36.00
Devil's-bit & Meadow Saffron Flower – Early C20th watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-392

£36.00
Sticky Catchfly & Bugle Flower – Early 20th-century watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-377

£36.00
Oxeye Daisy & Cow-wheat Flower – Early 20th-century watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-396

£36.00
Ragged-Robin & Pansy Flower – Early 20th-century watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-381

£36.00
Greater Spearwort Flower & Grass – early 20th-century watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JR-751

£36.00
Cowslip & Bluebell Flowers – early 20th-century watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JW-773

£36.00
Spreading Bellflower & Poppy Flower – Early C20th watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-387

£36.00
Common Agrimony Flower – Early 20th-century watercolour painting on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-395

£31.00
Northern Marsh Orchid Flower – early 20th-century watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JR-742

£31.00
Common Ragwort Flower – Early 20th-century watercolour painting on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-398

£31.00
Wood Crane's-bill Flower –early 20th-century watercolour painting on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JR-740

£28.00
Cuckoo Flower – early 20th-century watercolour painting on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JR-727

£18.00
St John's Wort Flower – early 20th-century watercolour painting on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JR-732

£18.00
Greater Spearwort Flower –early 20th-century watercolour painting on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JR-731

£18.00
Cornflower, Bindweed & Wild Strawberries –Early C20th watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-397

SOLD
Field Scabious & Foxglove Flower – Early 20th-century watercolour on linen gauze

STOCK NUMBER: JZ-394

SOLD