
.
(Boring assumptions, introductions, & housekeeping rules run down the left column.)
How people chose to shape & use the land around them is complex. The process becomes symbolic as well as practical, as they integrate their memories, history, legends, & religious beliefs into a personal landscape. That symbolic landscape must also meet immediate sustenance, income, social, political, & religious needs. How a landowner envisions, designs, & maintains his property differs from individual to individual.
While I am interested in most anecdotal descriptions of famous gardens, I am less than impressed when one or two garden accounts get translated into a general description of all gardens during the period.
History, especially garden history, is certainly not a science. Garden history is about a tug of war between man & nature. When man gets to the point that he can produce enough to sustain his family off the land, he begins to convert some of his land into art -- a garden.
History is not the absolute truth. It is constantly changing as new evidence & new interpretations flash into view. As those looking at history peel away the tired, old suppositions, they add new (but soon to grow old) assumptions of their own.
History reflects not just the prejudices of the period under study, but also the biases of those studying it. Since each person who focuses on a particular period of garden history brings a different goal & perspective to the task, historians often interpret the same period of garden history in vastly different ways.
History before 1800 is often skewed; because only the few, the powerful, and the wealthy kept written records of their plans and the events taking place in their gardens. And yet, gardens change & take on different purposes & designs, because of the everyday actions of the nameless many who toil to give them the form & energy to evolve.
The email is
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Fishpond at the base of the falling terraces at the William Paca house in Annapolis, Maryland..jpg)
Fishpond at Monticello
Crim Dell at William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia

The Governor's Palace from Governor Spotswood's Canal at Colonial Williamsburg..jpg)
Detail. Charles Fraser (1782-1860). South Carolina.
Another view of Thomas Jefferson's fishpond in his garden.
Williamsburg, Virginia
Turtle in Colonial Williamsburg's Governor's Palace Pond
Fishing in 18th century North Carolina.
Detail of Nassau Hall with Wooden Campana Urns on the Wall, Princeton, New Jersey, in 1764.
Detail of Closed or Lidded Campana Urn on an oversized Pedestal. 1772 William Williams (1727-1791). The William Denning Family.
Detail Closed or Lidded Campana Urn on a Classical Pedestal at Mount Clare in Baltimore. Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827). Margaret Tilghman (Mrs Charles Carroll the Barrister).
Closed or Lidded Campana Urn. 1784 Charles Willson Peale.(1741-1827). Mrs. Thomas Russell. Wisconsin. Reproduction at encore.com.
Detail Closed or Lidded Campana Urn on a Stone Wall. 1787 Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) Mrs. John O'Donnell (Sarah Chew Elliott). Chrysler Museum of Art. Norfolk, Virginia.
Closed or Lidded Campana Urn on a Classical Pedestal. 1789 Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827). Mary Claypoole Peale. Amherst College.
Closed or Lidded Campana Urns at Falling Garden in Annapolis, Maryland at the William Paca (1740-1799) House. These urns have recently been replaced by large pineapple or artichoke (Cynara) finials on classical pedestals.
Tazza Urn on a tall pedestal at Belvedere, Home of Governor John Eager Howard (1752-1827), Baltimore, Maryland. Painting by Augustus Weidenbach c 1858.
Urn at Governor's Palace, Colonial Williamsburg
1789 Detail Schoolgirl Depiction of a Memorial Urn.
1792 Mourning Brooch. 2 funeral urns, plus locks of hair memorialize Mann Page & Anne Corbin Page of Virginia. Made in Philadelphia.
1811 Sally Miller's Needlepoint Urn from Litchfield Female Academy.
1815 Detail Schoolgirl Memorial Urn.
1817 Detail of Miss Diademia Austin Haines composition of silk, spangles, paint and ink on silk. Moravian Museum of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
1819 Memorial for Lucy Libby. Miss Mayo's School, Portland, Maine.
1822 Memorial for Robert B. Harding. Miss Mayo's School of Portland, Maine.
1836 Detail Schoolgirl Memorial Urn.





The Vineyard at Monticello in Virginia.
The Vineyard at Monticello in Virginia.

The Vineyard at Monticello in Virginia.




















1803 Charles Fraser (1782-1860). Utility fence depicted in A Bason & Storehouse Belonging to the Santee Canal. Carolina Art Association. Charleston, South Carolina.
1780 Unknown Artist. The End of the Hunt. Reproduction at encore.com.
1790. Man at a Gate. Worcester Art Museum, Massachusettes.
18th Century Painting of the Thomas Banister House. Utility fences, when painted, were usually reddish in color. More formal fences were usually painted white.
1816. Charles Willson Peale. Belfield Farm in Pennsylvania. Detroit Institute of Art.

American Bittersweet (Celastrus scandens)
Balsam Apple (Momordica balsamina)
Carolina Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens)
Carolina Trumpet Vine (Campsis radicans)
Cypress Vine (Ipomoea quamoclit)
Dutchman's Pipe (Aristolochia macrophylla)
Hyacinth Bean (Dolihos lablab)
Nasturtium (Tropaeloum majus)
Scarlet Runner Bean (Phaseolus coccineus).
Snail Flower Vigna caracalla).
Sweetbriar Rose
Trumpet Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens).
Virgin's Bower (Celmatis virginiana).
Detail. 1772 William Williams (1727-1791). The William Denning Family.
1787 Detail. Salem, North Carolina.
Detail Lewis Miller (1796-1882) Lewis Miller Sketchbook.


1765. Boys on a Walk within a Walled Garden. John Durand. Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford.
Brick Walk to a "Necessary" in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Entrance Walk from Road to Dwelling.
Walks inside a Walled Garden.
Walks Defining the Garden Beds at Paca House in Annapolis, Maryland.
Walk at the Fish Pond at Monticello in Virginia.
Brick Walks to Outbuildings at Riversdale in Maryland.
Walk Dissecting the Garden at Berkeley in Charles City, Virginia.
Garden Walks at Carter's Grove in Virginia.
Walks Defining Garden Beds in Charleston, South Carolina. Charles Fraser.
Walk up to Gunston Hall in Virginia through the Garden from the River.
Walk at Belvedere, Home of John Eager Howard, Baltimore, Maryland, 1786-1794, painting by Augustus Weidenbach c 1858. Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore.
Detail of Walk on John Street in New York City near the United Methodist Church. 1768. Joseph Beekman.
Portside Walks at the Home of Johsua Winsor. 1795 Rufus Hathaway. Boston. New England Historical Society.
Walk in Front of Bridewell & Charity School at Broadway Opposite Chamber Street in New York City. Baroness Hyde de Neuville. 1808.
Walk at a Corner of Greenwich in New York City. 1810. Baroness Hyde de Neuville.
Walk in Front of The Bank of Columbia in Georgetown near Washington, District of Columbia. August Kollner (1813-1906).
Much Too Busy & Narrow Streets in New York City in 1798. Francis Guy. Tontine Coffee House. New York Historical Society.
1790s Walk in Front of President George Washington's House in Philadelphia.
Walks on State Street in Boston in 1801. James Brown Marston. Massachusettes Historical Society.
Walks in Front of the White House. August Kollner (1813-1906).
J. L. Bouqueto de Woiseri, Detail of New Orleans "Under My Wings, Everything Prospers", Louisiana Purchase, 1803.
Walks at Market Square in Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1820, Detail. William Britton.
A Walk under Savannah's Saved Trees.
1795 Detail. James Peale (1739-1741). Artist & His Family. Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia.
James Peale (1749-1831). A Porcelain Bowl with Fruit. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
James Peale (1749-1831). Still Life with An Abundance of Fruit. Reproduction at 1st-art-gallery.com.
James Peale (1749-1831). c 1820 Still Life Balsam Apples and Vegetables. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
James Peale (1749-1831). c 1824 Still Life. Honolulu Academy of Arts.
James Peale (1749-1831). c 1824 Still Life with Chinese Basket. Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Reproduction at Easyart.com.
James Peale (1749-1831). c 1824 Still Life with Chinese Export Basket.
James Peale (1749-1831). c 1824 Still Life with Watermelon.
James Peale (1749-1831). c 1829 Still Life.
James Peale (1749-1831). c 1829 Still Life with Fruit on a Tabletop. Reproduction at Bestpriceart.com.
James Peale (1749-1831). Fruit in a Basket. Reproduction at 1st-art-gallery.com.
James Peale (1749-1831). Fruits of Autumn.
James Peale (1749-1831). Still Life with Apples, Grapes, Pear. Reproduction at Mystudios.com.
James Peale (1749-1831). Still Life with Grapes and Apples on a Plate. Reproduction at Butlerart.com.
James Peale (1749-1831). Vegetable Still Life. Reproduction at 1st-art-gallery.com.
Peach Blossoms
Pear Blossoms
Apple Blossoms

A house-for-sale advertisement in the 1800 Federal Gazette in Baltimore, Maryland, described, "That beautiful, healthy and highly improved seat, within one mile of the city of Baltimore, called Willow Brook, containing about 26 acres of land, the whole of which is under a good post and rail fence, divided and laid off into grass lots, orchards, garden...The garden and orchard abounds with the greatest variety of the choicest fruit trees, shrubs, flowers...collected from the best nurseries in America and from Europe, all in perfection and full bearing."
1679 Detail. painting attributed to Thomas Smith (1650-1691). Mrs. Richard Patteshall (Martha Woody) and Child. Museum of Fine Art, Boston.
1732 Detail. John Smibert (1688-1751). Jane Clark (Mrs. Ezekiel Lewis). Massachusettes Historical Society. Reproduction at 1st-art-gallery.com.
1750 Detail. Charles Bridges (1670-1747). Mrs Augustine Moore. Colonial Williamsburg Foundataion.
1750 Detail. Joseph Badger. Portrait of Elizabeth Greenleaf of Charlestown. Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
1755 Detail. Joseph Blackburn (fl in the colonies 1753-1763). Isaac Winslow and His Family. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
1757 Detail. John Wollaston (1710-1775). Probably Elizabeth Dandridge. Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
1767 Detail. James Claypoole (1743-1814). Ann Galloway (Mrs Joseph Pemberton). Philadelphia Academy of Arts.
1769 Detail. John Singleton Copley (1738-1815) Martha Swett (Mrs Jeremiah Lee). Wadsworth Atheneum. Reproduction at 1st-art-gallery.com.
1769 Detail. John Singleton Copley (1738-1815). Elizabeth Murray (Mrs. James Smith). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
1771-73 Detail. Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827). The Peale Family. New York Historical Society. Reproduction at 1st-art-gallery.com.
1771 Detail. John Singleton Copley (1738-1815). Elizabeth Lewis (Mrs. Ezekiel Goldthwait). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Reproduction at 1st-art-gallery.com.
1772 Detail. Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827). General John Cadwalader, his First Wife, Elizabeth.
1773 Detail. John Singleton Copley (1738-1815). Hannah Fayerweather (Mrs. John Winthrop). Metropolitan Museum of Art. Reproduction at 1st-art-gallery.com.
1774 Detail. Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827). Isabella and John Stewart. Museo Thyssen Bornemisza, Spain. Reproduction at 1st-art-gallery.com.
1774 Detail of painting attributed to Ralph Earl (1751-1801). Elizabeth Perscott (Mrs. Henry Daggett).
1785 Detail. Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827). Ann Marsh (Mrs David Forman) & Child. Brooklyn Museum.
1787 Detail. Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827). Deborah McClenahan (Mrs. Walter Stewart). Yale Univeristy Art Gallery.
1788 Detail. Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827). Benjamin & Eleanor Ridgley Laming. National Gallery of Art. Reproduction at 1st-art-gallery.com.
1788 Detail. Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827). William Smith & Grandson. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond.
1795 Detail. James Peale (1739-1741). Artist & His Family. Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia.