25 November 2016
William Hooker and a case of mistaken identity
Julia Buckley looks at the story of William Hooker, Kew's first official Director, and also William Hooker the illustrator and tries to separate the two.
William Hooker
The name William Hooker (1785-1865) is synonymous with Kew, being the name of Kew’s first official Director. Hooker took directorship in 1841 and was instrumental in steering the Gardens towards the research and visitor role that we recognise today. He was an accomplished draughtsman, as was customary of the time, and the Illustrations Collection at Kew holds a large number of his works.
Which William do you mean?
However, Kew’s Director was not the only William Hooker to be skilled in the drawing of plants. William Hooker (1779-1832) the illustrator of flowers and fruits was a contemporary and, understandably, there has been much confusion between the pair over time.
Both William Hookers lived and worked in London and mixed with the botanists and horticulturalists of the day. Hooker the illustrator, studied under Franz Bauer (1758-1840) one of the most eminent illustrators of the time and it is clear that the influence of Bauer shaped his own skill. Bauer was employed at Kew Gardens under the patronage of Sir Joseph Banks and, in addition to his own work, he spent some time teaching flower painting to the royals. Bauer was not accustomed to taking students and Hooker was his only other pupil. Hooker was so skilled at portraying his subject that a paint colour even bears his name; that of Hooker’s Green.
Hooker's publications
William Hooker’s first illustrated publication was The Paradisus Londinensis: or Coloured Figures of Plants Cultivated in the Vicinity of the Metropolis, with a text by R. A. Salisbury (1761-1829), published between 1805-1807. It aimed to show new and exotic plants in cultivation in the vicinity of London.
In the book Hooker’s Finest Fruits William Stearn notes that during the 17th and 18th centuries there was confusion over the unclear naming of fruit trees and the opening years of the 19th century saw a rise in pomology books that sought to remedy this. Around this time, Hooker became associated with the Horticultural Society of London, joining its newly formed Fruit Committee whose members were full of praise for his skill in the accurate depiction of fruits which he produced for the Society’s ‘Transactions’.
It is the Pomona Londinensis (c.1816-1818) for which Hooker is most celebrated. Stearn states that:
'These are possibly the finest illustrations of fruits ever published, so lifelike and appetising that one almost feels that they could be picked off the plate.'
Mistaken identity?
The Collection at Kew holds one original illustration of an Eriobotrya species that it attributes to William Hooker the illustrator.
However, it is possible that there are other works in the Collection that are misattributed to the director William Hooker. For example, illustrations of Phlox bear an uncanny resemblance in style to the painting of Eriobotrya but are recorded as being by the director. Perhaps to add to the confusion they were accessioned to Kew’s Collection as part of the director William Hooker’s library but as Hooker the illustrator was working with Bauer at Kew it is plausible that they made their way into his ownership via this route.
This indicates that there are likely to be more works by William Hooker the illustrator in the Collection as yet unidentified…
It is clear that both William Hooker’s played an important role in botany in the 19th century and have left an enduring legacy. In recognition of their value, both had plant genera named in their honour – the illustrator William Hooker being bestowed the genus Hookera.
- Julia Buckley -
Information Assistant - Art and Illustrations
