Gertrude Jekyll’s Photographic Album

Gertrude
Jekyll (1843-1932), one of Britain’s most influential garden designers, used
photography to aid her design philosophy and illustrate visually the ideas
discussed in her writing. 

Clematis Montana on Loggia, Munstead House, Surrey (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

Photography 

 In 1885, Jekyll started photographing the gardens, cottages and footpaths close to her family home in Surrey, England. Jekyll had taken up photography probably under the tutelage of her brother, Sir Herbert Jekyll,.  Already an accomplished painter, needlework designer and metalwork artist, she seems to have engaged with this art form with great enthusiasm. Developments in photographic apparatus meant that the expensive and complicated equipment that had previously been required were slowly being replaced by portable cameras. These had folding lenses and pre-prepared dry-plate negatives. During her career she took over 2000 photographs, using them to explore and record landscapes and gardens.

George Evershed with a Group of Gourds (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

She carefully selected and printed images from those she had taken over a two year period to assemble this album editing and curating its contents. The superiority of the platinum prints in this album illustrate her skill as a photographer and her grasp of the technical craft of exposing and developing fine art photographic prints. This album dates from between 1885 and 1886 and is exceptionally important as it is a unique collection of those photographs which Jekyll considered her best work.

Beech Tree Roots Overhanging Embankment, Busbridge, Surrey (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

Munstead Wood 

In 1883, a few years before she took up photography,Jekyll had purchased Munstead Wood, fifteen acres of land adjacent to Munstead House her mother’s house and garden.Here she developed additional gardens, most notably woodland gardens intersected by a series of paths and vistas. Many of the photographs in this album can be appreciated as visual notes that record the landscaping, plants and forms which inspired her and as preparatory studies for the garden, house and buildings she would eventually develop in collaboration with Sir Edwin Lutyens.

Clematis Montana on Loggia, Munstead House, Surrey (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

Cottages

The album features a variety of photographs of cottages and their gardens and is a testament to Jekyll’s admiration of them.In her book Wood and Garden she stated, ‘I have learnt much from the little cottage gardens that help to make our English waysides the prettiest in the temperate world.’ A number of photographs in this album illustrate Jekyll’s interest in rambling roses and climbing plants and their employment by cottagers for decorative effect.

Cluster Rose on Mrs. Sweetapple’s Cottage, Eashing, Surrey (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

In 'Cluster Rose on Mrs Sweetapple’s Cottage Entrance, Eashing', the brickwork and local tiles that Jekyll so admired as a local feature of Surrey architecture, compliment beautifully the abundance of climbing and rambling plants.

Climbing White Roses Cottage Porch, Crownpits, Surrey (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

In 'Climbing White Roses on a Cottage Porch, Crownpit', she captures the successes a cottager has had in intertwining roses and honeysuckle over his porch. Jekyll absorbed the planting schemes developed by her neighbours and used them to inform her arranging of climbing roses outside the Hut, the temporary home she resided in whilst Lutyens constructed her main abode. Her knowledge of climbing plants was also of importance when she developed her planting schemes for the pergola, garden walls and interconnecting gateways at Munstead.

Beech Tree Roots Overhanging Embankment, Busbridge, Surrey (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

Tree Studies

Tree studies were a favorite focus for her camera and a subject to which she returns repeatedly in this album. They demonstrate her close study of form as she explores the tangled root system, textured trunks and branch structures. Returning to the subject frequently she uses them to explore composition and perspective.

Ancient Oak Trees at Peper Harow, Surrey (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

Ancient Holly Trees in an Old Hedge-Row (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

In 'Ancient Holly Trees in an Old Hedge-Row', she captures the trunks of these old hollies which she describes a shaving ‘smooth pale grey bark, and sometimes a slight twist, that makes it look like the gigantic bone of some old-world monster’. Having long since abandoned the rigid structure of a managed hedgerow, these holly trees provide a strong vertical which draws the viewer in. Jekyll was particularly fond of holly trees because as she describes, ‘in early winter, even without berries [they are] always a cheering sight.’

Ivy-Entwined Beech Tree Trunk, Unstead Lane, Bramley, Surrey (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

In 'Ivy-Entwined Beech Tree Trunk, Unstead Lane', Jekyll utilises a low angle to explore a beech tree on a steep embankment that’s typical of the country lanes near Munstead.

Ivy on an Old Beech Tree Stump (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

In this photo she captures the ivy creeping up the base of the trunk in a most picturesque manner. Jekyll’s intimate knowledge of the lanes and woodlands around her home provided her with endless specimens to explore.

Beech Tree Roots Overhanging Embankment, Busbridge, Surrey (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

She uses the same low angle in 'Beech Tree Roots Overhanging a Steep Embankment, Busbridge Lane'. In this image the sandy bank has been eroded, leaving the root formation exposed and its twisting structure creates a dramatic sculptural form providing a striking subject.

Somerset Bridge, Peper Harow, Surrey (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

Bridges

The many bridges that surrounded Jekyll’s home provided her with another important subject matter. In the album she also includes a print of Medieval Bridge near Munstead Farm. Once again, she beautifully captures the impressive stone arches and the strong forms reflected in the river below. Always interested in historic features, this image records the addition of metal railings to the medieval bridge. A change which Jekyll felt was unsympathetic and spoiled its overall appearance, saddening her.

Medieval Bridge near Munstead Farm, Surrey (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

Bridge at Eashing, Surrey (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

In the image of 'Bridge at Eashing, Surrey', the road splits in half with the lower section leading the viewer down to the water where the bridge and its arches are reflected on the surface, whilst the upper road leads the viewer up to explore the bridge’s stonework and the wooden railings which cross the bridge.

'n Arrangement of Rose Branches (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

Cut Flowers

Jekyll was a skilled flower arranger and cut flowers from her garden provided her with an abundant source of inspiration. She  would often lay her arrangements on a simple hessian cloth or coarsely woven sacking as in 'An Arrangement of Tea Roses of the Dijon Class'.

An Arrangement of Tea Roses of the Dijon Class (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

Rose Branches (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

Stalks of Solomon’s Seal in Moss (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

Sometimes Jekyll would bring potted flowers into her studio and photograph them as with 'Stalks of Solomon’s Seal in Moss'.

'n Arrangement of Rose Branches (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

Jekyll considered the vessels in which flowers were displayed to be of central importance to the overall visual effect of an arrangement and the longevity of its display.

An Arrangement of Pansies in a White Porcelain Basket (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

Finding that the decorative vases produced by most manufactures held little water and that their tapered designs were impractical for holding large numbers of blooms, she designed her own range. In 1884 James Powell & Sons started manufacturing the bold and elegant range of Munstead Flower Vases which Jekyll promoted saying, ‘they are cheap and strong, they hold plenty of water, and are in a number of useful sizes.’ An Arrangement of White Pansies and An Arrangement of Rose Branches illustrate two of the forty design options that were available and illustrate the versatility of the range as being appropriate for small displays of delicate single specimens as well as more complex arrangements.

An Arrangement of Tree Peonies and Clematis Montana (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

These vases were immensely popular with the public and were even selected by the great flower painter Henri Fantin-Latour, who favoured them in later life for arranging his floral compositions.

North Entrance Front, Loseley Park, Surrey (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

Surrey

Jekyll who had spent most of her life in Surrey greatly appreciated the county’s unique character and made a study of the traditional building materials and construction techniques that gave the region’s buildings their character and charm. Photography enabled her to record and document the vernacular architecture of her beloved home county. The buildings at Unstead farm captured Jekyll’s interest in particular and she photographed numerous exterior and interior details. 'Front View of Unstead Farm' depicts the stonework at the base of the building and illustrates the local practise of decorating the wide mortar joints with small pieces of black ironstone.

Front View of Unstead Farm, (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

Cottage Doorway with Mrs. Goodchild, Hambledon, Surrey (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

As well as exploring local architectural features in her photographs, Jekyll was also interested in recording the local way of life.

Mrs. Edgeler Adjusting Cluster-Rose in her Garden, Surrey (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

Entrance to Malt House Farm, Surrey (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

Many of the photographs she took at this time were later to feature in her book 'Old West Surrey'. The publication was extensively reviewed with her photographs receiving a great deal of attention.

Two Straw Bee Skeps in a Cottage Garden (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

'Two Straw Bee Skeps in a Cottage Garden' illustrates traditional straw hives covered with sacking, weighted down with the broken halves of a washing pan. The preference for wooden bee hives was to see these straw types soon disappear. When this image appeared in Old West Surrey it was more closely cropped allowing the reader to understand the construction of the hive. However, in this wider shot Jekyll creates an image which extolls the ornamental qualities of the setting, as well as the attractiveness of traditional bee keeping.

Mrs. Edgeler Adjusting Cluster-Rose in her Garden, Surrey (1886) by Gertrude JekyllGarden Museum

The Album

The album remained in the Jekyll family collection until after her death and was probably sold in 1948 at the auction of the contents of Munstead Wood. It is now the only photograph album by Jekyll in a British collection providing a unique understanding of her skill as a talented photographer and  insight into how photography helped her to record design ideas.

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