Botany and Watercolors

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum has three watercolors noted as “Pictures (3), framed flower, watercolor. Made by Dan and Elizabeth Huntington's daughters at Miss Willard's School in Troy.”While it is uncertain which Huntington daughter can be ascribed as the artist, Elizabeth b. 1803, Bethia b. 1805, Mary b. 1815, and Catherine b. 1817 all attended the Emma Willard School where they had a rich exposure to the art of watercolors. The first watercolor in the collection is painted entirely in neutral hues. This process was typically used in the first quarter of the 19th century for “washing the shaded part of any colored flower or leaf” in shades of blue and black, later to be painted over in full color. These neutral colors served as a base for other pigments to be built on. Upon careful examination it appears that there may be two different plants flourishing from one stem: there are three large white flowers that emerge from extensions of the branch, as well as smaller blue bell-shaped blossoms below. The two flowers could represent two various stages of growth for one flower; however, they lack a similarity in appearance. There is also the question of whether the painting was finished. According to the 19th century guide, A Series of Progressive Lessons, Intended to Elucidate the Art of Flower Painting in Water Colours, the neutral wash was typically applied halfway as an undercoat for the actual color. For example, the next piece, a painting of blue flowers surrounded by lush green leaves, is fully colored, including the stem which is rendered in a dark greenish brown. If you look at the leaves on the left side of the painting, the inner halves are much darker than the outer. This is a perfect example of a student using a neutral tint to shade in the plant, and then painting over it with the intended color.

 The two paintings mentioned above are likely to have been painted after Elizabeth and Dan Huntington’s daughters gained experience with watercolors. It is also quite clear that they had studied botany, based on the intricate study of veins, stems, and shading. The third watercolor in the collection is quite different: a bouquet of orange and pale purple flowers with thick green leaves. It is worth noting that it seems to have been painted by someone with less experience. The student attempted to capture the orange flowers from different viewpoints as some turn outwards to the viewer and others are seen from the back and profile. The central part of the composition is comprised of a large purple-white flower. It looks like the student tried to portray the flowers tubular center with a dark circle at the core. However, the lack of perspective and bold outlines imply that the student was unfamiliar with conveying depth as well as the anatomy of plants. The stems are shakily painted, and the shading of each petal is somewhat inconsistent with harsher outlines instead of soft shading. Rather than a bouquet employing depth and careful consideration of the plant’s anatomy, it is very two-dimensional.

The ability to paint was considered essential for an established young lady in the early 19th century. It signified that she was educated and refined and was often taught at institutions where middle- and upper-class families sent their daughters. Simultaneously, the 19th century reached a high level of achievement for botanical illustration. The sciences, which were encouraged through exhibitions around the world, utilized the art of botany, which worked in tandem to supplement scientific writing. Painting such an intricate and delicate subject took much practice, and these works showcase the culmination of progress.

 Watercolors were considered an important part of education at the Emma Willard School. In 1823, Almira Phelps, the younger sister of Emma Willard, accepted her sister's invitation to teach at the school where she remained for eight years. While teaching at the Emma Willard School, Almira developed a keen interest in botany. In 1829 she wrote her first and most successful textbook, Familiar Lectures on Botany. Over the course of the next forty plus years, the textbook went through twenty-eight different printings - each illustrated with various woodcuts and engravings. Almira Phelps believed that watercolors were the most appropriate technique to learn, as the “kind of painting most convenient for ladies; it can be performed with neatness, and without the disagreeable smell which attends on oil painting.” Almira also taught a brief history of art that focused on the classical world, and gave summaries of the major schools of art. Her lecture on flower painting touches on how it can assist the study of botany in a similar vein to her introduction on watercolors: “the study of botany seems peculiarly adapted to females; the objects of its investigation are delicate; its pursuits, leading to exercise in the open air, are conductive to health and cheerfulness.” As an accomplished botanist herself, Almira stressed the importance to take time to observe and take note of the “very distinctive characteristics of particular species of plants might be disregarded in [the flowers] delineation” which makes one wonder whether the girls were looking at a real plant, or drawing upon memory, and, if these watercolors were intended as a form of scientific illustration.

 As previously mentioned, these paintings have no exact provenance. It is unclear exactly which Huntington daughter created them. Despite being a family that was so well documented, with extensive letters and diaries, these watercolors may have been lost in translation. A good guess as to who the artist might be is Bethia Huntington. She attended the Emma Willard School (circa 1820). When she returned home, she wrote to her younger sisters Mary and Catherine in the 1830’s who were then at the Emma Willard School with updates about how the plants were doing with concise notes about their growth. In her letters, she writes about her passion for flowers, and cared deeply about the family garden.

 This article is based off previous research done by Mount Holyoke College alum, Ann Hewitt. Her work on watercolors is a part of her larger research paper Becoming Accomplished: The Porter Phelps Huntington Daughters. Her preliminary research on watercolors was further edited and continued by Museum Assistant Evelyn Foster. 

Sources

Anonymous. A Series of Progressive Lessons, Intended to Elucidate the Art of Flower 

Painting in Water Colours (Classic Reprint). 30.

Barryte, Bernard. “Almira Phelps.” History of American Women, May 24, 2020. 

https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2013/08/almira-phelps.html. 

Eiseman, Alberta. “EDUCATING 19th-CENTURY SCHOOLGIRLS.” The New York 

Times. The New York Times, August 31, 1986. 

https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/31/nyregion/educating-19thcentury-schoolgirls.

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Huntington, Bethia or Mary. “Blue Flowers with Green Leaves.” Unknown. Watercolors. 

Porter-Phelps-Huntington Foundation.

Huntington, Bethia or Mary. “Bouquet of White and Yellow Flowers.” Unknown. 

Watercolors. Porter-Phelps-Huntington Foundation.

Huntington, Bethia or Mary. “Grey and Black Spray of Flowers.” Unknown. Watercolors. 

Porter-Phelps-Huntington Foundation.

Huntington, Mary. Mary Huntington ‘to’ Bethia Huntington. Letters. Box 20. Amherst 

College Archives & Special Collections. Porter Phelps Huntington Papers.

Phelps, Mrs. Lincoln. The Female Student. Leavitt, Lord & Company, 1836, 385, 371.

Rudolph, E. (1984). Almira Hart Lincoln Phelps (1793 - 1884) and the Spread of Botany 

in Nineteenth Century America. American Journal of Botany, 71(8), 382, 1161 - 

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Schmidt M. Alesandra, Jacoby B. Trudy. “Herbs to Orchards: Botanical Illustration in the 

Nineteenth Century.” Watkinson Publications. 3.