Sarah Anne Drake (1803–1857) was an English

botanical illustrator Botanical illustration is the art of depicting the form, color, and details of plant species, frequently in watercolor paintings. They must be scientifically accurate but often also have an artistic component and may be printed with a botanical ...

who worked for

John Lindley John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist. Early years Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley ...

and collaborated with Augusta Innes Withers,

Nathaniel Wallich Nathaniel Wolff Wallich FRS FRSE (28 January 1786 – 28 April 1854) was a surgeon and botanist of Danish origin who worked in India, initially in the Danish settlement near Calcutta and later for the Danish East India Company and the Briti ...

and others.

Biography

Sarah Anne Drake was born in Skeyton, England on 24 July 1803, the same area of

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nort ...

as the London University botanist John Lindley and went to school with Lindley's sister Anne. John Lindley had a particular interest in the illustration of orchids and would eventually invite Sarah Drake to become an illustrator with him and study a variety of plants. As a young woman, she went to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, where she probably studied painting as was expected of young women of the day. In 1830 "Ducky" (as she became known) moved into the Lindley home at Acton Green in London. She appears to have had a number of roles in the Lindley home, including that of

governess A governess is a largely obsolete term for a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching. In contrast to a nanny, th ...

, but eventually took up botanical art, gradually taking over from Lindley the illustration of his botanical publications. She created illustrations for his ''Sertum Orchidaceae'', for example, as well as over 1000 illustrations for the horticultural magazine ''

Edwards's Botanical Register ''The Botanical Register'', subsequently known as ''Edwards's Botanical Register'', was an illustrated horticultural magazine that ran from 1815 to 1847. It was started by the botanical illustrator Sydenham Edwards, who had previously illustrat ...

'', which Lindley edited from 1829 to 1847. More than 300 of these drawings were of

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

and Lindley named the

Western Australian Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

genus '' Drakaea'' in her honour.Kramer, Jack. ''Women of Flowers: A Tribute to Victorian Women Illustrators''. Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1996. She also contributed illustrations to the ''

Transactions of the Horticultural Society of London ''The Garden'' is the monthly magazine of the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), circulated to all the society's members as a benefit of membership; it is also sold to the public. History ''The Garden'' magazine has gone under this titl ...

''. Drake is perhaps best known for her collaboration with Augusta Innes Withers on the drawings for the monumental ''Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala'' by James Bateman, but she also contributed to Lindley's book,
Ladies' Botany
' (1834–1837), Nathaniel Wallich's ''

Plantae Asiaticae Rariores ''Plantae Asiaticae Rariores'' is a horticultural work (alternative title ''Descriptions and figures of a select number of unpublished East Indian plants'') published in 1830–1832 by the Danish botanist Nathaniel Wallich. ''Plantae Asiaticae ...

'',

John Forbes Royle John Forbes Royle (10 May 1798 – 2 January 1858), British botanist and teacher of materia medica, was born in Kanpur (then Cawnpore) in 1798. He was in charge of the botanical garden at Saharanpur and played a role in the development of econo ...

's ''Illustrations of the botany and other branches of the natural history of the Himalayan Mountains'' and to '' The Botany of HMS Sulphur'' (1836–1842). Most of her imagery laid the groundwork for other drawings to blossom and take inspiration from. Drake’s inherent talent regarding composition and arrangement of her plant specimens helps separate her from others who engaged in botanical illustration. She did not travel abroad and probably went no further than

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

, the Lindley home or to

Loddiges The Loddiges family (not uncommonly mis-spelt ''Loddige'') managed one of the most notable of the eighteenth and nineteenth century plant nurseries that traded in and introduced exotic plants, trees, shrubs, ferns, palms and orchids into European ...

nursery, which put on a display of orchids especially for her.Schmidt, Alesandra M., and Trudy B. Jacoby
"Herbs to Orchids: Botanical Illustration in the Nineteenth Century"
Watkinson Exhibition Catalogs, Paper 3, 1996. Drake's career ended when the ''Botanical Register'' went out of business in 1847. Sarah would end up contributing more than one thousand paintings and drawings in her short career. She returned to Norfolk to care for elderly relatives and moved in with her uncle, Daniel Drake. In 1852 she married John Sutton Hastings, a wealthy farmer. She died on 9 July 1857, putatively from

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level (hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

, but it has been speculated that she may have suffered from

cumulative poison Bioaccumulation is the gradual accumulation of substances, such as pesticides or other chemicals, in an organism. Bioaccumulation occurs when an organism absorbs a substance at a rate faster than that at which the substance is lost or eliminated ...

ing from her painting materials. In 2000 a memorial plaque commemorating her work was unveiled at the parish church where she is buried.

Books and magazines which contained her illustrations

''Sertum Orchidaceum''Bateman, J. ''The Orchidology of Mexico and Guatemala'' (1837–1843)''The Botany of H.M.S. Sulphur'' (1836 - 1842)
*Wallich, N. ''Plantae Asiaticae Rariores'' (1830 - 1832)
Volume 1Volume 2Volume 3
(note that the plates nominate the lithographer in all cases, and sometimes the various artists) *J. Forbes Boyle (1833-1839
''Illustrations of the Botany and other branches of the Natural History of the Himalayan Mountains''
(note that the plates nominate the lithographer in all cases, and sometimes the various artists) *''

'' *
Ladies' Botany
'

Honours

Lindley named the

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

nGovaerts, R. et al. (2018
Plants of the world online: ''Drakaea''.
Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 27 October 2018.

genus, '' Drakaea'', to honour her.Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria, Australian National Herbarium, Biographical Notes: Drake, Sarah Ann (1803 - 1857)
Retrieved 27 October 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Sarah Ann 1803 births 1857 deaths Botanical illustrators British women illustrators Women botanists 19th-century British women scientists 19th-century British women artists 19th-century British painters British botanists British artists

Biography

Books and magazines which contained her illustrations

Honours

See also

References