Rosa Fiveash
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Rosa Catherine Fiveash (22 July 1854,
Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
– 13 February 1938, Adelaide) was an
Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...
botanical artist, illustrator and art teacher. She was a pioneer of
china painting China painting, or porcelain painting, is the decoration of glazed porcelain objects, such as plates, bowls, vases or statues. The body of the object may be hard-paste porcelain, developed in China in the 7th or 8th century, or soft-paste porce ...
who introduced the technique to Adelaide. Her best known paintings were done in collaboration with Professor
Richard Sanders Rogers Richard Sanders Rogers (2 December 1861 – 28 March 1942) was a distinguished Australian medical doctor, and world authority on Australasian orchids. He described over 80 Australian orchid species, three from New Zealand and 30 from New Guinea ...
, published in ''South Australian Orchids'' in 1911.


Life and education

Rosa Catherine Fiveash was born on 22 July 1854 in
Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
, becoming the youngest child of businessman and superintendent of the
Blinman Blinman is a locality incorporating two towns in the Australian state of South Australia within the Flinders Ranges about north of the state capital of Adelaide city centre, Adelaide. It includes the highest surveyed town in South Australia, wi ...
and Yudanamutana copper mines Robert Archibald Fiveash and his wife Margaret, née Rees. From 1881 to 1888 she studied at the Adelaide School of Art. While studying under Harry Pelling Gill, Principal, and Louis Tannert, Master of the School of Painting, Fiveash chose painting of
Australian flora The flora of Australia comprises a vast assemblage of plant species estimated to over 21,000 vascular and 14,000 non-vascular plants, 250,000 species of fungi and over 3,000 lichens. The flora has strong affinities with the flora of Gondwana, ...
as her specialization. Achieving high grades, she gained her art teacher's certificate from the Adelaide School of Art in 1888, and three years later, received accreditation from
South Kensington South Kensington is a district at the West End of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with the advent of the ra ...
in London. After graduation Fiveash taught art privately and at
Tormore House School Tormore School was a private boarding and day school for girls in North Adelaide, South Australia. History Tormore House had its origins in a small school for girls set up by Elizabeth McMinn (c. 1840 – 26 December 1937) and her two sisters S ...
in North Adelaide for many years. Apart from a trip to
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
in 1901, Fiveash lived all her life with her unmarried sister in the family house in North Adelaide. She remained unmarried herself, dedicating her life to illustrating South Australian flora. Rosa Catherine Fiveash died on 13 February 1938 in Adelaide and was buried in
West Terrace Cemetery The West Terrace Cemetery, formerly Adelaide Public Cemetery is a cemetery in Adelaide, South Australia. It is the state's oldest cemetery, first appearing on Colonel William Light's 1837 plan of the Adelaide city centre, to the south-west of ...
.


Work

In 1882 Fiveash was commissioned by the government conservator of forests John Ednie Brown to illustrate ''Forest Flora of South Australia.'' Each of nine parts of this work, that were published between 1892 and 1890, contained five illustrations of Fiveash drawn in no particular botanical order. The commission to illustrate ''Forest Flora of South Australia'' established Fiveash her reputation as a botanical illustrator. Her works were described as outstanding detailed depiction of the flowering branches, as well as the floral parts, timber and bark of eucalypts. After painting Fiveash's works were prepared for
lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...
by the South Australian Government lithographer Haucourt Barrett, who received a smaller share of credit comparing to Fiveash. Enlarged drawings from ''Forest Flora'' were reproduced upon the walls in the South Australian Court of the 1886 and Indian Exhibition in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. Also a pair of
kookaburra Kookaburras (pronounced ) are terrestrial animal, terrestrial tree kingfishers of the genus ''Dacelo'' native to Australia and New Guinea, which grow to between in length and weigh around . The name is a loanword from Wiradjuri language, Wira ...
s painted by Fiveash were chosen to present the colony. Fiveash finished nearly 70 plates for Brown when the project fell through due to the lack of money. Brown never completed his ''Forest Flora of South Australia.'' In 1888 a set of Fiveash's painted panels was exhibited at the school of Art in Adelaide, receiving special mention by an anonymous art critic for ''The South Australian Register.'' Fiveash's next commission was to illustrate the paper by Professor
Edward C. Stirling Sir Edward Charles Stirling (8 September 1848 – 20 March 1919) was an Australian anthropology, anthropologist and the first professor of physiology at the University of Adelaide. Early life Stirling was born at "The Lodge" Strathalbyn, Sout ...
''Description of a New Genus and Species of Masupialia, Notorycytes Typhlops'' published in 1891. Her seven of the colored plates accompanied Stirling's description of newly discovered
marsupial mole Marsupial moles, the Notoryctidae family, are two species of highly specialized marsupial mammals that are found in the Australian interior. They are small burrowing marsupials that anatomically converge on fossorial placental mammals, such as ...
, as well as 322 illustrations of toas Aboriginal direction signs, for a later paper by Stirling and E. R. Waite. After visiting
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in the 1880s to enhance her china painting technique and learn the firing process, Fiveash returned to the art school in Adelaide where she taught this technique from 1894 to 1896. She pioneered china painting in Adelaide, attending to all the stages of the technique process. During the
Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...
china painting was fashionable in England and many homes had a
china cabinet A china cabinet is a piece of furniture, usually with glass fronts and sides, used to hold and display porcelain ("china") or other ceramics. Typical china held in such cabinets often includes cups, plates, bowls, and glasses. Along with a table, ...
. Even after 1896, when the fashion for china painting faded away and the class was abandoned, Fiveash continued making pieces in this technique for several decades into the twentieth century. In 1900 Fiveash's portfolio with flower-paintings so impressed the governor
Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of ...
and philanthropist
Robert Barr Smith Robert Barr Smith (4 February 1824 – 20 November 1915) was an Australian businessman and philanthropist in Adelaide, South Australia. He was a partner in Elder Smith and Company from 1863 (now Elders Limited). Early life and education Smith w ...
that they purchased the pictures as the gift to the colony. In 1908 Professor and orchidologist Richard S. Rogers persuaded Fiveash to concentrate on orchids and she quickly developed an ‘orchid eye’. Rogers provided Fiveash with a set of
Zeiss Zeiss or Zeiß may refer to: People *Carl Zeiss (1816–1888), German optician and entrepreneur *Emil Zeiß (1833–1910), German Protestant minister and painter * Juan Pablo Zeiss (born 1989), Argentine rugby union player * Mary Zeiss Sta ...
lenses and fresh specimens and Fiveash provided him the illustrations for his publications. Their collaboration spanned thirty years. They produced together ''An Introduction to the Study of South Australian Orchids'' (1909), ''Some South Australian Orchids'' (1911) and a section for J. Black's ''Flora of South Australia'' (1922). Fiveash's orchid paintings were also published in ''Illustrated Australian Encyclopaedia'' (1926). Fiveash continued painting until the age of 80. In 1937 she presented many of her paintings to the Public Library of South Australia. In 1957 her paintings were moved from the Art Gallery to the
South Australian Museum The South Australian Museum is a natural history museum and research institution in Adelaide, South Australia, founded in 1856 and owned by the Government of South Australia. It occupies a complex of buildings on North Terrace in the cultur ...
, and finally to the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide in 1979. Fiveash Street, in the Canberra suburb of Chisholm, is named in her honour.


Exhibitions

* 1888 – Adelaide School of Art, Adelaide * 1994 – ''South Australian Women Artists: paintings from the 1890 to the 1940'', Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide


Collections

* State Library of South Australia * Botanic Gardens of Adelaide and State Herbarium, Adelaide, SA


List of illustrated books

* 1890 – ''The Forest Flora of South Australia'' * 1906 – ''Orchid paintings'' *1911 – ''An Introduction to the Study of South Australian Orchids'' *1922 – ''Flora of South Australia'' *1926 – ''Illustrated Australian Encyclopaedia'' *1974 – ''Australian Orchids'' *1982 – ''Rosa Fiveash's Australian orchids: a collection of paintings by Rosa Catherine Fiveash'' *1982 – ''Rosa Fiveash's Australian orchids'' *2017 – ''Angela Valamanesh: everybody's everything: insect/orchid: 20 August -1 October 2017'' (about artist Angela Valamanesh)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fiveash, Rosa 1854 births 1938 deaths Australian botanical illustrators Colony of South Australia people 19th-century Australian illustrators 19th-century Australian painters 20th-century Australian women artists 20th-century Australian painters 20th-century Australian illustrators Artists from Adelaide Burials at West Terrace Cemetery 19th-century Australian women painters