Jane Edden Hunter gatherer
Jane Edden 2009 Hunter gatherer A few years ago I came across some empty boxes in an antique
was at its inception for enriching our understanding of
dealers that had once belonged to the Economic Botany
humankind’s relationship with plants.
Collection at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Although empty, the labels on the boxes told of the curious objects and plants
Some objects within the Economic Botany Collection have
that they had once held. The contents had been collected
an intrinsic value, but for many their value comes from their
approximately a century ago, and ranged from familiar things
categorisation, their role as parts within the whole. Reflecting this
and plants to many totally unknown to me.
ethos, I have formed miniature collections – groups of selected boxes – collated obeying my own set of rules: primarily, but
The labels demonstrate the countless ways humans have
not always, by object or use. The Collection at Kew is arranged
employed plants, revealing a tiny section of our historical
according to the categories of family, genus and species. To
dependence,
and
me it seems ironic that it is this strict taxonomic structure that
framework for (hi)stories still to come. The objects and plant-
gives the Collection its fantastical quality. Seemingly unrelated
life they describe were collected in an epoch very different from
objects sit side-by-side; a bicycle is filed under ‘wood’ because it
now, when they were considered rare, unusual curiosities from
has wheels made of hickory; hot water bottles reside with dental
exotic places. The Victorian era was a time of great leaps forward
plates and lumps of dried latex, all the products of the same
in our ways of thinking and studying, particularly in relation
‘rubber’ tree. Even with instruction and information about this
to he natural world. Colonialism and the presiding western
detailed taxonomy, travelling through the Collection can feel more
dominance of the time may now seem unpalatable in our
like experiencing a Borgesian odyssey than a scientific store.
whilst
also
providing
the
provocation
contemporary cultures, but we can still hold in high regard the Victorian trend for fervent questioning, which resulted in sea
The decision to represent the missing contents of the boxes with
changes in our ways of looking at the world. It was this climate of
an impression came with a realisation that the original boxes
curiosity that led to the establishment of the Economic Botany
must remain ‘empty’ in spirit. Inspired by the labels, I wanted
Collection in 1847, an archive that is as important today as it
to interpret their descriptions but also to maintain a sense of
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MEN’S
absence; to capture within the boxes the combined sense of
named on these boxes, I didn’t need to travel anywhere exotic,
discovery and loss I felt on reclaiming them as repositories of
living as I do in a world surrounded by a surfeit of goods and
meaning. I also wanted to present something of the world I live
products. Items amassed as I researched the labels, and the
in now, carrying forward the spirit of investigation and enquiry
information that I accumulated formed an additional collection.
that is the driving force behind the Collection.
Facts that, like the contents of the Economic Botany Collection,
A N D
W
O M E N
’S C
O M B S
were so varied and wide-ranging that I felt they needed to be My choice of material – fine white plaster – allowed me to cast
classified, verified and ordered in some way.
delicate inverse forms, impressions that I polished back to lie in a paper smooth surface. The forms produced in this process
I have filed this new collection in boxes, which has acted in many
allude to the absent-presence of objects left on a sandy shore,
respects to bring the project full circle. For each set of reclaimed
washed over by the tide of centuries. The age of the boxes is
boxes with casts, there is a new box containing the objects
betrayed by their condition. Bubbles and imperfections punctuate
used to cast the impressions, or acquired for this purpose then
the glass, which varies slightly in hue; the paper that covers
deemed unsuitable. The facts, units of text, are pasted into the
the boxes has, in some areas, had to be replaced. I have used
lids for safekeeping. These new reference boxes are built on
archival materials to carry out these restorations, believing the
centuries-old foundations with the same footprint and system of
original fabric of the boxes to be integral to their capacity for
tessellation as the original boxes.
future storytelling. These reference works will be displayed alongside my casts, When I started collecting items to cast, I found myself standing
in a cabinet once used to house part of the original Collection,
in charity shops assessing objects in terms of their volume,
kindly lent to me by Kew. Exhibited in this way, the relationship
wondering whether they would release easily from the grip of
between old and new falls into cyclical accord, a symmetry that
plaster, and how they would look in negative. My criteria: to
seems appropriate in the year that the Royal Botanic Gardens,
find everything I needed within my locale. Unlike the collectors
Kew, celebrates its 250th anniversary.
As well as using combs to untangle and smooth hair, women often use
occasions in areas of Spain and South America. Peinete are often worn
combs to fix their hair into various styles and as a means of decoration.
in conjunction with a lace veil, a fashion made popular by Isabella II of
The largest form of decorative comb is called a mantilla or peineta comb.
Spain (1830 – 1904) who was partial to fine lace. Due to her success at
The peineta are worn for visual impact, cresting over the top of the head
trendsetting, this form of mantilla and comb became an established part
and hair to produce a dramatic effect. Popular at various times in history
of traditional Spanish costume over the course of the 19th century.
throughout Europe, these combs are now generally only worn on special
Men’s and Women’s Combs 2009, Plaster casts in 2 reclaimed boxes, 30.5 x 35.5 x 3 cm overall
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Mark Nesbitt The Economic Botany Collection ...all kinds of useful and curious Vegetable Products... such a
fascination of plants to a wider public. By 1853 the crowd of
collection would render great service, not only to the scientific
visitors in the Museum was such that it was frequently impossible
botanist, but to the merchant, the manufacturer, the physician,
to enter the building.
the chemist, the druggist, the dyer, the carpenter and cabinet maker, and artisans of every description, who might here find the
These dual aims ensured that the Museum contained far more
raw material (and, to a certain extent, also the manufactured or
than economic botany in its strict nineteenth century definition:
prepared article) employed in their several professions, correctly
plants ‘studied from a practical, material, commercial, or
named, and accompanied by some account of its origin, history,
utilitarian standpoint’. By the 1930s the Museum’s collection
native country, etc., either attached to the specimens or recorded
had swelled to fill four buildings, including Sir William Chamber’s
in a popular catalogue.
magnificent Orangery, used to house tropical woods and a Haida totem pole.
In 1853 the founding director of modern Kew, Sir William Hooker, set out this manifesto for his Museum of Economic
By the 1980s the buildings were needed for other purposes –
Botany, opened six years earlier in a former fruit store at the
the original converted fruit store is now home to Kew’s School
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
of Horticulture – and it was decided that the collections would be best housed in a purpose-built research store. The 70,000
When Sir William took over at Kew, he saw that working with
specimens were moved onto compactor shelving in the Sir Joseph
useful plants would demonstrate the utility of the Gardens
Banks Building, and the museum collection was renamed as the
to Britain and the burgeoning British Empire. The Museum
Economic Botany Collection. In the original museum buildings
was both to influence industry in favour of what we would
most specimens were exhibited in glass jars or glass-topped
now call biomaterials, and to convey the importance and
boxes. During the move most specimens were transferred to
Museum No. 2 c. 1900 © The Trustees of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
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TO
archival boxes or air-tight jars. It is at this point that, after being
of 1886, manufacturers eager to see their wares displayed
offered to other museums, a selection of empty containers was
at Kew, and members of the public, with donations ranging
sold to an architectural salvage company.
from mummy wheat from ancient Egypt to a lacebark bonnet
B A C C O
from Jamaica. The boxes bought by Jane demonstrate the extraordinary breadth of the Kew collections. Unlike many Victorian museums, the
In its new home the Economic Botany Collection now numbers
Museum of Economic Botany was not structured around notions
some 90,000 specimens, and continues to grow by 800 specimens
of primitive and advanced human societies. Recently developed
each year. These reflect Kew’s current work: for example recent
materials, such as vulcanised rubber, were displayed alongside
accessions include over 3000 herbs used in Traditional Chinese
indigenous artefacts. There was a strong emphasis on everyday
Medicine, wood samples from the threatened forests of Brazil,
life: what appears ‘curious’ to the artist is often rooted in the
and a large collection of artefacts collected by staff working on
deep knowledge of plant uses found in all indigenous cultures.
the Flora of Ethiopia. The Collection also receives many donations:
For example, the toothsticks used instead of toothbrushes
recent examples (out of many) include Fairtrade chocolate, loft
are invariably made from woods known to have anti-bacterial
insulation made of hemp and flax, and dishcloths and textile
properties. A broad view was taken of everyday life, leading to
made from bamboo fibres. Changes in the world are reflected in
world-class collections of Japanese paper and lacquer, alongside
Kew’s science, and thus in the Collection.
deep holdings of materia medica, textiles, baskets, foods, fruits and seeds, dyes, resins, stimulants, spices, botanical jewellery,
By virtue of its age, the Economic Botany Collection is now both
musical instruments (among much else) – truly demonstrating
a working scientific collection, and a historic museum collection
that all aspects of life depend on plants.
of great cultural significance. Today’s users of the Collection include botanists and biochemists, anthropologists, historians
Sir William Hooker, Director from 1841 to 1865, and his son
of science, medicine, empire and design, conservators and
Sir Joseph (Director, 1865-1885) drew on the full range
materials scientists and, of course, artists. The Collection
Almost as soon as tobacco was introduced, there were movements to ban
to secure for the State money generated by taxes on tobacco products. The
embodies Kew’s history and work since 1847 and is thus a
it. In 1600, Pope Urban VIII threatened excommunication for those who
Nazis in Germany were also strongly against tobacco and published some
of contacts available to a prominent scientist of the time: consular staff at British missions in China and Japan,
window into Britain’s world view in the last 150 years.
biologists such as Richard Spruce in the Amazon and Alfred
smoked or took snuff in holy places, expanding his threat later to the users
of the earliest work linking smoking to cancer.1 Throughout most of the
of snuff in all areas. In 1612, a Chinese Imperial edict forbade the planting
1990s, the European Union spent more on subsidising tobacco growing
and use of tobacco, and in 1638 it was made a crime punishable by
than on enforcing anti-smoking measures.2
Russel Wallace in Indonesia, and explorers such as David
This year, 2009, marks the 250th anniversary of the establishment
decapitation. Tsar Alexis of Russia enforced strict penalties for smoking in
Livingstone in Africa and General Gordon in the Indian Ocean.
of a botanic garden at Kew. When Kew celebrates its 350th
1634: whipping, a slit nose, and transportation to Siberia for a first offence,
1. Proctor, Robert N. International Journal of Epidemiology. 2001. 30: pp. 31-34.
Other sources were the great World’s Fairs – most notably
birthday, these new accessions will in turn be old, and perhaps
execution for a second. The Tsar later had to reverse this decision in order
2. British Medical Journal. 1996. 312: pp. 832-835.
the Crystal Palace of 1851 and the Colonial and Indian Exhibition
an inspiration to a future generation of artists.
Tobacco 2009, Plaster cast in a reclaimed box, 30.5 x 20.5 x 5 cm overall
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CAK
E S
A N D
P
I E S
FI
G
Oil cake is formed from the mineral and protein rich solids that remain after
that became so fashionable in the 1800s that anti-macassar cloths were
Circumcision, or the ringing of any kind of fruit tree, has two purposes:
bark towards the end of a branch then making a perpendicular slit allowing
pressing a mass such as linseed, cottonseed or soybean to extract the oil
introduced to protect the fabric coverings on furniture from the damage
one, to produce plentiful and early blossom, and two, to increase the size
a ring of the bark to be removed.1
it contains. The cake is a robust product that is often used in animal feed.
caused by men’s oiled hair.2
of the fruit. It is performed by making two circular incisions, ringing the
1. Bridgeman, Thomas. The Fruit Cultivator’s Manual. New York, 1844.
The oil cakes from toxic seeds, castor beans and tung nuts are used as
1. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2009.
fertilizers rather than for nutrition.1 This cake of Schleichera oleosa (Lour.)
2. Sherrow, Victoria. Encyclopedia of Hair: A Cultural History. Santa Barbara, CA:
Oken is made from the seed which produces macassar oil, a hair product
Greenwood Press, 2006.
Cakes and Pies 2009, Plaster casts in 3 reclaimed boxes, 30.5 x 35.5 x 5 cm overall
Fig 2009, Plaster casts in 2 reclaimed boxes, 30.5 x 35.5 x 3 cm overall
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L
B
A C E
A R K
Jamaican lacebark comes from the inner bark of the lacebark tree, Lagetta
his book A voyage to the islands Madera, Barbados, Nieves, S. Christophers and
lagetto. A specimen at Kew shows how the ‘lace’ is teased out from pieces
Jamaica. Lacebark was used in slave clothing. After the abolition of slavery, the
of branch. The use of lacebark for clothing was noted by Sir Hans Sloane in
production of lacebark items as souvenirs became an important rural craft.
Lacebark 2009, Plaster casts in 4 reclaimed boxes, 30.5 x 46 x 3cm overall
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B
U G S
AB
LU T I O N S
Eucalyptus diversicolor is one of the two tallest hardwood trees in the
solely on seed for regeneration. In Gloucester National Park, Australia,
Barilla is the ash formed by burning salt tolerant seaside plants, and is a
softer and of lower quality. Castile soap is used to lubricate the slipways
world. Karri has a smooth, deciduous bark with a colour moving along a
there is a famous Karri tree. Approximately 250,000 people have climbed
product high in sodium carbonate. In Spain in the 16th and 17th centuries,
when launching ships. In May 1911, at the launching of the Titanic, twenty-
spectrum from pink to white as it sheds. Used as a structural hardwood
up the spikes fixed to its trunk, to its lookout platform 58 meters above
Barilla was combined with olive oil to make castile soap, a hard white soap
two tons of tallow and castile soap were employed to propel the ship on its
and for the manufacture of indoor and outdoor furniture, the timber is
the ground. The first Karri fire tree lookout was constructed in 1938. By
that was highly prized all over Europe. Soap produced from the ash of land
doomed maiden voyage. At the time, the Titanic was the largest object ever
marketed worldwide. Untreated, large holes can appear in the wood –
1952, 8 tree towers had been constructed, of these, 3 remain open to
plants, which contains mostly potassium carbonate, tended to be much
moved by man. It would not have moved at all without soap.
evidence of an attack by the Phoracantha synonyma or Eucalypt longicorn
the public.1
beetle. Unlike many other eucalypts, Karri is killed outright by fire and
1. The Department of Environment and Conservation, Western Australia,
does not regenerate from a lignotuber or from epicormic shoots, relying
www.dec.wa.gov.au
Bugs 2009, Plaster cast in a reclaimed box, 30.5 x 20.5 x 5 cm overall
Ablutions 2009, Plaster casts in 4 reclaimed boxes, 30.5 x 51 x 5 cm overall
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MATC
H E S
TEE
T H
Don’t play with matches – it is not just fire that is dangerous. Now
are slow burning fibers or ropes that maintain a glowing ember
After seeing a prototype of a product produced for Charles Goodyear Jr,
was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to 10 years
produced
with
and are used to light another substance. Early muskets, known as
Dr C.S Putnam became one of the earliest makers of rubber dentures in
imprisonment, after which he returned to dentistry. With Bacon dead, the
white phosphorus. Before it was banned in 1906, in one of the first
matchlocks, were fired using a slow match, usually made of hemp. An
the USA. This led to the establishment of the Goodyear Dental Vulcanite
Goodyear Dental Vulcanite Company’s tyrannical monopolisation of the
international agreements of its kind, it was responsible for a number
obvious disadvantage to this was that the enemy could detect the glowing
Company, which came under the control of Josiah Bacon in 1866. Bacon
market finally came to an end, allowing rubber dentures to become more
of deaths. In 1842, a case of a child who died from poisoning after
match when night fell.
purchased an early rubber teeth patent from an impoverished dentist and
affordable and widely available.1,2,3
sucking matches was recorded. The phosphorus she had imbibed made
1. Lafargue, R. A. ‘Poisoning from Lucifer Matches’. Provincial Medical & Surgical Journal.
deployed it to ruthlessly sue dentists all over the USA for royalties. On
1. American Heritage Magazine. Vol. 7, Issue 2, 1991.
her breath glow in the dark, before taking it away.1 ‘Slow matches’
Issue 24; Vol 5, 1842. p.251.
Easter Sunday, 1879, matters came to a head when dentist Dr Samuel
2. The New York Times. Wednesday April 24, 1879.
Chalfant, whom Bacon had hounded for years, shot him dead. Relieved
3. US Supreme Court records Smith V. MITH V. GOODYEAR DENTAL VULCANITE COMPANY,
dentists from all over America contributed to Chalfant’s defense. He
93 U. S. 486 (1876)
from
safer
materials,
early
matches
were
made
Matches 2009, Plaster casts in 2 reclaimed boxes, 30.5 x 35.5 x 3 cm overall
Teeth 2009, Plaster casts in 3 reclaimed boxes, 30.5 x 51 x 5 cm overall
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B
E E
Leaf cutter bees build their nests by tunneling into rotting wood, or taking
fend for themselves on the supplies provided. There are many species of
over pre-existing cavities, using oval sections of leaves as lining. By this
leaf cutting bees. Some are such efficient pollinators that they are used
method, they form individual cells to house single eggs that they fill with
commercially for crops such as alfalfa, blueberries, carrots and other
nectar and pollen, and seal with a circular piece of leaf. The bees then
vegetables.1 Leaf cutting can destroy the aesthetics of ornamental plants,
build a second cell above the first, and continue in this fashion until the
but it rarely harms the plant.
whole tunnel is filled. Like all solitary bees, the female leaves the grubs to
1.Michener, CD. The Bees of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press. 2000.
Bee 2009, Plaster casts in 3 reclaimed boxes, 30.5 x 35.5 x 3 cm overall
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SI
SH
L K
O E S
The primary use of Silkworm gut was as fishing line. In a letter to the
and drawn out. The small boys are always provided with vinegar and water when
On the side of every British ship is a symbol that must be visible above the
new shoe that was becoming fashionable beach attire. These shoes had a
Foreign Office in 1867 – to be forwarded to the Royal Botanic Gardens –
in the capture, as the operation brooks of no delay. If the worms are kept at all
waterline, a circle intersected by a horizontal line known as the plimsoll
colored strip where the rubber sole joined the canvas upper, a feature that,
Robert Swinhoe, consul at Amoy China, writes:
the gut is useless and will not draw. Each gut, if properly managed, will draw
line. Named after Samuel Plimsoll (1824-98), who introduced the Merchant
like the shipping symbol, indicated the level to which the footwear could be
Near the end of June small boys are set to watch under the trees for the worms
out to 20 or 30 feet. The gut is dried in a shady place, and is then rolled up and
Shipping Act of 1876, this line prevents ships being overloaded and has
safely submerged.2
to descend, lowering themselves on their own threads. They do not come down
considered ready for use.
saved countless lives. It is rumored that the reason rubber soled shoes
until they are ready to spin. As soon as a worm descends it is at once caught and
1.Chinese Silkworm Gut, ‘Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information’, Vol. 1892, No.70, pp.
are know as plimsolls is due to Philip Lace, a sales representative from the
1. Jones, Nicolette. The Plimsoll Sensation. London: Little Brown & Co, 2006.
broken, and the silk-gut there and then extracted, steeped in vinegar, washed
222-227 Published by Springer on behalf of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
New Liverpool Rubber Company, who in 1876 suggested the name for a
2. Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press.
1
1
Silk 2009, Plaster casts in 2 reclaimed boxes, 30.5 x 35.5 x 3 cm overall
Shoe 2009, Plaster casts in 4 reclaimed boxes, 30.5 x 51 x 5 cm overall
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JANE E
D D E N
B
I O G R A P H Y
1966
Born Sussex
The Map is Not the Territory, England & Co., London
1982-84
West Sussex College of Art & Design
Jane Edden and Chris Kenny, England & Co., London
1984-88 BA Industrial Design, Manchester Polytechnic
2002
Solar Summer, Wysing Arts, Cambridgeshire To be continued..., Club 22, Tbilisi, Georgia
S
O L O
E
2003
X I B I T I O N S
Sartorial 03, England & Co., London Shankill Co-op, Shankill Castle, Kilkenny, Ireland
1996
Recent Creations, Cassian de Vere Cole Fine Art, London
Sculpture in Context. National Botanic Gardens,
1998
Encasing a Case, Idee Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Glasnevin, Dublin
1999
Fly on the Wall, Idee Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Nomads Land, Michigan University, Michigan
2000
Solar Labels, Blumenthal & Lynne, New York
Video installations, Sculpture Space, New York
2004
If I’m Breathing, I’m Singing, Patrick Allan-Fraser
2005
Sartorial 05, England & Co., London
Memorial Chapel, Arbroath, Scotland
2006
Case Study, Beyond the Valley, London touring to
2006
Migration, England & Co., London
Plymouth Arts Centre, Plymouth
2007
Avionics, Flowers East, London
Sensory Material, Bonhams, London
Flowers, New York
Substance and Light, Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts
Installations, Wolstenholme Projects, Long Night of the
Institute, Utica, New York
2008
Biennial, Liverpool 2009
2007
Langham Fine Art, Suffolk
Pigeonhole, BCA Gallery, Bedford C G
1995
R O U P
E
O M M I S S I O N S
/ R
E S I D E N C I E S
/ AWA
R D S
X H I B I T I O N S
1999
Aviary - Interactive kinetic public sculpture, Bluewater, Kent
The Land of Summer, The Fine Art Consultancy, London
2000
Solar Insects - Installation for Richard Blumenthal, New York
Cadogan Contemporary, London
2002
Wysing Arts Residency, Cambridgeshire
1996
Cadogan Contemporary, London
2004
Robert Flemming Residency, Hospitalfield, Scotland
1997
Flying Bullets, Cassian de Vere Cole Fine Art, London
Sculpture Space Residency, New York
Images of the Sea, Cadogan Contemporary, London
2006
Project Funding Award, Juliet Gomperts Trust, London
1998
Still Life, Collyer Bristow, London
2007
Mass Movement, Multimedia installation, Sonic Arts
1999
Continuation, England & Co., London
2001
Network, Plymouth
Galerie Vieille du Temple, Paris
2008
BCA Residency, Bedford
Art 2001, England & Co., London
2009
Post secret, Public Sculptures, St David’S2 partnership,
Succulent Fruits, Spica Museum, Tokyo, Japan
Cardiff
22
First published in Great Britain in 2009 by Flowers, London Š 2009 Jane Edden and Flowers Flowers 82 Kingsland Road London E2 8DP T: +44 (0) 20 7920 7777 F: +44 (0) 20 7920 7770 gallery@flowerseast.com 21 Cork Street London W1S 3LZ T: +44 (0) 20 7439 7766 F: +44 (0) 20 7439 7733 central@flowerseast.com www.flowerseast.com Published on the occasion of the exhibition Jane Edden Hunter gatherer Flowers, 21 Cork Street, London 4 - 28 November 2009 ISBN 978-1-906412-29-6 Co-ordination: Ellie Harrison-Read Design: Webb & Webb Design Limited Printing: Empress, London With many thanks to Mark Nesbit at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, for organising access to the Collection and for his knowledge, help and support. Thanks also to Mike Collins and Matthew Partridge for their help with fact-finding and checking.
