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Metal sculpture, Missouri state flower - White Hawthorne Blossom

Smithsonian Gardens

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Object Details

Artist
Helen Hornberger
Description
Artist, Helen Hornberger, revived the techniques of French tole to create naturalistic representations of the state flowers. The artist used thin copper sheets as her base, and painted them with oil paint in the natural colors of the blossoms and leaves of the White Hawthorn Blossom (Crataegus). Two clusters of small white flowers and jagged leaves meet on the brown branch. The small, open blossoms have five short, rounded petals encircling the curly, yellow stamen.
Label Text
The Congress of Representative Women at the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago proposed that each U.S. state and territory select a flower to represent their state in the “National Garland of Flowers.” This resulted in the National Floral Emblem Society. Each state has adopted to represent the state and its people based on their importance to the state’s history, economy, folklore, or native varieties. Tole artist Helen Hornberger created each artificial flower representing each state to create for a bouquet displaying America’s floral diversity.
MISSOURI: The White Hawthorn Blossom (Crataegus) was named the official state floral emblem of Missouri on March 16, 1923. The Missouri state flower is bloom from the Flowering Hawthorn Tree. It is also known as the "Red Haw" or "White Haw," the Hawthorn is a member of the great Rose family and resembles the apple group. There are hundreds of species of Hawthorn, and Missouri is home to over 75 of them, particularly in the Ozarks. While the state’s legislature did not name a specific variety of Hawthorn, the Department of Conservation advocates for the Downy Hawthorn (Crataegus mollis).The White Hawthorn Blossom is most common in southern Missouri. The small Hawthorn trees grow well in Missouri’s climate, and each spring they bloom in clusters on the tree. They attract the pollinators that are needed for the tree to produce its fruit. Hawthorn fruits resemble miniature apples and are a valuable source of nutrition for wildlife. They can also be used to make jams, jellies and herbal medicines.
Credit Line
Smithsonian Gardens, Horticultural Artifacts Collection. Gift of Helen Hornberger.
1980
Accession number
1980.038.021
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
Artificial flowers and trees
Medium
Copper, oil paint
Dimensions
Overall: 13 in. (33 cm)
Stem: 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm)
Flower: 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm)
Origin
United States
See more items in
Horticultural Artifacts Collection
Smithsonian Gardens
Topic
copper
tôle
Artificial flowers
crafts
emblems (symbols)
flowers (plants)
Missouri
Record ID
hac_1980.038.021
Metadata Usage (text)
Not determined
GUID (Link to Original Record)
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/aq4e608c559-24f4-40fc-8433-aa871baefc76
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