Spring into our collections

A barber’s bowl, like this example at Tatton Park in Cheshire, was once an essential shaving tool. Large quantities of these bowls were shipped from China to European markets in the 18th century. This example is decorated with peonies, butterflies, birds and prunus (plum) blossom, and exemplifies the use of rose-coloured enamel ('famille rose').

This lacquer cabinet at Osterley Park, London, is elaborately decorated with flower and foliage motifs. Made in Japan in the late seventeenth century, the symbolism of the motifs would most likely have been lost on its Western purchasers. The doors have a delicate pattern of cherry blossom floating on water, a symbol in Japan of the evanescence of youth and beauty.

Prunus (plum) blossom has been depicted in Chinese art for centuries. The five-petaled flowers – an auspicious number in China – emerge from bare branches, marking the transition from winter into spring. Blue and white vases, such as this example at Plas yn Rhiw in Gwynedd, are often painted with a background of ‘cracked ice’, symbolising winter’s end.

This detailed watercolour of two varieties of narcissi was painted in 1753 by Georg Dionysius Ehret, one of the most influential botanical artists of all time. Ehret was initially a journeyman gardener which might explain his great affinity with plants. This example is from the collection at Dudmaston in Shropshire.

This stained glass panel depicts a young maiden, surrounded by the flowers of Spring. It’s one of a series of small panels of the four seasons, designed by William Morris for the inglenook fireplace at Cragside in Northumberland. Morris sought to capture the spirit of medieval glass while retaining a focus on secular subjects.

Bluebell-shaped beads, along with sparkling sequins and crystals, adorn a show-stopping cocktail dress from the collection at Killerton in Devon. The dress was made for Jean Appleyard, wife of the chairman of the motor company Appleyards and Jaguar. The lightweight beads would have made a pleasing sound as Jean moved.

Butterflies adorn this richly embroidered dress worn by Elizabeth Craven, Lady Powis in an early 17th-century portrait at Powis Castle. The dress mixes motifs taken from the natural world, as butterflies flit amidst flowers and birds. Elizabethan textiles often included designs based upon images found in illustrated natural history books.

Insects hover over delicate flowers on this Meissen dish. The flowers are modeled in relief, a three-dimensional celebration of a garden and accompanying insects. It dates from the mid-18th century, when the Rococo style took its inspiration from the natural world. It is one a group of objects salvaged from the 2015 fire at Clandon Park, Surrey.

Butterflies, dragonflies and moths are skilfully inlaid on this table from The Argory, County Armagh. It is an example of pietra dura, the technique of creating images with expensive raw materials, including marble, lapis lazuli, agate and jasper. Pietra dura has been prized and widely used for centuries, although it reached its peak during the Florentine Renaissance.