Mrs. Delany: Her Life and Her Flowers

by Ruth Hayden

"The highest-bred woman in the world, and the woman of fashion of all ages." So Edmund Burke spoke of the witty and charming Mrs. Mary Delany, one of the most remarkable personalities of the eighteenth century. Her "paper mosaicks," beautiful flowers made with hundreds of pieces of colored paper, and put together, as Horace Walpole wrote, "with a precision and truth unparalleled," were the crowning achievement of her long and creative life. Indeed, so accurate were they, that the great botanist Sir Joseph Banks said that he could identify the plant species with certainty from her work. Amazingly, she was 72 before she embarked on the 1000 flower collages, but she had already made a name with her exquisite works of embroidery, decorative shellwork, landscape sketches, and portraits. Through a study of Mrs. Delany's correspondence, spanning her eventful life, Ruth Hayden recaptures the atmosphere of privileged society in eighteenth-century England. Mrs. Delany's lively and perceptive letters to her sister Anne and her niece Mary reveal her often strong views on the events of the period and the life of her circle. Mention of luminaries of social, political, and artistic life enliven her correspondence. She was a friend of Handel and a correspondent of Swift. Her friendship with the Duchess of Portland brought her into contact with some of the greatest botanical artists and botanists of the time. She became a much-loved friend of George III and Queen Charlotte, who took great interest in her work. Since the first publication of this book in England in 1980, Ruth Hayden has discovered much further material relating to Mrs. Delany, which is incorporated in this new edition. The author has made a complete list of all the known paper collages with botanical details. New color illustrations of the flowers reveal the astonishing complexity of the artist's work.

Genres: Art, History, Biography

192 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1980

About the author

Descendant and biographer of artist Mrs. Mary Delany (1700-1788).

Reviews

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A treasure book which doesn't have to be guarded; an inspirational book which has no limits; and a history book with no agenda but to tell a remarkable British story. The author is a niece (several times removed) of her biographical subject, and has pieced together a marvelous tapestry of artwork, portraiture, letters, historical facts, and fashion to describe her ancestor whose great talents were observing and cutting. Mary Granville Pendarves Delany had other gifts as well, coupled with character and discipline which endeared her to many people. Having borrowed the book from my local library, I would go so far to want to add it to my shelves or (even better) gifting it to very dear friends.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary Delany was an aristocrat who rubbed shoulders with 18thC politicians, courtiers, famous scientists, and the composer Handel. She was even befriended by George III and his wife Queen Charlotte who provided grace and favours for her last few years in Windsor. More important than these connections and the stately homes she moved between, was her creative legacy, because Mrs Delany was a prolific and indefatigable artist, designer, and embroiderer. An enthusiastic observer of ladies' fashions and natural garden design, she was above all engrossed in the world of plants. Despite a disastrous arranged first marriage, her energy and creativity manifested themselves in multiple crafts and projects. The refined company she kept and her large correspondence (from which the author, a descendant, compiled her story) ensured a counter-balance to this long, stimulating and giving life. Mary D's marriage to Dean Delany meant happy years spent in Ireland, while the visits and encouragement of her wider family further stimulated her output. Later in life, she took up paper 'mosaick' work (paper collages of flowers), an art form for which she remains most famous today. The technique involved the painstaking cutting out of strips and shapes of coloured paper and pasting these with intricate botanical accuracy on a black ground. An articulate, gracious and elegant lady - no wonder that my late mother was attracted to buying this book (from the British Museum or similar source) just as I was starting to paint botanical subjects. She loved the thought that I might be following the tradition of my gt-gt-gt-grandmother who had been a botanical painter in 19thC Canton, China. I regret not having read it sooner and sharing with Mum my delight in this interesting biography.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who knew? This prodigious woman was a legend. She invented the art of botanical paper collage, in the eighteenth century, at the age of 72, gaining the friendship of King George III and Queen Charlotte. “With the plant specimen set before her, she cut minute particles of coloured paper to represent the petals, stamens, calyx, leaves, veins, stalk and other parts of the plant and, using lighter and darker paper to form the shading, she stuck them to a black background.” Not only was she skilful, producing a thousand beautiful pictures of flowers, each composed of hundreds of pieces of paper, she was also very resilient, weathering a marriage to a hideous old man in her teenage years. Fortunately, about twenty years later, she married for love (again, to a man much older than herself) which meant she could live in a substantial house in Ireland with a beautiful garden. She made the most of every day, enjoying nature and imitating it in sketches, embroidery and shellwork. A subject for a future episode of Gardener’s World, I feel!

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw an exhibition of Mrs Delany's flower pictures many years ago and was filled with awe and admiration. It has been fascinating to find out more about her life and character through her letters, and to see how the art she's famous for developed over her lifetime. I love that Mrs. Delany signed her pictures MD! As a paper cut out, of course.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fascinating life this lady had. Her legacy can be seen in many things without realising it was her. An interesting read following a recent visit to an exhibition of her work at National Trust Beningbrough, York.

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book written by one of her descendants. Mrs. Delany was many things, best of all an example of industry and kindness. Gives hope to being a productive individual well into old age.

[Natalie Leavenworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book, what an amazing artist.

[Frank Ashe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have I read this before? If so, I must have quickly read it. I certainly looked at the pictures when I first bought the book.