Constance Mary Villiers-Stuart (''née'' Fielden, 1876 – 1966) was an English author and water-colour painter.
Biography
Villiers-Stuart was brought up at
Beachamwell Hall in Norfolk and studied painting in Paris,
then married Patrick Villiers-Stuart, a soldier, in 1908 and moved to India, allowing her to collect material for her 1913 book, ''Gardens of the Great Mughals'' which launched the historical study of
Mughal Gardens
Mughal gardens are a type of garden built by the Mughals. This style was influenced by the Persian gardens particularly the Charbagh structure, which is intended to create a representation of an earthly utopia in which humans co-exist in perfe ...
.
Chapter XII, on 'Some garden contrasts and a dream' urges respect for Indian design traditions. The 'dream' in the chapter title concerns the design of
New Delhi
New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...
. Her pleas for an Indian town plan had little effect but she had a conversation with
Edwin Lutyens and he read her book. Both Lutyens and the viceroy,
Lord Hardinge, were impressed with her ideas which was important as they were designing the new capital city for India and the Viceroy's palace.
Working with
Gertrude Jekyll had given him a sympathy for garden design and the result was the famous Mughal Garden of what is now
Rashtrapati Bhavan
The Rashtrapati Bhavan (, rāsh-truh-puh-ti bha-vun; ; originally Viceroy's House and later Government House) is the official residence of the President of India at the western end of Rajpath, Raisina Hill, New Delhi, India. Rashtrapati Bh ...
.
References
Sources
British Library collection summary*Prior, Mary Ann 'An Impulse of Genius', Country Life, 12 September 2018, pp 100 – 104
External links
Gardens of the Great Mughals by C.M. Villiers StuartOnline text.
Official government website.
See also
*
History of gardening
The early history of gardening is largely entangled with the history of agriculture, with gardens that were mainly ornamental generally the preserve of the elite until quite recent times. Smaller gardens generally had being a kitchen garden as t ...
1877 births
1966 deaths
20th-century English painters
20th-century English women artists
English women non-fiction writers
English watercolourists
British women painters
English non-fiction outdoors writers
Women watercolorists
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