CSDA Sundays: The Expert Series - Multiple Affinities: Art Botany

In early nineteenth-century Britain natural philosophers found themselves in a crisis: A rapid influx of exotic plants had begun to defy and confuse the orders of classification. Specimens were arriving in nurseries and conservatories that couldn’t possibly exist. To cope, botanists invented a new and unstable Victorian taxonomy called the Natural System. This presentation addresses the unsung role the Natural System played in the emergence of Victorian design reform, and suggests that what design reformers, such as Dyce, Redgrave, Dresser, and Owens deemed appropriate for the surface decoration of carpets, jugs, wallpaper, and furniture, was not a rejection of nature, but was rather, an embrace of botanical illustrations and diagrams as sources of fantasy and imagination.

Sarah Alford is an Assistant Professor in Craft History and Theory at Alberta University of the Arts. 

(Complimentary registration for CSDA members, non-members $10)