John Gerarde, The Herball, 1597 - narcissus, p.108.
Flowers for enjoyment in Shakespeare's England.
The Elizabethans loved colour of all kinds in their embroidered and decorated clothes. The often elaborate painted wall-hangings of their homes frequently ...
John Gerarde, The Herball, 1597 - portrait, on back of title-page, p.B6v.
John Gerarde, herbalist: a contemporary of Shakespeare.
The large linen ruff was a fashion imported from the Netherlands, but adopted by all who could afford the starches needed to create such an accessory. ...
John Gerarde, The Herball, 1597 - roses, p.1079.
Roses feature more than once in Shakespeare’s plays.
Gerarde's Herbal gave Elizabethans the chance to see the plants that Shakespeare had in mind as he wrote certain scenes in his plays. In the ...
John Gerarde, The Herball, 1597 - title-page
An owner of a volume contemporary with Shakespeare has replaced a missing title-page.
The decorative title-pages of books have occasionally been damaged, or removed by their owners. This copy of ...
John Gerarde, The Herball, 1597 - violets, p.699, detail.
A Shakespearian plant reference.
The plant and flower references in Shakespeare’s works are numerous. John Gerarde’s Herball lists and describes all the plants known in contemporary England, ...
John Gerarde, The Herball, 1597 - Wall Flowers, p.371.
Wallflowers in a Shakespeare source.
Wallflowers in John Gerarde’s History of plantes are clearly illustrated and named ‘gilloflower’. This popular name persists as ‘gillys’ ...
Plantpot
A mirrored lead plantpot encased in a decorative perspex rod and wire framework.
Preston on Stour. Church Row
Row of cottages at Church Row with their gardens, including a cold frame in the foreground. 1900s
South View of Fen End Farm
This is a watercolour and ink image of Fen End Farm. We only know the artist's initials, 'M.S.L.' but an inscription in ink along the bottom says 'The South View of Fen End Farm Drawn 20th August 1790'. ...
Thomas Hill, The gardeners labyrinth..., 1577 - men enjoying wine and fruit, title-page of part 2.
Characters in Shakespeare enjoyed an arbour in their garden scenes.
The practice of enjoying the out-of-doors over a simple meal, or a drink out-of-doors on a summer’s evening may have been the ...
Thomas Hill, The gardeners labyrinth..., 1577 - p.25, gardeners prepare their beds..
Gardening: a task known to Shakespeare
Many of Shakespeare’s scenes are set in gardens. The plays indicate a familiarity with the tasks of setting seeds, weeding and raising plants for pleasure ...
Thomas Hill, The gardeners labyrinth..., 1577 - text, p.A1r, gardeners at work..
Shakespeare’s gardeners in Richard II tended their garden in this way.
Thomas Hill’s handbook which explains the tasks of a garden’s care includes this woodcut of an arbour which ...
White Villas
This is an oil painting on board depicting a simple scene of a row of white houses. There are figures in the street in the foreground, including a couple walking, a small dog and a pony and trap. It was ...