Sale Moorcroft Forsaken Love Vase 265/7 – Ltd Ed 25 Moorcroft

Moorcroft Forsaken Love Vase

2021 R.H.S Fiora Bottan Collection

Designer: Nicola Slaney

Limited Edition of 25

Shape: 265/7

Dimensions: H 17.5 x W 13.5 x D 13.5 cm

RHS Fiori Bottan Collection

A collection of 45 original watercolours on vellum from an album entitled ‘Fiori Bottan’ depicting cultivated plants including daffodils, anemones irises, tulips and lilies has this year inspired Moorcroft designer, Nicola Slaney.  ‘Fiori Bottan’ dates from the seventeenth century and the album is Italian but the artist is unknown.  It is also a mystery how the album and the original watercolours came to be in the RHS Lindley Collections but thanks to its careful preservation, the watercolours, and Moorcroft designs they have inspired, can be enjoyed by a new generation.

Forsaken Love.

The mysterious watercolourist introduced to Moorcroft recently by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), lived more than 300 years ago. We have no clues as to gender, profession or purpose. All that we do know is that this botanical ghost painted accurate images of what must have been their favourite flowers. The Italian artist could not have known that over 300 years later the RHS, whose vision it is to enrich everyone’s life through plants and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place, would safely protect these ancient watercolours in the famous RHS Lindley Library Collections in London.

With their origins in Greek mythology, anemones have a resonance with many people. White anemones are synonymous with sincerity whilst pink flowers are associated with forsaken love and purple flowers with protection from evil and bad thoughts. Moorcroft designer, Nicola Slaney, offers white, pink and purple blooms on a vase, which is a pure joy at any time of the year. Perhaps this was why the anonymous watercolourist passed their images down through three centuries to Nicola for a new world to enjoy as a Moorcroft vase.