Alice Jacob (26 January 1862 – 31 July 1921) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

botanical Botany, also called plant science (or plant sciences), plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany ...

illustrator, lace designer, and design teacher.

Life

Alice Jacob was born in 1862 in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

, to Irish parents. The family returned to Ireland in 1871 to live in Dublin. Her family were Quakers, with her father Anthony Pim Jacob running a temperance hotel at 88 Thomas Street. Jacob went on to attend the

Dublin Metropolitan School of Art The National College of Art and Design (NCAD) is Ireland's oldest art institution, offering the largest range of art and design degrees at undergraduate and postgraduate level in the country. Originating as a drawing school in 1746, many of th ...

(DMSA), and was awarded the Gilchrist Trust Scholarship in 1882 and a free studentship in 1888. She died in Dublin on 31 July 1921.

Artistic career

Jacob was a successful and well known artist in her time. She was a prizewinner in Art Industries competition at the

Royal Dublin Society The Royal Dublin Society (RDS) ( ga, Cumann Ríoga Bhaile Átha Cliath) is an Irish philanthropic organisation and members club which was founded as the 'Dublin Society' on 25 June 1731 with the aim to see Ireland thrive culturally and economi ...

Horse Show in 1890. In 1891, the

Kyrle Society Miranda Hill (Wisbech 1836–1910) was an English social reformer. Biography Hill was a daughter of James Hill (died 1872), a corn merchant, banker and follower of Robert Owen, and his third wife, Caroline Southwood Smith (1809–1902), a ...

in London awarded her a prize for a frieze she painted. Her work was featured at the ''Art de la femme'' exhibitions in Paris between 1891 and 1893. Jacob designed and painted a set of Belleek porcelain for Dr Perceval Wright, the Professor of Botany at

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. Her work was selected for by the Hungarian Government in 1898 to be exhibited in the new Museum of Industrial Art in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. Having worked at the Cork School of Art and Rathmines Technical School, Jacob was appointed as the teacher of Design and Ornament at the DMSA in 1898. She collaborated with Reverend F.C. Hayes in the production of illustrations fo
''A handy book of horticulture. An introduction to the theory and practice of gardening''
Jacob was primarily a lace designer, supplying numerous linen firms with designs during her career, becoming very established in this field by 1900. Much of this work drew on her botanical studies, with elements incorporated into designs for lace, floral damask, embroidery, crochet, and painted silk. She was a frequent prizewinner in London, and was part of the movement to elevate the position of crafts in the art world.

Botanical illustration

In 1908 she succeeded

Lydia Shackleton Lydia Shackleton (22 November 1828 – 10 November 1914) was an Irish botanical artist who studied at the Royal Dublin School of Art and Design. She was the first artist-in-residence at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Dublin, creating hundreds of ...

as artist-in-residence and botanical illustrator at the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland. In particular, she produced illustrations of Sir Frederick Moore's collection of orchids, painting more than 150 such illustrations from 1908 to 1919. Her work was demonstrably different from Shackleton's. Her illustrations were quite scientifically rigorous, depicting the specimen from numerous angles, as well as dissections and enlargements. She studied the

Irish language Irish (an Caighdeán Oifigiúil, Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages, Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European lang ...

was a member of the

Gaelic League (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it em ...

, she signed and dated her paintings using

Gaelic script Gaelic script may refer to: * Insular script used in Ireland * Gaelic type, based on Insular script {{dab ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacob, Alice 1862 births 1921 deaths Alumni of the National College of Art and Design Irish illustrators Irish women illustrators Irish botanical illustrators Irish designers Textile designers 19th-century Irish painters 20th-century Irish painters 19th-century Irish women artists 20th-century Irish women artists Colony of New Zealand people Artists from County Dublin 19th-century women painters