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Fane (Elizabeth Parker, Lady) Botanical Album
mssHM 84101
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Lady Elizabeth Parker Fane botanical album
Creator:
Fane, Elizabeth Parker, Lady, 1751-1829
Identifier/Call Number: mssHM 84101
Physical Description:
0.83 Linear Feet
(1 volume)
Date (inclusive): 1765-1767
Abstract: A botanical album containing 25
watercolor paintings created by Lady Elizabeth Parker Fane in the 18th century.
Language of Material: Materials are in English and
Latin.
RESTRICTED. Available with curatorial approval. Requires extended retrieval and delivery
time. Please view digital surrogate.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Lady Elizabeth Parker Fane botanical album, The Huntington
Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased for the Huntington from Maggs Bros. Ltd., by the Library Collectors' Council,
March 2022.
The botanical album has been held in the library at Shirburn Castle since it was created;
it was lastly owned by the 9th Earl of Macclesfield.
Lady Elizabeth Parker Fane (1751-1829) was born in Shirburn Castle, Watlington,
Oxfordshire, the family seat of the Earls of Macclesfield; she was the daughter of Thomas
Parker, 3rd Earl of Macclesfield, and Mary Parker, the daughter of Sir William Heathcote,
1st Baronet. In 1773, Elizabeth Parker married John Fane (1751-1824) and together they had
six children; their home was in Wormsley, near Watlington, Oxfordshire. John Fane was a Tory
politician who represented Oxfordshire in eight successive Parliaments; he was also the
president of the Oxfordshire Agriculture Society. While still a teenager, Lady Elizabeth was
taught botanical illustration by Georg Ehret, a German who arrived in England in 1736, he
was considered the pre-eminent botanical draughtsman of the eighteenth century. Ehret taught
both Lady Elizabeth and her mother, Mary Parker, Countess of Macclesfield. In the eighteenth
century, botanical illustration was deemed essential education for aristocratic women and
both women became expert amateurs. Lady Elizabeth died in June 1829.
A botanical album created by Lady Elizabeth Parker Fane; she started painting the
illustrations in this album in 1765 which means she was just 14 years old when she began.
Flower painting had become a fashionable occupation for the wives and daughters of the great
houses of England and Elizabeth Parker Fane achieved exceptional ability under the tutelage
of Georg Ehret. The album contains 25 watercolor and gouache paintings on parchment;
depicted are both sides of the plant's leaves and also shown are more than one reproductive
stage for each specimen: with the early formation of the blossom, the growing petals, and
the full expression of the flower. The images in the album depict numerous plant specimens,
sometimes with butterflies and other insects, most likely local to the Macclesfield estate,
Shirburn Castle, in Oxfordshire. Only a small number of the paintings contain titles, though
a few are dated by the artist. The 25 paintings are laid into the volume and the remaining
pages are blank. The album is bound in a contemporary, richly gilt morocco wallet binding,
with a green silk chemise to wrap top and lower edges; the binding was done by an
unidentified binder. The album has a lock and key fastening, though the lock has been
deactivated, the key is kept with the companion volume mssHM 84100.
The album was cataloged by Gayle M. Richardson in August 2022.
Mary Parker, Countess of Macclesfield, botanical album, 1756-1767 (mssHM 84100).
Existence and Location of Copies
This item has been digitized in its entirety and the digital reproductions are available in
the
Huntington Digital Library.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Botanical illustrations -- Great Britain -- 18th century
Botany -- Pictorial works -- Early works to 1800
Women art students -- Education -- Great Britain -- 18th
century
Women illustrators -- Great Britain -- 18th century
Botanical illustrations -- Great Britain -- 18th century
Pictorial albums -- Great Britain -- 18th century
Scientific illustrations (images) -- Great Britain -- 18th
century
Watercolors (paintings) -- Great Britain -- 18th century
Ehret, Georg Dionysius,
1708-1770
Macclesfield, Mary Parker, Countess of, approximately
1726-1812