Two Women, One Garden: Selections from the Castaña Portfolio
In 1928, Pritchett's photograph titled the "Luminous Globe" was included in the Royal Photographic Society's Annual Exhibition. Following on, she exhibited her work in the 1930 International Photographic Exhibition, Tokyo, and the Philadelphia International Salon of Photography sponsored by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. As a working photographer, Pritchett provided photographic illustrations for various publications, for example, "A Viking Drinking Cup--Birch Knob" for inclusion in Sir Wilfred Grenfell's The Romance of Labrador. With her friend, Marjorie LaMonte Thompson, she co-published a book of photographs documenting the buildings, interior spaces and grounds of Bryn Mawr College. Pritchett retired in the early 1950s and she and Thompson divided their time between their homes in Haverford and Sandwich, New Hampshire until her death in 1965.
" ... "The Luminous Globe" (LXVII) by Ida W. Pritchett relies for its interest almost entirely upon the effect of reflective light through the liquid contained in the glass vase.What there is of the design is not much; but Miss Pritchett has given some point to it by inserting the stem and some leaves of the spray inside the vase, where they tell just as an applied pattern would upon a Japanese jar." -- F.C Tllney. Pictorial Photography, 1928
Sipprell photographed some of the most famous writers, scientists, artists and cultural and political icons of the time including Robert Frost, Ida Tarbell, Max Weber, Alfred Stieglitz, W. E. B. Du Bois, Dag Hammarskjöld, and Svetlana Allilueva. During the 1920s and 1930s, Sipprell's landscape, still-life, and portrait work was recognized in both national and international exhibits. During these years, Sipprell made major photographic expeditions to Sweden, Yugoslavia, Russia, Mexico and Japan. Her photographs can be found in in the collections of the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, the National Portrait Gallery, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Getty.
In 1937 Sipprell moved her Vermont summer studio from Thetford Hill to her permanent residence in Manchester Center. Shortly thereafter Sipprell met writer and librarian Phyllis Fenner, who became her housemate, traveling companion, and close friend for the next thirty-eight years. In 1966, Sipprell produced Moment of Light: Photographs by Clara E. Sipprell, an annotated catalog that features her most important works. Sipprell maintained a large portrait clientele until her death in 1975 at the age of 89.
Gardens and Grounds of Castaña
An early description of the grounds of Castaña appears in King's Views of Philadelphia (1900), as "The William H. Joyce Residence. William H. Joyce, general freight agent of the Pennsylvania Railroad. A miniature lake, rustic bridges, creek and waterfall adorn the grounds. A chestnut tree, claimed to be the oldest and largest in this country, is on the estate." Alba B. Johnson (1858-1935), president of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, purchased the estate and in 1910, he and his wife, Leah Goff Johnson, began work on the creation of the gardens and structure of the estate grounds.
The Johnsons hired Philadelphia architect Alexander Mackie Adams (1879-1967) and landscape architect John S. Cope (1857-1915) for the project. Castaña was to be Adams's first design project and included an elaborate and massive concrete pergola for the upper garden and a Temple of Love for the lower.
Cope's gardens are described in Country Life in America (1915) as "based on English traditions, with the typical abundance of greensward, and the plants are dependable native perennials and shrubs. Still in its youth, the garden has already acquired atmosphere."
The Johnsons liberally adorned their gardens with cast stone urns, fountain and pool ornaments, and classically-inspired statuary. Of note is Eve Repentant by American sculptor Edward Sheffield Bartholomew (1822-1858) that may have been purchased at the 1910 sale of "the remainder of collection" of noted Philadelphia art collector Joseph Harrison, Jr., and the Neptune Fountain created by Walter Gilbert (1871-1946) and Louis Weingartner (-1934) of the Bromsgrove Guild of Fine Arts, Worcestershire, England.
After the death of Leah Goff Johnson in 1944, Castaña was purchased by the New Sharon Convent of the Holy Child Jesus in 1946.
Generous support for this exhibition is provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities CARES Act.
Two Women, One Garden: Selections from the Castaña Portfolio