Scottish painter (1823 ? 1909)
Jemima Blackburn
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/Jemima_Blackburn.jpg/220px-Jemima_Blackburn.jpg) Photograph by Alinari of Florence (1852)
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Born
| (
1823-05-01
)
1 May 1823
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Died
| 9 August 1909
(1909-08-09)
(aged 86)
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Nationality
| Scottish
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Known for
| Painting
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Notable work
| Birds from Moidart
,
Birds from Nature
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Spouse
| Hugh Blackburn
married 12 June 1849,
Edinburgh
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Jemima Wedderburn Blackburn
(1 May 1823 ? 9 August 1909) was a Scottish
painter
whose work illustrated rural life in 19th-century
Scotland
. One of the most popular illustrators in
Victorian Britain
, she illustrated 27 books. Her greatest
ornithological
achievement was the second edition of her
Birds from Nature
(1868). Most of the illustrations were
watercolours
, with early paintings often including some ink work. A few were
collages
in which she cut out a bird's outline and transferred it to a different background, in a similar manner to
John James Audubon
. Her many watercolours showed daily family life in the late 19th-century
Scottish Highlands
as well as fantasy scenes from children's fables. She achieved widespread recognition under the initials JB or her married name Mrs. Hugh Blackburn.
Early life and family connections
[
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]
Blackburn was born at 31
Heriot Row
in Edinburgh.
[1]
She was the youngest child of
James Wedderburn
,
Solicitor General for Scotland
, who
died some months before her birth
, and Isabella Clerk, whose family were holders of the
baronetcy
of
Clerk of Penicuik
. Her paternal relatives, connected through the
Wedderburn baronets
, included her great-grandfather
Sir John Wedderburn, 5th Baronet of Blackness
, executed for his involvement with the
Jacobite rising of 1745
. The family was
attainted
and so several of the next generation went to Jamaica, where they grew rich from owning
slave plantations
. Two of these sons were
John Wedderburn of Ballendean
, who eventually reclaimed the family title, and James, Jemima's grandfather. The former was notable for the case brought against him under
Scots law
by former slave
Joseph Knight
. The latter fathered
Robert Wedderburn
, the radical preacher, whom he did not acknowledge;
Andrew Colville
, governor of the
Hudson's Bay Company
; Jean, who married
Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk
; and James, the judge, who was Jemima's father.
On her mother's side, Jemima was the first cousin of
James Clerk Maxwell
, who lived with her family in Edinburgh when he was a schoolboy and she a young woman; she encouraged him to learn to draw.
Jemima was a friend and pupil of
John Ruskin
and
Sir Edwin Landseer
, both of whom praised her work highly.
[2]
She married mathematician
Hugh Blackburn
, and they bought the
Roshven
estate in 1854. This home became the focus of visits from some of the most celebrated figures of the century, including the
Duke of Argyll
,
Lord Kelvin
,
Lord Lister
,
Hermann von Helmholtz
, Sir
John Everett Millais
,
Anthony Trollope
and
Benjamin Disraeli
.
Work and legacy
[
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]
Seagull's Nest in Eilean na Gove, Moidart by Jemima Blackburn (detail) (1857)
Much of her work portrayed Roshven, its animals and birds. She became one of the leading bird painters of the day.
"...in portraying animals, I have nothing to teach her..."
- Sir Edwin Landseer, 1843
Jemima Blackburn was a keen observer of bird behaviour, as evidenced by her writings. She describes the ejection of nestling
meadow pipits
(
Anthus pratensis
) by a blind and naked hatchling
common cuckoo
(
Cuculus canorus
), accompanied by a small drawing. This behaviour had been reported by
Edward Jenner
in 1788 but dismissed as impossible by
Charles Waterton
in 1836. Blackburn's account was originally published in a popular narrative for children,
The Pipits
in 1871.
Charles Darwin
refers to Blackburn's observations in the sixth edition of
On the Origin of Species
.
Blackburn illustrated 27 books. A lost oil painting, "Plough Horse Startled by a Railway Engine", was exhibited at the
Royal Academy
in 1849 and at the first exhibition of the
Society of Female Artists
in London in 1857.
[3]
In the same year, she was asked to contribute to the first exhibition of contemporary British art in America. Her works have been exhibited in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London and examples have been acquired by the
British Museum
, the
British Library
, the
Natural History Museum
,
Royal Collection
, the
National Portrait Gallery
, the
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
and the
James Clerk Maxwell Foundation
.
In 1868 Blackburn published
Birds drawn from Nature
, which won immediate public acclaim. A copy, hand coloured under Blackburn's own supervision, was presented to the
Zoological Society of London
.
[4]
"...We have seen no such birds since Bewick's. We say this not ignorant of the magnificent plates by Selby, Audubon, Wilson and Gould..."
-
The Scotsman
, 1868
Beatrix Potter
, famous for her own illustrations of wild and domestic animals, was a fan of Blackburn from childhood. Potter recalls her delight when given a copy of Blackburn's
Birds drawn from Nature
on her tenth birthday. As an adult, Potter assessed her as a "broad intelligent observer with a keen eye for the beautiful in Nature", commenting: "I consider that Mrs Blackburn's birds do not on the average stand on their legs so well as Bewick's, but he is her only possible rival".
[5]
The two women met in 1894, when Blackburn was visiting Putney Park, near London, the home of a cousin of Potter's. Potter found her an extraordinarily interesting woman. "I have not been so much struck by anyone for a long time."
[6]
It is quite likely that Blackburn's work for "The Cat's Pilgrimage" (1870) and other works influenced Potter's 1894 illustrations for "Little Red Riding Hood". The botanist
Mary Noble
argues that Potter modelled Jemima Puddle-duck, at least in name if not ornithological behaviour, on Jemima Blackburn. Blackburn died barely a year after Potter published her
Tale of Jemima Puddle-duck
to great success.
[7]
Ornithological illustrations
[
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]
-
'Tawny owl,' from plate 12 of
Birds from Moidart and elsewhere
(1895).
-
'Redwing,' from plate 19 of
Birds from Moidart and elsewhere
(1895).
-
'Blackbird,' from plate 20 of
Birds from Moidart and elsewhere
(1895).
-
'The raven,' from plate 47 of
Birds from Moidart and elsewhere
(1895).
Modern reprints of her work
[
edit
]
Blackburn, Jemima; Fairley, Rob (1993).
Blackburn's birds
. Canongate.
ISBN
9780862414368
.
References
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]
External links
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]
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