Notes

“Drye roses put to the nose to smell do comforte the braine and the harte and quencheth Spirits” is the sage opinion offered in Ascham’s Herbal published in 1550. Throughout time the rose has been celebrated for its incomparable beauty and delicate perfume with its praises sung by poets and lyricists. More than any other, it is the flower associated with love and tenderness.

Roses have featured in the Fine Arts and were favoured in Dutch seventeenth-century still life paintings, in particular for their symbolic significance. Irma Stern who was particularly passionate about flowers, no doubt selected these blooms for their splendour and their fragrance.

The flowers are clustered together in a generous arrangement that highlights their diversity. They may well include older, popular varieties like Comtesse Vandal (1932) with their peach-coloured petals and pale pink tips, as well as newer varieties such as Sutter’s Gold (1950) with their coppery apricot tones and Confidence, a delicate pink hybrid which was awarded the gold medal at the Concours de Bagatelle in 1951.

Setting them in a terracotta-coloured vase against a blue-grey backdrop emphasises the magnificence of these exquisite blooms. One can just imagine their heady fragrance filling the room.