Watts Volunteer Nicola Campbell explores the symbolism behind G F Watts's portrait, Jane 'Jeanie' Elizabeth Hughes, Mrs Nassau John Senior, currently on loan from Wightwick Manor.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, this portrait is worthy of a book. In fact, I believe the pot plant alone is worth a thousand.

Why the plant?

Watts thought it was the key to the painting. His composition makes this clear. Unusually for Watts, Jeanie is neither looking at us nor gazing beyond; she is focused on watering a plant. This then is no ordinary lily-of-the-valley. This plant is so heavy with symbolism, it is a wonder it can stand in its pot.

What does it mean?

Let’s begin with the most literal interpretation: Jeanie’s focus on caring for the plant reflects the way she focused on caring for those around her. She cared deeply about those who needed help – friends, family, and those less fortunate – and supported them in very practical ways. As a close friend, Watts was a recipient of this practical care. Between having her portrait painted, Jeanie collected the sketches scattered around his studio, organising them into books. By doing so, she preserved works that would otherwise have been lost.

Watts’ intended symbolismwas preserved by Jeanie. The two wrote to each other extensively, and Jeanie saved all his letters to her. A selection of these were shared with Mary Watts and published in 1912.

Writing in 1857, Watts explained, “I intend by the flowers to typify the better sentiments, affections and aspirations, which it is sometimes difficult to keep alive or at least blooming in the crush of artificial society”[1]. He shows this by contrasting two types of flowers. The lily-of-the-valley which Jeanie carefully tends is contrasted with the more exotic cut flowers strewn on the floor. Jeanie is shown nurturing noble qualities (represented by the pot plant), while rejecting the artificial (the cut flowers).

Watts used this technique in his 1864 portrait of Ellen Terry, ‘Choosing’. There he contrasts violets (symbolising innocence and simplicity) and camellias (worldly vanities).[2] Ellen Terry was a young actress, 30 years Watts’ junior. He fell in love with her, and feared she was at risk from the dangers and temptations of the stage. He attempted to save her from these risks by marrying her, when she was just 17. ‘Choosing’ was painted shortly after they married. It turns out the portraits share more than the use of floral symbols. Watts’ relationship with the two women was also more similar than many realised.

In 2000, Jeanie’s descendants discovered a trunk in the attic. It contained all her papers, including Watts’ letters to her. To protect her reputation, Jeanie’s son had only shared a small selection of letters with Mary. The unseen letters (detailed in Oldfield’s excellent biography[3]) shed new light on their relationship.

The story they tell is fascinating.

The two met in 1851. They were drawn together by their shared idealism and romantic disappointment. Jeanie was unhappily married, Watts’ previous infatuation – Virginia Pattle – had recently married. They began corresponding in 1854. By 1855 Jeanie confided to Watts that her marriage was so unfulfilling that she was sometimes tempted to “recklessness” (infidelity). Watts proceeded to tie himself up in knots. He was hopelessly in love with her but feared the social and spiritual consequences of breaking her marriage vows. He obsessively worried that her unhappiness could drive her towards another (less principled) individual. After a great deal of dithering, he proposed an unusual compromise. Let him be the most important man in her life. Not as a lover, but not taking other lovers either. In short, he offered “all soul and no sex”[4].

He was devastated when Jeanie refused him: his friendship alone was not enough. He also had a rival, a charming Frenchman with a more relaxed attitude to marriage. Watts sent a series of letters expressing his growing despair. He began “fiendishly” urging her to be careful[5]; “for God’s sake, for your own sake, and for your child’s, be prudent” [6]. In October 1856, Watts left for a lengthy expedition to Asia Minor. He felt emotionally unable to see her to say goodbye. Somehow, their relationship survived, and the two remained close friends and confidantes.

Watts painted this portrait in 1857, shortly after returning from Asia minor. Their feelings - however well hidden - must still have been intense.

The portrait had a hidden, private meaning. This meaning was revealed in Watts’ 1857 letter explaining the portrait, the ending of which had been concealed from Mary. It ends, “if you ever feel reckless as sometimes you have… you will remember how earnestly I desired your welfare and happiness and how failure in your ordeal [her marriage] would grieve your most affectionate friend The Signor”[7] (my emphasis). Thus, the painting is a further plea for prudence. It is a reminder for Jeanie of how important it is to Watts that she remains faithfully married. Is it too much to imagine that the plant symbolizes her relationship with Watts, while she casts away the exotic Frenchman’s influence?

Watts painted not just a portrait, but a fantasy. The archetype of the ‘Angel in the House’ was familiar in Victorian England. It represents the ‘ideal’ woman, who remains within the home and focuses solely on caring for others. In this portrait, the archetype becomes intensely personal. The angel appears in not just any house, but Little Holland House, his home. His orange scarf sits on the chair in front of her. And the angel is Jeanie - his “soul mate”, “the love of his life”[8]. Watts’ desperate pleas for prudence were an attempt to preserve this fantasy.

Jeanie was always more than this fantasy. She was already questioning the patriarchal narrative that offered women one of two roles. They could be a domestic angel, or a ‘fallen woman’ (depicted by Watts in Found Drowned, 1848). It was radical, in this context, to reveal her temptations and to reject Watts’ offer of sexless safety.

Jeanie went on to step beyond the domestic realm. She became a pioneering social worker, supporting Octavia Hill’s social housing. Finally, she became the first ever female civil servant. Against rigorous (male) opposition she formed a group of women to write a report on workhouses, then robustly defended her report from its (male) critics. In doing so, she directly challenged the ways Victorian society oppressed women.

Watts was right - the plant really is the key. Jeanie did not set out to be revolutionary. It was the strength of her desire to care for others – to water the metaphorical plant – that drove her out of the home to fight for social reform.

Unfortunately, Jeanie died of cancer of the womb and exhaustion in 1877, aged 48. Her recommendations weren’t adopted, and the male establishment firmly slammed the door behind her.[9] History is largely written by men, which perhaps explains why she is relatively unknown. As women begin reclaiming their history, we are privileged to learn more about her in her own right. And, of course, to learn more about Watts through her.

References

[1] Barbara Bryant (2004) GF Watts Portraits: Fame and Beauty in Victorian Society, p104
[2] National Portrait Gallery, Ellen Terry (‘Choosing’) | Website
[3] Sybil Oldfield (2008) Jeanie, an ‘Army of One’
[4] Oldfield, p49
[5] Veronica Franklin Gould (2004) G.F. Watts, The Last Great Victorian
[6] Oldfield, p40
[7] Oldfield, p54
[8] Veronica Franklin Gould (2004) G.F. Watts, The Last Great Victorian
[9] Martin Stanley, Jeanie Senior | Website

Image credits

George Frederic Watts, Jane 'Jeanie' Elizabeth Hughes (1828–1877), Mrs Nassau John Senior, 1857-58 © National Trust, Wightwick Manor Image details | National Trust Images
George Frederic Watts, Choosing, 1864. © National Portrait Gallery, London NPG 5048; Ellen Terry ('Choosing') - Portrait - National Portrait Gallery