Emma Crewe (born 1741, d. in or after 1795) was a British artist known for her designs for

Josiah Wedgwood Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the indus ...

, and for her botanical art.

Life

Crewe was the daughter of Elizabeth Shuttleworth, herself daughter of Richard Shuttleworth (1683–1749), MP for Lancashire (1705–49), and John Crewe (1709–1752), MP for Cheshire (1734–52). She was the second of six children and was particularly close to her younger sister Elizabeth (1744–1826). Crewe did not marry. She was financially secure due to a family trust set up by her father before his death, and she lived part of the time with her brother

John Crewe, 1st Baron Crewe John Crewe, 1st Baron Crewe (27 September 1742 – 28 April 1829), of Crewe Hall in Cheshire, was a British politician. He is chiefly remembered for his sponsorship of Crewe's Act of 1782, which barred customs officers and post office offici ...

and his wife, society hostess

Frances Crewe, Lady Crewe Frances Anne Crewe, Lady Crewe (''née'' Greville; November 1748 – 23 December 1818), was the daughter of Fulke Greville, envoy extraordinary to the elector of Bavaria, and his Irish wife, Frances Macartney, who was a poet, best known for "A P ...

, through whom she met

Work

Along with Diana Beauclerk (1734–1808) and Elizabeth Templetown (1747–1823), Crewe contributed designs in the Romantic style to Josiah Wedgwood for reproduction in his studio in Rome. Crewe also made botanical art. She was part of Erasmus Darwin's circle and painted the Frontispiece to his ''The Loves of the Plants'' (2nd Ed., 1790). She was criticized for this piece by

Richard Polwhele Richard Polwhele (6 January 1760 – 12 March 1838) was a Cornish clergyman, poet and historian of Cornwall and Devon. Biography Richard Polwhele's ancestors long held the manor of Treworgan, 4 3/4 miles south-east of Truro in Cornwall, whi ...

in ''

The Unsex'd Females ''The Unsex'd Females, a Poem'' (1798), by Richard Polwhele, is a polemical intervention into the public debates over the role of women at the end of the 18th century. The poem is primarily concerned with what Polwhele characterizes as the encroach ...

'': "There is a charming delicacy in most of the pictures of Miss Emma Crewe; though I think, in her "Flora at play with Cupid," … she has rather overstepped the modesty of nature, by giving the portrait an air of voluptuousness too luxuriously melting."Richard Polwhele, ''The Unsex'd Females: A Poem, Addressed to the Author of the Pursuits of Literature''. London: Printed for Cadell and Davies, in the Strand. 1798.
Etext
, UofVirginia) Her drawings and designs are held by the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and other notable institutions. Crewe-Flora.jpg, Emma Crewe, "Flora at Play with Cupid." Frontispiece to Erasmus Darwin's ''The Loves of the Plants'' A young woman sits with a book on her knee and a child by he Wellcome V0039306.jpg, A young woman sits with a book on her knee and a child by her side. Stipple engraving by Emma Crewe, 1783.
Wellcome Collection
Crew - Belt Clasp with a Female Making a Sacrifice - Walters 481770.jpg, alt=File:Crew - Belt Clasp with a Female Making a Sacrifice - Walters 481770, Belt clasp designed by Lady Templeton and Emma Crewe for Josiah Wedgwood's factory. Jasperware, steel, tin.

The Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum, located in Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is a public art museum founded and opened in 1934. It holds collections established during the mid-19th century. The museum's collection was amassed ...

Life

Work

See also

References

Further reading