Mrs. Delany and Her Circle (Yale Center for British Art) [Hardcover]

Mark Laird (Author), Alicia Weisberg-Roberts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2009 | Series: Yale Center for British Art

At the age of seventy-two, Mary Delany, née Mary Granville (1700-1788), embarked upon a series of nearly a thousand botanical collages, or “paper mosaics,” which would prove to be the crowning achievement of her rich creative life.  These delicate hand-cut floral designs, made by a method of Mrs. Delany’s own invention, vie with the finest botanical works of her time.   More than two centuries later her extraordinary work continues to inspire.

 

Although best known for these collages, Mrs. Delany was also an amateur artist, woman of fashion, and commentator on life and society in 18th-century England and Ireland.  Her prolific craft activities not only served to cement personal bonds of friendship, but also allowed her to negotiate the interconnecting artistic, aristocratic, and scientific networks that surrounded her.  This ambitious and groundbreaking book, the first to survey the full range of Mrs. Delany’s creative endeavors, reveals the complexity of her engagement with natural science, fashion, and design. 

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Mary Delany (1700–1788), a prominent and accomplished Englishwoman whose friends included Queen Charlotte and George III, combined science and craft in her many creative endeavors. Smart, inquisitive, industrious, sociable, and twice widowed, Delany kept up a lively correspondence, gardened, drew, painted, and excelled in many handicrafts, including shellwork, needlework, and, most famously, her paper collages. As Horace Walpole wrote with great admiration, Delany, then in her seventies, “invented the art of paper-mosaic” and rapidly constructed nearly 1,000 botanical collages of such precision and beauty they never fail to astonish viewers. Although she was part of her era’s leading circle of writers, scientists, and artists, the full story of her life, achievements, and influence has never before been told as sensitively and thoroughly as it is in this sumptuously illustrated volume. From a step-by-step explanation of Delany’s paper-mosaic technique to appreciation for her dazzling floral textile designs to a discussion of the social role of women’s handicrafts, this portrait of a “lover and conscientious observer of the natural world” and consummate craftswoman is superbly illuminating. --Donna Seaman

Review

"Handsome, sumptuously illustrated . . . of interest to specialists and laypeople alike."--Jon Lackman, Art History Newsletter

(Jon Lackman Art History Newsletter )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (December 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 030014279X
• ISBN-13: 978-0300142792
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 9.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #538,691 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scholarly & Beautiful, April 30, 2010

By 

artfulusedbooks - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Mrs. Delany and Her Circle (Yale Center for British Art) (Hardcover)

(This review is to be read along with the excellent "Editorial Reviews" on the Product Information webpage.)

Two words I would give greater emphasis: scholarly and beautiful. This is the big (approx. 12 x 10 x 1-1/4 in.) catalogue accompanying the exhibition at the Yale Center for British Art (New Haven, CT) and Sir John Soane's Museum (London). Mary Delany's artistic production (especially the flower collages) is seriously considered from several different perspectives in this lavish showcase--a beautifully designed book for the permanent library.

The two introductory essays give an informative & concise biography (by Alicia Weisberg-Roberts) of Mrs. Delany, and an overview (by Mark Laird) of the 12 scholarly essays that follow. I list the twelve essay titles here in shortened form: 1. "MD & the Court" by Clarissa Campbell Orr; 2. "MD's Embroidered Court Dress" by Clare Browne; 3. "Sartorial Politics in the Age of MD" by Hannah Greig; 4. "Theory & Practice of Female Accomplishment" by Amanda Vickery; 5. "MD's Paintings & Drawings" by Kim Sloan; 6. "MD: Epistolary Utterances & Natural History" by Maria Zytaruk; 7. "MD's Circles of Cutting & Embroidering in Home & Garden" by Mark Laird; 8. "MD's Natural History & Zoological Activities" by Janice Neri; 9. "The Botanical Horizons of MD" by John Edmondson; 10. "MD's Botanical Sources" by Lisa Ford; 11. "The 'Paper Mosaick' Practice of MD" by Kohleen Reeder; 12. "MD & Her Use of Paper" by Peter Bower.

After reading the book, I wanted more text AND more pictures of Delany's beautiful collages. This might be an indication that the editors & book designers got the balance just right.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mrs. Delany, July 20, 2010

By 

P. Pollack (woodland hills, california United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mrs. Delany and Her Circle (Yale Center for British Art) (Hardcover)

Fascinating reading. Quite a remarkable woman. I was not aware of her botanical efforts before I bought the book. I was hoping for descriptions and photographs of her embroidery work. She is mentioned in many needlearts histories as an extremely talented and driven needlewoman and the few pictures I have seen of her embroidery are certainly outstanding and in the case of her knot-work quilt, exquisite. I'll keep searching for a book that covers more of her embroidery. In the meantime, I'll have the inspiration of her "flowers".