Christmas Rose Reborn Moorcroft Pottery
In the language of flowers, hellebores symbolized delirium, according to The Language of Flowers printed in New York in 1834. It is just as well that the watercolour that inspired this design lay hidden for nearly two centuries before it could be fully appreciated by the world today. Christmas rose reborn from Moorcroft designer, Nicola Slaney, harnesses the colourway and form captured by a Victorian botanical watercolour from Caroline Maria Applebee, Christmas rose (current botanical name Helleborus niger) (watercolour on paper. 18.8 x 16.4 cm. 1841). Applebee’s hellebores show the delicate hues of these white, butter-yellow centred flowers tinged pinkish-green on the five sepals, blooming from part of the leaf-stalks. Nicola transforms her exquisite composition by taking the eye from the leaf-stalks at the crown of the plant and using a complex design to glide them, like the outstretched fingers of a rock climber, towards the rim of the vase.
- Designer: Nicola Slaney
- Dimensions: H 15.00 x W 8.00 x D 8.00 cm