Botanic Dreams
Botanic Dreams juxtaposes the logical principles of Linnaean categorisation with the sensuality of The Quack James Graham's (1745-1794) Celestial Bed to imagine the intimate setting of a lady’s bedchamber. The flowers and eucalyptus (eucalyptus was introduced to Europe by The Macaroni Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820) and The Librarian Daniel Solander (1733-1782)) that weave around the bedposts, suggesting fertility and fecundity. With white roses traditionally a symbol of purity and virginity, the viewer is invited to reflect on the social expectation that elite women should be virtuous and innocent, while existing in a cultural system that defined their worth through their reproductive function.
The artificiality of the flowers brings to mind the increasing distance of elite women from practical herbal knowledge. The bed is made up with a sheet and a set of pillowcases embroidered with eighteenth-century texts, opinions and metaphors, together with a coverlet, appliquéd with intricate plans based on the garden plots from the Uppsala Botanic Gardens where Linneaus worked. Each plot is hand-stitched with either Linnaean plant classifications or divisions of human social and professional classes including ‘Physicians’, ‘Philosophers’, ‘ Wives’ and ‘Courtesans’. The soft pastel colours, floral patterns, and embroidered texts coalesce into a lush visual field, echoing the vibrancy of a living garden. This bedlinen honours the invisible labour of women who attempted to engage with scientific classification.
