Go Back

Ellis Rowan (Aust.,1848–1922).

[Female And Male Electus Parrots and Great Pitta Bird]

1916–1918. Three gouaches on paper in a circular format, each signed lower left or centre, 22.8cm (diameter, each). All framed. Provenance: Lauraine Diggins Gallery.

In 1916, Australian jeweller and ceramic importer Flavelle Brothers in Sydney commissioned Ellis Rowan to paint birds of paradise for British artists to reproduce for plate designs at Royal Worcester Porcelain Works. Rowan made two expeditions to Far North Queensland and Papua New Guinea between 1916 and 1918 and created 12 designs. However, the plates were not produced until 1925, three years after Rowan’s death.

Melbourne-born Marian Ellis Rowan née Ryan was a well-known artist and botanical illustrator. “She was a small, strong-willed yet fascinating woman, an enigmatic character who forged her way through life, captivating others while pursuing her ultimate goal—the finding and painting of wildflowers, birds, insects and butterflies of many countries, often for the first time. Many were classified and named by the government botanist Sir Ferdinand Mueller (German, Australian, 1825–1896).”

Ellis attended a girls' school at Brighton, Victoria, but had no formal training in art. Relatives encouraged her when she was about 21 to continue painting. She was also encouraged to continue painting and exhibiting by her husband Frederick Charles Rowan (Brit., 1844–1892), whom she married in 1873. He was a British army officer who had fought in the Taranaki wars in New Zealand and eventually became managing director of the Australian Electric Co. of Victoria, and consul-general for Denmark.

“From 1879 to 1893 Ellis Rowan exhibited her work in international exhibitions in Australia, India, England, Europe and the United States of America and in that time was awarded 10 gold medals, 15 silver and 4 bronze. In 1888 at Melbourne's Centennial International Exhibition, she was awarded the highest honours, which brought a measure of envy from a few artists who considered flower painting an inferior art.”

“After the death of her husband in 1892, Ellis was rarely in Australia; she travelled to New Zealand, London and the U.S.A., exhibiting her work as she went. Her London stay of two years brought swift fame—Queen Victoria accepted three of her paintings…In 1916 to 1918 she twice visited Papua and New Guinea, finding and illustrating many hitherto unclassified flowers and, on her second trip, searching for endangered birds of paradise. Travelling only with local guides and living in primitive conditions in unmapped territory, she succeeded in painting 47 of the 52 known species, setting the birds free afterwards…In 1920 she held an exhibition of 1000 paintings in Sydney, the largest collection exhibited to that time in Australia. In 1923 the [federal] government, offered £5000 for 947 paintings. A number of disgruntled artists demurred at the purchase of 'vulgar art'. Probably of greater botanical than artistic value, the Rowan collection is held at the National Library of Australia, Canberra.” Ref: Ref: Australian Museum; Queensland Museum; Australian Dictionary of Biography; Tamworth Regional Gallery.

.
Item #CL208-20

Price on Application