The Birds of Magnolia: Three Centuries of Art, Artists, and the Natural World
Written by George H. McDaniel
Director of Interpretation at Magnolia Plantation & Gardens
From the early years of its colonial founding, South Carolina’s stunning beauty and remarkable wildlife has long attracted naturalists from across the world. Join us in the Magnolia House to experience a unique opportunity to explore first-hand the art of three of the most important of these naturalist-artists: Mark Catesby (1683-1749), John James Audubon (1785-1851), and Edward Von Siebold Dingle (1893-1975). Spanning three centuries, these artists’ work parallels the history of Magnolia and South Carolina illustrating a great deal about our collective past and the fragile world in which we live.
Arriving in Charleston in 1722, English naturalist Mark Catesby spent the next four years trekking across the wilderness of what would become South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and even the Bahamas. Guided by Native Americans, Catesby uncovered what to Europeans was an exotic and mysterious world filled with flora and fauna which dazzled the imagination. Among his important discoveries was his groundbreaking observation of bird migration. Prior to Catesby, Europeans believed birds hibernated in caves or hollow trees.
In 1726, Catesby returned to England, where he spent the next two decades producing The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands, which was finally published in 1747. In his artistic plates, Catesby depicted the animals as alive and alongside environmentally appropriate plants. This broke from earlier traditions of drawing the animals simply as they appeared on the dissection table with no background. For these reasons, historians have hailed Catesby’s book as “one of the most significant accomplishments in natural science during the colonial period.” (1) The Magnolia House boasts an original second edition—printed in 1754—allowing visitors to experience first-hand the remarkable beauty and innovation of Catesby’s crowning achievement.
While Mark Catesby might be a relative unknown to those outside of rare book rooms and the academic historical community, John James Audubon remains a household name nearly two centuries after his passing. Audubon’s name is synonymous with birds and his work was almost undoubtedly influenced by Catesby. Much like his predecessor, he infused his subjects with life and an appropriate environment. Historian Gregory Nobles eloquently describes Audubon’s work, writing, “He did not simply paint birds as stiff specimens for close ornithological examinations; he gave them life and location, creating animated images embedded in the American landscape.” (2)
Audubon arrived in Charleston for the first time in October of 1831. He recounted the scene in a letter to a friend, writing, “We at length approached Charleston, and the view of that city across the bay was hailed by our party with unfeigned delight…it did not occur to us to anticipate the extraordinary hospitality which awaited us there…a few of the happiest weeks I ever passed.” (3) In Charleston, Audubon established one of his most important friendships with Lutheran clergyman and fellow naturalist John Bachman. Bachman and Audubon’s friendship would lead the “American woodsman” back to Charleston throughout the 1830s for both work and respite. Audubon explored the Ashley River region, lined with rice fields that attracted a vast assemblage of avian life for him to observe, hunt, and ultimately, paint.
Reportedly, Audubon’s journeys up the Ashley led him to paint several of his famous plates on the grounds of Magnolia. In fact, Magnolia’s Audubon Swamp Garden is named in honor of the famed naturalist for this reason and provides a remarkable opportunity to see first-hand many of the birds for which he is famous. Like many of Audubon’s famous “Episodes,” which punctuate his Ornithological Biography, such a claim may fall somewhere in that liminal space between truth and fiction. However, given Audubon’s extensive work throughout the Lowcountry and, specifically, along the Ashley River combined with Audubon’s friendship with a clergyman, it certainly stands to reason Audubon could have visited and worked at Magnolia owned by the Episcopal priest Rev. John Grimké Drayton.
Regardless of whether the “American woodsman” ever actually set foot on Magnolia’s soil, visitors today can marvel at Audubon’s Great Work. Displayed in “The Birds of Magnolia” room, a 1985 reproduction of the Double Elephant Folio sized The Birds of America commands the room. The four-volume set is a marvel, with each book being 29½ x 39½ inches and weighing nearly forty pounds, with Audubon himself stating it required “two stout arms to raise it from the ground.” (4) Audubon’s decision provided the viewer with as close to a life-like experience of the bird as possible. Art historian Jennifer Roberts succinctly elucidates Audubon’s thinking, declaring, “Audubon…made the book fit the birds; other naturalists made the birds fit the book.” (5) Magnolia House visitors will have the exciting opportunity to see exactly what Roberts meant and to gaze with wonder upon the majesty of Audubon’s amazing work.
Charleston News and Courier 1939
While Audubon’s “Great Work” dominates with its size, the gorgeous watercolors of Edward Von Siebold Dingle adorn the walls filling out the artistic space with a delicate beauty. A South Carolina native, Dingle grew up at his family’s estate, Middleburg Plantation, along the banks of the Santee River at a time when the South was experiencing tremendous change. In the Lowcountry of South Carolina, the Charleston Renaissance transformed the artistic landscape through revelatory depictions of Charleston’s physical world. Though largely self-taught through years of exploring his native home, other Charleston artistic luminaries such as Alice Ravenel Huger Smith and Alfred Hutty tutored the young Dingle in his artistic pursuits.
Dingle’s work carried forth the tradition of the artist-naturalist pioneered by Mark Catesby and John James Audubon in the 18th and 19th centuries. As art historian and curator Martha Severens writes, “In a lifetime devoted to ornithological imagery, Dingle succeeded in combining an aesthetic sensibility with the skill of a scientist.” (6) Dingle himself illustrated the way he seamlessly blended science with art in an interview, stating, “Bird painting is very much like portrait painting. You must know thoroughly the live bird, his characteristic movements, his characteristic way of flying…you must portray the character—that elusive quality which you have to see in the live bird and keep in your mind.” (7) Dingle’s portraits of “The Birds of Magnolia” display the brilliance of his artistic mind and allow visitors an up-close view of many birds that call Magnolia home or are, at least, stopping by during their migration.
These three artists’ work displayed throughout the Magnolia House offers visitors the unique opportunity to observe Magnolia's history through a different lens. History is the study of change over time. Spanning three centuries, Catesby, Audubon, and Dingle each portrayed the landscape of South Carolina’s Lowcountry as it evolved, just as Magnolia evolved in concert with it.
We hope you will join us in the Magnolia House to learn about the important story of this place and the people across the centuries who have made it so.
1 Faye Jensen, “May, 1722: Naturalist Mark Catesby Arrives in South Carolina,” This Month in SC History (blog for SC Historical Society), May 5, 2020, https://schistory.org/may-1722-naturalist-mark-catesby-arrives-in-south-carolina/
2 Gregory Nobles, John James Audubon: The Nature of the American Woodsmen (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017), 5.
3 Albert E. Sanders and Warren Ripley, eds, Audubon: The Charleston Connection (Charleston: The Charleston Museum, 1986), 33.
4 Nobles, 91.
5 Jennifer L. Roberts, Transporting Visions: The Movement of Images in Early America (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2014), 90.
6 Martha R. Severens, The Charleston Renaissance (Spartanburg: Saraland Press, 1998), 140.
7 “Dingle in Dual Role of Ornithologist and Painter Carries on Lowcountry Tradition,” The News and Courier (Charleston, SC), April 30, 1939.
