The 'tea-lady's' Flower Pictures: Elizabeth Twining 1805-1889
Updated: Feb 13
‘Aurantiacea. The Orange Tribe’, Plate 41, from ‘Illustrations of the Natural Orders of Plants with Groups and Descriptions’, 1868 by Elizabeth Twining
I'm always on the look-out for interesting Victorian women to research and showcase, and back in December 2023 came across mention of Elizabeth Twining on Karen Meadow's excellent @british_gardening_history Instagram feed. And, as you may have guessed from my title, Elizabeth was indeed from the famed Twining tea-family, a descendant of the tea company’s founder, Thomas Twining (1675-1741).
Portrait of Elizabeth Twining by Martin Henry, 1881. Alamy
Described as a botanical illustrator, painter, author, philanthropist and champion for social reform, Elizabeth was born in London in 1805 – one of 9 children of Richard and Elizabeth Mary Twining.
Much of what's written about Elizabeth today references information about her gleaned from her younger sister, Louisa Twining’s (1820-1912) autobiography, Recollections of Life and Work, published in 1893 [see Note 1]. Louisa herself being involved in social reform and being a published author on various religious subjects. However, by doing a search through the book, I've found that she never actually refers to Elizabeth by name – merely referring to one or more of her elder sisters, Elizabeth being the second eldest. Therefore, it can only really be inferred that some of what Louisa writes relates to Elizabeth.
However, from Louisa's writing it does appear that she, and her elder sisters (including Elizabeth), were able to indulge their love of nature, learning art and drawing as part of a typical Victorian upper-class lady’s education – Louisa recalling art lessons from renowned landscape painters, the Nasmyth family, and how "they enjoyed the indescribable pleasure” of joining their classes.
'Recollections of Life and Work: the Autobiography of Louisa Twining', 1893
It does seem however, that Elizabeth was considered a competent botanist, skilled in drawing and painting plants and flowers using the famed Curtis’s Botanical Magazine as her "tutor” – Louisa writing that “our flower-painting was learnt by copying Curtis’s then well-known work in many volumes…never surpassed in accuracy and faithfulness to nature”.
It's also often written [there's not much information about Elizabeth herself, so most sources tend to repeat the same stuff] that Elizabeth had a large herbarium of her own. However, Louisa writes that she later had “a complete herbarium of all English plants, feathers, seals [?], sea-weeds, and minerals, and other miscellaneous objects of interest”, which she began in 1828. It seems likely however, given Elizabeth’s later books, that she shared this interest with her sister or perhaps did indeed have her own herbarium. Just shows that it always pays to have a look at original sources when researching anything!
Elizabeth also drew from the plants and flowers at the Chiswick gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society, and further practiced her artistic skills by sketching from works at the Dulwich Picture Gallery [again inferred from what Louisa writes about her elder sisters]. She also mentions the sisters attending lectures at the Royal Institution [their father was a member – as was Elizabeth later] given by luminaries of the day such as “Faraday on chemistry” and, more notably perhaps, “Lindley on botany”. As a member of the wealthy Twining family, Elizabeth was herself financially secure, and so also able to travel both abroad and around the UK painting the landscapes and flora she came across.
Towards the end of my research on Elizabeth, I came across a publication from the Twinings company itself, issued in 1910, about its history and family members, to celebrate the bicentenary of their business. I've not seen this referenced in any of the other available information.
'Dial House. The Twickenham Home of the Twinings. (After the original water colour by Elizabeth Twining, 1870)', from 'The Twinings in Three Centuries: The Annals of a Great London Tea House 1710-1910. Published by R. Twining & Co., Ltd. (Teamen to His Majesty)', 1910
This book contains a couple of sentences about Elizabeth. It says that her brother, Richard Twining III, engaged in many “good works” in which he “received the active support of his sister”, Elizabeth – “who devoted the labours of a lifetime to furthering the causes of education and philanthropy. As an accomplished botanist and an authority on other matters, Elizabeth Twining is placed amongst the eight Twinings whose careers are chronicled in the great ‘Dictionary of National Biography’". Elizabeth was also, according to the book, the last Twining to live at Dial House, the family home in Twickenham, which she painted in 1870. Her entry in the Dictionary is brief, and provides no additional information. Unfortunately, Elizabeth's own books, discussed below, provide little information about her apart from her obvious love of plants and flowers and the natural world.
But before I continue, just a brief word about the Twinings company itself.
Twinings: a Tea Empire
Twinings shop front, 216 Strand, London. Alamy
Tea was first introduced to the English aristocracy by Catherine of Braganza (1638-1705), wife to Charles II (1630-85). Tea was already a fashionable drink in her native Portugal and Catherine's dowry included a chest of tea – and the port of Bombay in India, an important part of the tea trade.
With such royal patronage, tea quickly became a drink for the rich and privileged but, according to a blog by Hazel Stainer on Twinings [see Note 2], it was not until the 18th century that the Twinings company "introduced the drink to the nation”.
Twinings have had a presence at 216 Strand since the shop was first opened in 1706 [originally opened as a coffee house also supplying tea, before concentrating on the tea business]. And, some 300 years later, they still supply us with teas, including their famed Earl Grey, Darjeeling and English Breakfast teas, making them not only one of the oldest companies in the country, but London’s longest-standing ratepayer. They also hold the record for the world’s oldest continually-used logo as shown here.
Many years ago, I worked just down the road from the Strand and would occasionally pop into Twinings to buy tea for the office, although I'm not actually a tea-drinker myself!
If you're interested in finding out more about Twinings, their website has a good history section, or for the meanings behind the wonderful figures over the Twinings shop entrance, see the Living London History blog [see Note 3].
Elizabeth Twining's Illustrations of the Natural Order of Plants
From a quick search of Louisa's autobiography online, I can find no mention of Elizabeth's foray into publishing but, in any event, her first major botanical work, Illustrations of the Natural Order of Plants [see Note 4 for link], was published privately in 1849 using plants at Kew and Lexden Park in Colchester, as well as elsewhere, as her source material. And the title page contains a handwritten dedication: “To my dear Friends at Lexden Park where many Specimens were painted”, as can be seen below.
Original title page from Elizabeth Twining's privately published work, 'Illustrations of the Natural Order of Plants', 1849. Natural History Museum Library and Archives. Public Domain
Although privately published, and in limited numbers, the book's forthcoming publication made the horticultural press, and an announcement appeared in the Gardeners' Chronicle in June 1849.
'The Gardeners’ Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette', June 9, 1849
Volume 1 was published in 1849 at a price of 10s 6d, with volume 2 following in 1855 – the volumes containing a total of 160 plates. In July 1849, the Gardeners' Chronicle published a review of volume 1 of Elizabeth's book [below], describing drawings made with "taste and exactness", concluding that "the work is one for the drawing-room table, where we doubt not that it will be often seen".
The Gardeners’ Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette, July 14, 1849
In a modern review of Elizabeth's book in Australian Garden History [see Note 5], Stella Downer describes Elizabeth’s work as “among the fine lithographic colour flower books of the mid-19th century” – and Downer even equates it to the work of Marianne North (1830-1890), whose works are on permanent display at Kew.
Elizabeth’s botanical paintings for her book were published as lithographs – Elizabeth drawing the illustrations onto stone and sometimes zinc and, as a woman of means, was able to afford to use Queen Victoria’s lithographers, Day & Son, who, as Downer points out, were regarded as the best lithographers of the period – the colours achieved ranging “from strikingly vibrant to gentle nuances”.
'Filices. The Fern Tribe', Plate 178, from 'Illustrations of the Natural Order of Plants', 1849-1855 by Elizabeth Twining. Natural History Museum Library and Archives. Public Domain
Some of the plates were also accompanied by more detailed handwritten descriptions, as can be seen in the plate below of the Amaryllidaceae family.
'Amaryllidaceae'. The Narcissus Tribe', Plate 160, from 'Illustrations of the Natural Order of Plants', 1849-1855 by Elizabeth Twining. Natural History Museum Library and Archives. Public Domain. [Note: in the 1868 edition of Elizabeth's work, the title has been changed to Amaryllidaceae. The Amaryllis Tribe]
A second edition of Illustrations of the Natural Order of Plants published in 1868 [see Note 6 for link], is generally considered to be of inferior quality to the original expensive folio edition, using re-drawn illustrations based on her originals, and more affordable colour-printed chromolithographs. Tony Swann, of the Natural History Museum [which holds Elizabeth's original illustrations], referred to this in a lecture given in October 1997. Titled Great Botanical Books – A bookseller’s perspective, he mentions Elizabeth’s fine hand-coloured plates in the folio edition of 1849 – and refers to the subsequent reduced format quarto edition, with printed colour plates, as “markedly inferior”.
See Note 7 for a link to a website containing a complete reproduction and restoration of the 1868 edition of Illustrations of the Natural Orders of Plants by Nicholas Rougeux. It’s a fascinating read! I have, however, used copies of the original plates where possible, as I prefer them to the more highly coloured restorations. Incidentally, Rougeux's research leads him to believe that it was Elizabeth herself who redrew the illustrations for the later edition.
The difference between the vibrant original folio edition and the later, cheaper, publication can particularly be seen in the plates below of Aristolochia – the exotic looking Dutchman's Pipe, a favourite of Victorian conservatories.
'Aristolochia', Plate 147 from 'Illustrations of the Natural Order of Plants', 1849-1855, with Elizabeth's handwritten text. Natural History Museum Library and Archives. Public Domain
'Aristolochiaceae. The Aristolochea Tribe', Plate 122 from ‘Illustrations of the Natural Orders of Plants with Groups and Descriptions’, Volume 2, 1868
Although published privately, and with a limited distribution [making it rather rare today], the Natural History Museum holds a collection of 176 of Elizabeth's watercolour drawings of plants, including the originals for her book, Illustrations of the Natural Order of Plants, 1849-1855.
The second edition, although considered inferior, does give us an Introduction written by Elizabeth where she describes her love of plants: “Of all the various objects of creation there is, probably, no portion that affords so much gratification and delight to mankind as plants”.
Elizabeth continues that, although there were already many publications available about the nature of plants, she hoped that her illustrations, combined with descriptions in simple, untechnical language, could add to the enjoyment of the plants themselves. And that if they could "increase gratification of those who possess beautiful gardens, or delight in searching out the native plants of our fields and roads...", or awaken "an interest in the study of the nature and properties of plants", then her "design" and "humble, but very earnest desire" would have been accomplished.
Title page of Elizabeth Twining's 'Illustrations of the Natural Orders of Plants with Groups and Descriptions', Volume 1, 1868
Plant "Tribes" and the de Candolle plant classification system
You may have noticed that many of Elizabeth's plates include "tribe" in the title. This is because the plants depicted in her plates are arranged by botanical families using Swiss botanist Augustin de Candolle’s classification rather than the Linnaean system we are familiar with. Elizabeth chose to illustrate plants using the newer classification system created by de Candolle (1778-1841), based on multiple characteristics of the plants, because, it's said, she wanted her readers to be up-to-date as classification systems evolved. This form of classification did not, however, catch on and, as we know, the Linnaean system prevailed.
From the 'Introduction' to Elizabeth Twining's 'Illustrations of the Natural Orders of Plants with Groups and Descriptions', 2nd edition, Volume 1, 1868
‘Magnoliaceae. The Magnolia Tribe’, Plate 3 from ‘Illustrations of the Natural Orders of Plants with Groups and Descriptions’, Volume 1, 1868 by Elizabeth Twining [Restored version]
Because of this, Elizabeth's plates are rather unusual in that they depict combinations of plants not often illustrated together. Each plate often includes 2 to 7 members of a plant ‘family’, including any British member of that particular family. This method, as auction house Christies pointed out when selling a copy of her book back in 2018 [which sold for just over £8,000] “produces fascinating groupings of plants seldom seen together: British with Amazonian, Italian with Himalayan, etc. The plants... generally arranged with a fine artistic sensibility on the plate, but clearly retaining a careful regard for scientific accuracy”. An example of such a plate is shown below.
‘Malvaceae. The Mallow Tribe’, Plate 23, from ‘Illustrations of the Natural Orders of Plants with Groups and Descriptions’, Volume 1, 1868. This plate shows examples of species from 6 different countries, including Britain and Brazil
Key to plants in Plate 23 above
Elizabeth's other publications
In 1866, Elizabeth published another book, The Plant World, intended, as she wrote in the Preface, for “young students”, interested in botany and the plant world. Her stated aim being to make natural history easier to study, avoiding “all difficult and scientific words”, and to make the subject as interesting as possible so readers would “search further for themselves”. Whether Elizabeth succeeded in her aims for this book in unclear, as I’ve found little information or reviews of this work. However, it is available online [see Note 8].
Title page from 'The Plant World', 1866 by Elizabeth Twining
The book contains chapters on the various different parts of plants, including roots, stems, leaves and flowers, and also includes chapters on such economic plants as tea, coffee, cotton and sugar. There are no botanical illustrations, just a few plates mostly depicting native peoples at work with economic plants.
Her only other publications relating to plants were copies of lectures given by her – although I've been unable to ascertain how these came about or where they were given. In any event, her lecture on Plants as Water-Drinkers (running to 16 pages) was published in 1872, priced at one penny. This was followed by the publication of a set of four additional lectures published in 1878, titled Lectures on Plants. Both publications are unillustrated. These are also available online [see Note 9] but are [I think] of no particular interest.
'Lectures on Plants' by Elizabeth Twining, 1878
Elizabeth as Social Reformer
One aspect of Elizabeth's life I've not covered is that of philanthropist, educator and social reformer. Briefly, and as detailed in her Wikipedia entry, she established and managed a temperance hall in London, renovated some alms houses near her home in Twickenham, and also established a hospital for the treatment of the poor. She was also the founder of the famed 'mothers’ meetings' in London, and contributed to the founding of the Bedford College for Women. With regard to this side to her life, she also wrote and published, Ten Years in a Ragged School and Readings for Mothers’ Meetings.
Conclusion
In Stella Downer's 1992 review of Elizabeth's book, she points out that “the popularity of botanical works flourished in England during the second half of the 19th century", and that genteel Victorian ladies, for whom dabbling in nature and painting were considered acceptable pastimes, had access to the latest exotic plants on show at the likes of Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, as well as the gardens of the aristocracy and upper-classes.
Elizabeth could rightly be said to be one such lady, and many did have their work published, as such 'flower books' were indeed extremely popular. However, whether you think her botanical illustrations are over and above the general standard of the time, as Downer seems to, is, of course, a matter of opinion.
‘The Orange Tribe’, Plate 41 and accompanying text from ‘Illustrations of the Natural Orders of Plants’, c.1849 by Elizabeth Twining
I've found little or even no mention of Elizabeth among the works on botanical illustrations on my shelves [or online], although she does get one brief mention in Wilfred Blunt & William T. Stern’s book, The Art of Botanical Illustration, first published in 1950 and described as the classical work on the subject [my copy the revised edition of 1994]. While praising her philanthropy and botany, the work is described as “sound botanically”, but the illustrations are somewhat dismissed as “not of very great artistic merit”.
However, Elizabeth's use of the de Candolle plant classification system gives her illustrations added interest, in that they depict mixes of plants and flowers not often grouped together. Her aim being, according to Downer, to “create a naturalness from an artistic view, and to escape from orthodox botanic description”.
From what I have read about Elizabeth, it does seem that her work, both botanical and philanthropic, were well regarded at the time. And I for one, love her illustrations, and think they are certainly worth a look.
References:
Tony Swann, the Natural History Museum, lecture given in October 1997, titled Great Botanical Books – A bookseller’s perspective
Notes:
Recollections of Life and Work: the Autobiography of Louisa Twining, 1893 Recollections of life and work : Twining, Louisa. n 83139048 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Twinings of London, February 4, 2022, by Hazel Stainer
Living London History blog:
Decoding The Entrance To Twinings: London's Oldest Tea Shop - Living London History
Natural History Museum: Elizabeth Twining (1805-1889) collection of 176 watercolour drawings of plants, including the originals for her 'Illustrations of the Natural Order of Plants' 1849-1855
Stella Downer, 'Review of The Natural Order of Plants by Elizabeth Twining' in Australian Garden History, September/October 1992, Vol.4, No. 2
Illustrations of the Natural Order of Plants with Groups and Descriptions, volumes 1 and 2, 1868:
Making of the Illustrations of the Natural Orders of Plants by Nicholas Rougeux, July 2019, Art Web https://www.c82.net/twining/about/
A Lecture on Plants as Water-drinkers ngo-Elizabeth Twining - Izincwadi ku-Google Play
Another great piece of research into an overlooked women. They did so much and are so neglected by history. Well done for pulling all the details together to make a compelling narrative.
As always, thorough detailed research on less well known people
as you say Paula beautiful illustrations, as this has left me wanting to know more about her. I wonder if any of her lectures were at Bedford College or Mothers meeting house in London and whether these are still in existence and perhaps if they are, they kept records going that far back. Intersting as always. Thank you.
Fascinating stuff, Paula. I had never heard of her, but she seems to have been rather more than 'competent'. I agree, her work is lovely, and quite luminous. There are such gaps in women's history - if she'd been a man we'd have known all about her.