Souvenir of England

This artwork featured in Still Life, Hanbury Hall, 2007. A Meadow Arts commission.

Since they were first made in 1898 to commemorate the building of the Eiffel tower, Snow globes, have been used as mementos to encapsulate key landmarks. They have become the quintessential souvenir object, now slightly outdated and nostalgic themselves. Shaking them brings the scene to life for a brief and artificial moment of suspended disbelief. This  dome is a memento to the English orchard which is fast becoming an endangered species. The apple tree in the globe died back in a commercial orchard, its contorted shape the result of specific pruning. Kite’s orchard, where the dome stands, has been replanted recently with old varieties of pear trees to try to revive or preserve this feature which has come to embody a bygone era. Our attachment to such features raises questions about nostalgia and sentimentality.

Image: Jane Prophet, Souvenir of England, installation view, Still Life, Hanbury Hall, 2007. Image courtesy Meadow Arts. 

 

About the artist

Jane Prophet

Jane Prophet exhibited in Still Life, Hanbury Hall, 2007, commissioned by Meadow Arts.

Image: Jane Prophet, Souvenir of England, installation view, Still Life, Hanbury Hall, 2007. Image courtesy Meadow Arts.