Images(4)

Flowers of the Sea

Datelate 19th century

Object number00055180

NameCollage

MediumShells, seaweed, decals, timber, pain, ink on paper

DimensionsOverall: 725 × 590 × 80 mm

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Jean Piggott (nee Walker) and John Walker on behalf of the Walker family ancestors

Terms

DescriptionIt was fashionable in the Victorian era to create a memento of outings and holidays to the seaside from seaweed and shells collected, dried, pressed and arranged, in the context of the enthusiasm for natural history and a taste for aesthetic displays of scientific order, exemplified in collectors' cabinets and in the dried or taxidermied specimen jars of the cultured classes. This is a large and ornate piece that was held by one Australian family for several generations, displayed in their home. It is not known if the specimens are Australian. The poem 'Flowers of the Sea' was written by Mrs Elizabeth Aveline in the UK as a eulogy to the sea and published in Mary Matilda Howard's 'Ocean flowers and their teachings', 1846, the first stanza of which reads: 'Oh! Call us not weeds, but flowers of the sea, For lovely, and gay, and bright-tinted are we! Our Blush is as deep as the rose of thy bowers, Then call us not weeds, we are Ocean’s gay flowers.' It was quoted in various publications in England and Europe. The poem was also reproduced in decorative shell and seaweed collage work such as this. Shell and seaweed collecting became more popular from the mid 19th century as railways opened up the seaside to workers, tourists and travellers. These decorative pieces by amateur collectors brought the seaside back home where the art of arranging represented a craft and a pastime, for display in the home and or as gifts to friends or family.HistoryThis is a large and ornate piece that was held by one Australian family for several generations, displayed in their home. It is not known if the specimens are Australian. The poem 'Flowers of the Sea' was written by Mrs Elizabeth Aveline in the UK as a eulogy to the sea and published in Mary Matilda Howard's 'Ocean flowers and their teachings', 1846, the first stanza of which reads: 'Oh! Call us not weeds, but flowers of the sea, For lovely, and gay, and bright-tinted are we! Our Blush is as deep as the rose of thy bowers, Then call us not weeds, we are Ocean’s gay flowers.' It was quoted in various publications in England and Europe. The poem was also reproduced in decorative shell and seaweed collage work such as this. Shell and seaweed collecting became more popular from the mid 19th century as railways opened up the seaside to workers, tourists and travellers. These decorative pieces by amateur collectors brought the seaside back home where the art of arranging represented a craft and a pastime, for display in the home and or as gifts to friends or family.SignificanceThis impressively large and ornate piece that was held by one Australian family for several generations, displayed in their home. It is not known if the specimens are Australian.