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Lilian Snelling (1879–1972) was "probably the most important British botanical artist of the first half of the 20th century".
[ retrieved 13 March 2014]
She was the principal artist and lithographer to ''
Curtis's Botanical Magazine
''The Botanical Magazine; or Flower-Garden Displayed'', is an illustrated publication which began in 1787. The longest running botanical magazine, it is widely referred to by the subsequent name ''Curtis's Botanical Magazine''.
Each of the issue ...
'' between 1921 and 1952
["Miss Lilian Snelling" ''The Times'' (London, England), Tuesday, 17 October 1972; pg. 16; Issue 58607. Obituaries] and "was considered one of the greatest botanical artists of her time" – "her paintings were both detailed and accurate and immensely beautiful".
She was appointed
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
in
1954
Events
January
* January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany.
* January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting.
* January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...
[''The London Gazette'', 1 June 1954, Issue number 40188, Page 3276] and was awarded the
Victoria Medal in 1955.
Biography
Lilian Snelling was born on 8 June 1879 at Spring Hall,
St Mary Cray
St Mary Cray is an area of South East London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. Historically it was a market town in the county of Kent. It is located north of Orpington, and south-east of Charing Cross.
History
The name Cra ...
, Kent into the large family of John Carnell Snelling (1841–1902), brewer, and his wife, Margaret Elizabeth, née Colgalt. She and her sisters were boarders at a school in Tunbridge Wells.
In 1915–16
Henry John Elwes
Henry John Elwes, FRS (16 May 1846 – 26 November 1922) was a British botanist, entomologist, author, lepidopterist, collector and traveller who became renowned for collecting specimens of lilies during trips to the Himalaya and Korea. He wa ...
commissioned her to paint flowers (which he had gathered on his travels), at his home
Colesbourne Park in
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
.
Snelling worked at the
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...
from 1916 to 1921 painting plant portraits for Sir
Isaac Bayley Balfour
Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour, KBE, FRS, FRSE (31 March 1853 – 30 November 1922) was a Scottish botanist. He was Regius Professor of Botany at the University of Glasgow from 1879 to 1885, Sherardian Professor of Botany at the University of Oxfor ...
, Keeper of the Botanic Garden and Professor of Botany at the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
. She studied lithography under
Frank Morley Fletcher
Frank Morley Fletcher (1866–1949), often referred to as F. Morley Fletcher, was a British painter and printmaker known primarily for his role in introducing Japanese colored woodcut printing as an important genre in Western art.
Frank Fletc ...
.
She left in 1921 to work at the
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 ...
as principal artist and lithographer to ''
Curtis's Botanical Magazine
''The Botanical Magazine; or Flower-Garden Displayed'', is an illustrated publication which began in 1787. The longest running botanical magazine, it is widely referred to by the subsequent name ''Curtis's Botanical Magazine''.
Each of the issue ...
'' which had recently been bought by
the RHS where from 1929 she was assisted by
Stella Ross-Craig
Stella Ross-Craig (19 March 1906 – 6 February 2006) was an English illustrator best known as a prolific illustrator of native flora (plants), flora.
Early life and education
Ross-Craig was born in Aldershot in 1906; her parents were Scott ...
. After 30 years she retired in 1952 having produced over 830 paintings and plates. Volume 169 of Curtis's was dedicated to her: "artist, lithographer and botanical illustrator who with remarkable delicacy of accurate outlines, brilliancy of colour and intricate gradation of tone, has faithfully portrayed most of the plants figured in this magazine from 1922 to 1952."
Her paintings illustrated the supplement to Grove's supplement to
Henry John Elwes
Henry John Elwes, FRS (16 May 1846 – 26 November 1922) was a British botanist, entomologist, author, lepidopterist, collector and traveller who became renowned for collecting specimens of lilies during trips to the Himalaya and Korea. He wa ...
's ''Monograph of the Genus Lilium'' (1934), Stern's, ''Study of the genus Paeonia'' (1946) and Fred Stoker's ''A Book of Lilies'' (1943.)
In 1954 she was appointed MBE in the
Birthday Honours List
The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the King's Official Birthday, reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into Order (honour), national or Dynastic order of knighthood, dynastic ...
.
In 1955 she was awarded the
Victoria Medal, the
RHS's highest honour.
In 1959 her work was featured in the
Kew Gardens
Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...
's bicentennial exhibition: "Kew's Aid to Botany over 200 Years" where she was described as "one of a remarkable group of women" who included
Stella Ross-Craig
Stella Ross-Craig (19 March 1906 – 6 February 2006) was an English illustrator best known as a prolific illustrator of native flora (plants), flora.
Early life and education
Ross-Craig was born in Aldershot in 1906; her parents were Scott ...
,
Ann V. Webster and
Margaret Stones
Elsie Margaret Stones (28 August 1920 – 26 December 2018), was an Australian botanical illustrator.
Life
Stones was born on 28 August 1920 in Colac, Victoria, Australia.
Stones worked as principal contributing artist to ''Curtis's Bota ...
.
She died at her home, 208 High Street, St Mary Cray, Kent, on 12 October 1972.
In 2007 the
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...
held a ten-week-long exhibition dedicated to her work.
Works
* OCLC 3663850
* OCLC 14200835
* OCLC 4017629
* OCLC 5163877
*
References
Further reading
* OCLC 1497658
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External links
The official website for RHS Lindley Library.The library holds over 600 of Snelling's original works.
Kew Library and Archive which holds original work by Snelling
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Snelling, Lilian
1879 births
1972 deaths
20th-century English painters
20th-century English women artists
Botanical illustrators
English women painters
Members of the Order of the British Empire
Victoria Medal of Honour recipients