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Roses and Castles.


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"No-one knows". Perhaps not definitively, but why not Roses and Castles? The rose is depicted as the symbol of England from the Houses of Tudor, Lancaster and York, it's age old. As for Castles, they represent an Englishman's home, and whilst a back cabin was no 'castle', it was his home and so it naturally may have been chosen to represent the strength of a castle and the strength of his home. Just a theory.

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There are many theories to the basis of "Roses & Castles" as "Canal Art." No one knows the true origin.

 

One, and I am not saying this is set in concrete, was that when financial constraints caused by the up-and-coming railways, caused the boatmen to sell up on the land and move their families aboard the boats.

The boats were utilitarian transport vehicles. It was thought that boat wives wanted something that would be more homely.

In Victorian England decorated Grandfather clocks, scenic scenes, European castle paintings and flower drawings, including roses were in vogue.

Many of the decorations on the boats were painted by the owner boatmen as well as yards. The paintings were their interpretation of what they saw.

It doesn't matter if the perspective is incorrect or lacked realism, it was their work.

 

There has been a suggestion that Romany caravan art work had an influence but this has been generally been discounted.

 

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Edited by Ray T
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1 hour ago, Ray T said:

 

In Victorian England decorated Grandfather clocks, scenic scenes, European castle paintings and flower drawings, including roses were in vogue.

Many of the decorations on the boats were painted by the owner boatmen as well as yards. The paintings were their interpretation of what they saw.

It doesn't matter if the perspective is incorrect or lacked realism, it was their work.

And while the taste of land dwellers moved on, the boat dwellers became a rather separate community living in relative isolation from the settled population, and so they stuck with and developed the traditions established when they first started living afloat

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7 hours ago, Derek R. said:

"No-one knows". Perhaps not definitively, but why not Roses and Castles? The rose is depicted as the symbol of England from the Houses of Tudor, Lancaster and York, it's age old. As for Castles, they represent an Englishman's home, and whilst a back cabin was no 'castle', it was his home and so it naturally may have been chosen to represent the strength of a castle and the strength of his home. Just a theory.

When I first started the interest in Canals many years ago,  I asked the question about the origin of Roses & Castles. It was suggested that  because a boatman didn't have a proper castle as in "an Englishman's home is his castle", the painting of a castle was the nearest he could get to one. Similarly, because a boat doesn't have a garden, the roses were the next best thing to having a garden. I have no idea whether there is any truth in these two explanations but they seem as plausible to me  as any other. 🌻 🏰 

 

Howard 

 

 

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The flowers and landscapes subject was the norm on Staffordshire pottery and Wolverhampton and Bilston painted japanned tinware and papier mâché items, like these examples.

 
This style of decoration would have been seen by working people in the 18th and 19th centuries. So it's not surprising that it was later painted on the inside and outside of boats, and was completely different from fairground and circus decoration which ended up painted on gypsy living wagons and carts.
 
 

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  • Greenie 1
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5 hours ago, Chris M Jones said:

The flowers and landscapes subject was the norm on Staffordshire pottery and Wolverhampton and Bilston painted japanned tinware and papier mâché items, like these examples.

I support this theory too. Critically the 1858 'Household Words' article quoted in the video says "painted after the style of the great tea-board school of art"( i.e. the decorations seen on Papier mache trays.)

For the record, where did your photos come from ?

Edited by John Brightley
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15 hours ago, Derek R. said:

What's with the "Grand Master" annotation against avatars? Webmaster getting bored?

I've never been a Grand Master of much in my life, let alone boating!

 

This annotation business is an insult to contributors.

Chris M Jones is far from ranking an "Enthusiast", as are others who have a wealth of knowledge on the history of the canal network.

I myself am ranked "Grand Master". It's a joke, based merely upon numbers of postings as far as I can see.

 

Note to webmaster: Please get rid of this pointless annotation against contributors.

 

Edited to add:

Judging by the page and a bit comments here:

 

 

The vast majority of contributors do not want them.

Edited by Derek R.
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