Ellaphie Ward-Hilhorst
Encyclopedia
Johanna Ellaphie Ward-Hilhorst (10 July 1920 Pretoria
- 30 June 1994 Cape Town
) was a noted South African botanical artist.
She received her early education in Pretoria
. After matriculating from Pretoria Girls' High School
she started work in 1939 as a cartographer in the Survey Department of the Witwatersrand
Gold Mines. At the end of World War II
, she moved to the Netherlands
to study watercolour painting
under the eye of her uncle Gerhardus Hilhorst, a distinguished natural history artist.
Returning to South Africa, she worked in the advertising world as a freelance commercial artist in Cape Town
and Johannesburg
until her retirement in 1970 when she finally had the time to indulge her talents as a botanical artist. Since she always had a love and fascination for the genus Pelargonium
, she set about illustrating all the known species. This massive project resulted in the publication of three volumes in 1977, 1981 and 1988. The entire collection of the original 314 water-colours and 160 habit sketches in pencil was acquired by the Brenthurst Library
in Johannesburg
in 1989.
She was a prolific worker, finishing over 800 botanical watercolour paintings in 24 years. Other genera on which she worked included Sarcocaulon, Haemanthus, Rhus, Plectranthus
, Hessea, Strumaria, as well as Gasteria
, Serruria and Diascia. She was in great demand by botanists to illustrate plants from their particular fields of interest. 42 of her paintings were published in Fiowering Plants of Africa and she also made frequent contributions to Bothalia, Aloe, SA Journal of Botany, National Cactus & Succulent Journal, Cactus & Succulent Journal (USA) and Veld & Flora.
Examples of her work are in the permanent collection of the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Pittsburgh, USA., the Shirley Sherwood Collection as well as many important private collections.
Medal in 1988: the South African Association of Botanists conferred the Certificate of Merit on her contribution to systematic botany and in 1990 she received a Gold Medal for the Haemanthus paintings at the Royal Horticultural Society
Exhibition in London.
She is commemorated in Pelargonium ellaphieae E. M. Marais, Gasteria ellaphieae E.van Jaarsveld and Tylecodon ellaphieae Van Jaarsv.
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
- 30 June 1994 Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
) was a noted South African botanical artist.
She received her early education in Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
. After matriculating from Pretoria Girls' High School
Pretoria High School for Girls
Pretoria High School for Girls, also called Girls High or PHSG, is a public, fee charging, English medium high school for girls located in Hatfield, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa.-Second Anglo-Boer War:...
she started work in 1939 as a cartographer in the Survey Department of the Witwatersrand
Witwatersrand
The Witwatersrand is a low, sedimentary range of hills, at an elevation of 1700–1800 metres above sea-level, which runs in an east-west direction through Gauteng in South Africa. The word in Afrikaans means "the ridge of white waters". Geologically it is complex, but the principal formations...
Gold Mines. At the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, she moved to the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
to study watercolour painting
Watercolor painting
Watercolor or watercolour , also aquarelle from French, is a painting method. A watercolor is the medium or the resulting artwork in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-soluble vehicle...
under the eye of her uncle Gerhardus Hilhorst, a distinguished natural history artist.
Returning to South Africa, she worked in the advertising world as a freelance commercial artist in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
and Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
until her retirement in 1970 when she finally had the time to indulge her talents as a botanical artist. Since she always had a love and fascination for the genus Pelargonium
Pelargonium
Pelargonium is a genus of flowering plants which includes about 200 species of perennials, succulents, and shrubs, commonly known as scented geraniums or storksbills. Confusingly, Geranium is the correct botanical name of a separate genus of related plants often called Cranesbills. Both Geranium...
, she set about illustrating all the known species. This massive project resulted in the publication of three volumes in 1977, 1981 and 1988. The entire collection of the original 314 water-colours and 160 habit sketches in pencil was acquired by the Brenthurst Library
Brenthurst Library
The Brenthurst Library is a private repository of Africana in Johannesburg built by Harry Oppenheimer in 1984 as he started to disengage from the family's mining interests. It houses a collection of some 20 000 volumes, including rare manuscripts and documents...
in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
in 1989.
She was a prolific worker, finishing over 800 botanical watercolour paintings in 24 years. Other genera on which she worked included Sarcocaulon, Haemanthus, Rhus, Plectranthus
Plectranthus
Plectranthus, with some 350 species, is a genus of warm-climate plants occurring largely in the southern hemisphere, in sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, India and the Indonesian archipelago down to Australia and some Pacific islands. It is closely related to Solenostemon, sometimes known as the...
, Hessea, Strumaria, as well as Gasteria
Gasteria
Gasteria is a genus of succulent plants native to South Africa. Closely related genera include Aloe and Haworthia. The genus is named for its stomach-shaped flowers and is part of the family Xanthorrhoeaceae, subfamily Asphodeloideae...
, Serruria and Diascia. She was in great demand by botanists to illustrate plants from their particular fields of interest. 42 of her paintings were published in Fiowering Plants of Africa and she also made frequent contributions to Bothalia, Aloe, SA Journal of Botany, National Cactus & Succulent Journal, Cactus & Succulent Journal (USA) and Veld & Flora.
Examples of her work are in the permanent collection of the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Pittsburgh, USA., the Shirley Sherwood Collection as well as many important private collections.
Awards and honours
The Botanical Society of South Africa awarded her the Cythna LettyCythna Letty
Cythna Lindenberg Letty , was a South African botanical artist and is regarded as a doyenne of South African botanical art by virtue of the quality and quantity of her meticulously executed paintings and pencil sketches, produced over a period of 40 years with the National Herbarium in...
Medal in 1988: the South African Association of Botanists conferred the Certificate of Merit on her contribution to systematic botany and in 1990 she received a Gold Medal for the Haemanthus paintings at the Royal Horticultural Society
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 in London, England as the Horticultural Society of London, and gained its present name in a Royal Charter granted in 1861 by Prince Albert...
Exhibition in London.
She is commemorated in Pelargonium ellaphieae E. M. Marais, Gasteria ellaphieae E.van Jaarsveld and Tylecodon ellaphieae Van Jaarsv.
Publications
- 1984 A Revision of the genus Haemanthus - with Deirdre Snijman (Journal of South African Botany Suppl. vol. 12)
- 1988 Pelargoniums of Southern Africa (3 vols.) - with J. J. A. Van der Walt, P.J. Vorster (Juta) ISBN 0-86843-006-4
- 1994 Gasterias of South Africa - with Ernst J. van Jaarsveld (Fernwood Press) ISBN 1-87495-004-0
- 1995 Ericas of South Africa - with Dolf Schumann and Gerhard Kirsten (Fernwood Press) ISBN 0-95831-543-4