“Sea King's Daughter from over the sea, Alexandra” illuminated by Owen Jones, 1809-1874

Sea King's Daughter from over the sea, Alexandra

Owen Jones, 1809-1874, illuminator

1863

28.8 x 21 cm.

Source: Tennyson's A Welcome to Her Royal Highness, the Princess of Wales. From the Poet Laureatte [sic], Page 2

Beckwith, Victorian Bibliomania catalogue no. 28

Rare Books and Manuscripts Collection, Boston Public Library

Royal weddings are a mixture of the secular and the sacred. In the secular realm, the marriage of Victoria's heir, the Prince of Wales, to Princess Alexandra of Denmark in 1863 formed a political bond between the two nations. [continued below]

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Commentary by Alice H. R. H. Beckwith

Tennyson repeatedly emphasized the symbolic union of Britain and Denmark with such lines as "Saxon or Dane or Norman we, Teuton or Celt or what ever we be/ We are all Dane in our welcome of thee, Alexandra." He further traced a relationship between Britain and Denmark by alluding to the seagoing heritage and interests of both nations. As Poet Laureate, Tennyson commemorated important national events, here emphasizing the Welcome of the people rather than of the church or the government. By 1863 the British sense of identity and understanding of their lineage as a mixture of Celtic, Saxon, Norman, and Viking ancestry was widespread enough for Tennyson to make reference to those cultures in the expectation that his readers would understand his meaning.

Owen Jones, the probable author of these borders, was not taking the same chance with his readers' comprehension. Rather than using the stylized borders he was known for during the twenty years of designing which preceded A Welcome (cats. 26, 27), he reversed his rejection of imitative naturalism by surrounding this text with flowers which are startlingly realistic. Such a reversal raises numerous questions, including ones of attribution. However, in the pages preceding the text Jones is given credit as illuminator and no other names are mentioned. One wonders if he used a more narrow definition of the word than heretofore, and was only associating himself with the decoration of the letters in the text. Certainly Jones's sense of geometry underlies the lettering and the ropework border that threads through the floral trellis, and the pattern of Celtic interlace on the original binding was characteristic of his more usual style. In any case, the lilies and violets on this page form a lush bouquet around the text and predict the kind of ornament more frequently seen in printed illuminated books during the 1870s and '80s.

References

Beckwith, Alice H. R. H. Victorian Bibliomania: The Illuminated Book in Nineteenth-Century Britain. Exhibition catalogue. Providence. Rhode Island: Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, 1987.

Tennyson, Alfred Lord. A Welcome to Her Royal Highness, the Princess of Wales. From the Poet Laureatte. London: Day & Son, 1863. Illuminator: Owen Jones.

Last modified 9 September 2016