Homes Antiques

5

A LONGING FOR LOVE

Roses and romance go hand-in-hand a feeling so well

captured by Victorian artist JW Waterhouse in his 1908

painting The Soul of the Rose. The oil on canvas which sold at

Christie’s for £1140000 in 2007 is arguably his best-known

piece and was inspired by a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson

Come into the Garden Maud. Like other paintings by

Waterhouse this work features a woman as the central figure

but here the rose takes centre stage too evoking feelings of

passion love and longing. Waterhouse went on to produce

several other paintings that year all featuring roses.

HOLLY JOHNSON tracks the origins of this sweetly scented much-loved flower

and follows its steady rise to fame through the various worlds of perfume

medieval politics poetry art and architecture...

Design Pics Inc / Alamy

Stock Photo

4

IN THE EAST

With 144 varieties of rose native to

China it’s no surprise that this plant

has an important place in Eastern

culture. First cultivated in Asian

gardens around 5000 years ago rose extracts

were used throughout the Orient for cooking

perfume wine and medicine while in the

Mycenaean city of Pylos rose water was traded

as early as 1200BC. Roses were of course also

admired for their beauty and many a decorative

ceramic can be found painted with beautiful

rose motifs. On its own the Chinese rose

signifies longevity due to its almost monthly

flowering but when pictured alongside the

hibiscus (as it is here on these Qianlong double-

gourd vases) its meaning is implied as ‘May you

have wealth glory and a long life’. Earlier this

year this fine pair of 18th-century vases sold at

Christie’s London for a record £14725000.

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H&A GUIDE: Design history