Silken Cells
An installation of artworks by Rob Kesseler
This exhibition transforms the Hall with a selection of silk hangings, artefacts and
micrographs installed in spaces around the building, to surprise and delight visitors.
‘Silken Cells’ is an installation of artworks that weave together the hidden botanical,
scientific and cultural threads that run through Forty Hall & Estate.
Delft is a town in Holland which was at the centre of the Dutch ceramics industry
which became highly prized in the Western World from the 17thC. Holland was also
at the forefront of horticultural developments and domestic design.
Sir Nicholas Rainton was a merchant dealing in fine cloths from Europe and Asia and
he built Forty Hall in the early part of the 17thC (1629-32). At this time the Dutch
inventor of the microscope and draper, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was working in
Delft. Also at this time, ‘tulip mania’ was rife, as the Dutch developed new varieties of
tulip bulbs which have influenced horticulture and garden design to this very day.
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek invented and developed the microscope to better
understand and view the structures in the silk fabrics which he sold as a merchant.
The exhibition has been commissioned by Forty Hall & Estate, Enfield Council and
funded by Arts Council England. It is supported by Central Saint Martins, The
University of the Arts London, The Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, The Gulbenkian
Science Institute Portugal and the Botanic Garden Lisbon. The ceramic plates which
are exhibited here in the Parlour have been kindly sponsored by Royal Doulton.
Rob Kesseler is a Visual Artist and Chair in Arts, Design & Science at the University of
the Arts, London. A former NESTA Fellow at Kew and Research Fellow at the
Gulbenkian Science Institute, Portugal, during the past thirteen years he has
collaborated with botanical scientists and molecular biologists in an exploration of
the living world at a microscopic level. Rob’s work is concerned with reflecting the
way the natural world migrates into many aspects of our daily lives. His images are
translated into a wide range of contexts and media, ceramics, glass and textiles,
video, and photography.
www.robkesseler@zen.co.uk
info@robkesseler.co.uk
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Guide to the installation of Artworks - Ground Floor
Great Hall
Two bright red silk hangings are hung in the windows and appear like a network of
arterial vessels. These are in fact a microscopic view of the cells in the leaf of
Sphagnum moss that has been stained to show the rows of cells that fill up with water
and give the moss its characteristic ability to retain moisture.
The Parlour
The dining table is laid with a silk cloth that has been printed with an image of its
own fibres magnified over a 100 times. Brightly coloured pollen grains that were
collected from plants in the grounds around the Hall float across the surface of the
silk creating a micro-floral pattern.
The dinner plates are decorated with images of the cellular structure revealed by
cutting through a thin section of a branch taken from the Mulberry tree in the
grounds outside. Side plates are printed with micro surface details magnified up to
700 times of leaves collected from the same tree and show fine hair structure and
stomata pores.
On top of the Court cupboard in the corner of the room, a glass vessel, Mitosis –
Occlus, reveals lavender flowers encased by the glass, the fragrance is locked in by the
glass. The Court cupboard would have been used to keep linens and lavender would
have been laid between the cloths.
Drawing Room
Passing through the Drawing Room another long silk hangs in front of the door to the
back lawn. The cellular patterns are from a micro fine, magnified stem section of the
Gennaria Diphylla, which is a wild orchid collected in the woodlands on the outskirts
of Lisbon, Portugal.
(Please make your way around to the grand staircase)
Grand Staircase
Four images showing complete sections through the stems of wild flowers hang down
this stairwell. After cutting with a razorblade the sections have been stained using
histological dyes to reveal the complex patterning throughout the section. The lipids
and proteins in the plant respond differently across the specimen and from one plant
to another.
Viewing the images from the bottom of the Staircase to the upper floors:
 Cephalanthera longifolia, Narrow-leaved helleborine.
 Primula vulgaris, Primrose
 Allium neapolitanum, Naples garlic
 Chrysanthemum coronarium, Corn marigold
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Guide to the installation of Artworks - First floor
It was fashionable in the 17thC throughout Europe to display wall hangings and
tapestries in grand houses. Rainton would have used wall hangings in this Hall to
provide decoration and to add warmth to his home. Also at this time advances in
scientific knowledge had an impact on public taste. Ornamental plant images were
popular as a celebration of the natural world and the basis for designs on carpets and
floor coverings, on wallpapers and tapestries.
Reflecting these traditions, Rob has hung a collection of silk prints from the wall
railings in the rooms throughout the first floor. These unique modern images remind
us of the level of scientific knowledge in this era.
(Turn right at the top of the stairs)
Great Chamber
Three silk panels show cellular details from a stained stem section Chrysanthemum
coronarium, Corn marigold.
Anti Chamber
Three silk panels showing cellular details from Ophrys tenthredinifera, Sawfly
orchid.
Withdrawing Room
This room is lined with silk panels of a microscopic view of the leaf of Sphagnum
moss photographed using a polarizing filter to highlight the photosynthetic cells that
surround the water storing cells.
On the mantelpiece a sealed glass vessel holds dried specimens of Evernia prunastri,
Oak moss, flanked on either side by petri dishes with living Acrocarpous moss.
Rainton’s Bed Chamber
On the window sits a Victorian glass case inside which a blown glass vessel appears
like a curious scientific laboratory object. Inside it are a collection of anthers from
tulips, the pollen of which clings to the walls of the glass.
(Follow sign to Inner Chamber)
Chamber Gallery – Lift Lobby and Corridor
A collection of spontaneous botanical drawings made in Greece using ink and aniline
dye are hanging in here. In contrast to the scientific images which take many hours
of preparation and processing, the ink drawings are made directly from life without
any preliminary sketching. Using Chinese brushes the inks with dyes are painted on
quickly and washed off before they can dry completely to create an impression that
has the quality of a mono-print.
From left to right in the lift lobby
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

Gladiolus byzantinus, Byzantine gladiolus
Anthyllis vulneraria #2 – Mediterranean kidney vetch
From left to right in the corridor
 Ophrys ferrum-equinuum – Horseshoe orchid
 Orchis laxiflora #1 – Lax-flowered orchid
 Serapias lingua, Tongue orchid
 Anthyllis vulneraria #1 – Mediterranean kidney vetch
 Parentucellia latifolia – Red bartsia
The Chamber
A silk panel of a microscopic stained wood section of the cellular structure of Beech
appears to have been drawn up the chimney its cell patterns bearing a resemblance to
figurative marble used for fireplaces.
Inner Chamber
On the far wall hang three silk panels of a stained section of Cephalanthera
longifolia, Narrow-leaved helleborine appears like a window onto another world
beyond the limitation of our own eyes to reveal complex life supporting patterns.
Guide to the installation of Artworks - Second Floor
Grand Staircase
A long silk panel of a microscopic stained wood section of the cellular structure of the
Ash tree hangs above the Oak staircase like an oversized microscope slide that reveals
the structural patterns within the wood.
(Turn left at the top of the stairs)
Elsyng Room
A glass table becomes a flower press for wild flowers collected in the summer of 2013
along the River Lea Valley and in Waltham Abbey Woods. Two glass magnifying
domes sit like oversized dew drops revealing a close-up view of flower structures.
On the wall three more ink and dye drawings made in Greece.
From left to right
 Orchis italica – Italian man orchid
 Ophrys tenthredinifera – Sawfly orchid
 Orchis laxiflora #1
Servants Staircase
Second floor window sill:
 Mitosis – Tempus in vitro
Glass vessel with dandelion seeds collected in Corfu
First floor window sill:
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
Jardim Microscopica,
Porcelain plate with printed design of Chrysanthemum coronarium,
Corn marigold
Guide to the installation of Artworks - Ground Floor
Kitchen
The blue and white bone china serving plates each with a printed fragment of a tree
extracted from the original Spode copperplate engraving for the willow pattern sit on
the shelves amidst the pewter and slipware. (Spode is the name of the factory that
famously made the Willow Pattern china which became popular in the 19thC).
On the widow sill three china plates reveal a contemporary willow pattern made up
from enlarged details of leaf architecture of a willow leaf.
Inner Courtyard
These images are a collection of micrographs of pollen collected from plants on the
Estate. The images are made by coating the pollen specimens in a fine layer of
platinum which are placed in the chamber of a Scanning Electron Microscope. The
specimens are then bombarded with electron particles and the microscope renders
exceptionally fine detail at very high magnification. These images were enlarged up
to two and a half thousand times and the resulting grey photographs carefully recoloured based on the original flower colour to bring out functional and structural
characteristics, and to convey the character of each individual pollen grain.
From left to right
 Tragapogon pratensis, Goat’s-beard
 Morus, Mulberry
 Ilex, Holly
 Salix alba, White willow
 Geranium ‘Johnsons Blue’, Cranesbill
 Rhodedendron
 Liriodendron, Tulip tree
 Convulvulous, Bindweed
 Lychnis coronaria, Rose campion
‘Seed Man Deckchairs,’ featuring a composite of micro seed images were originally
commissioned by the Royal Parks Foundation in collaboration with the British
Council for the British Pavilion designed by Thomas Heatherwick for the Shanghai
Expo, China in 2010.
The deckchairs are available to buy at:
http://www.supporttheroyalparks.org/shop/13_rob_kesseler_deckchair
Cabinet
This contains a collection of objects and specimens from Rob’s collection.
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In the centre is a dried Ophrys Tenthredinifera, Orchid which was used to create the
stem patterns on the silk in the Anti Chamber.
On the right, a blue box contains samples of wood, leaf and pollen collected from the
Mulberry tree outside and used to create the images on the plates and cloth on the
table in The Parlour. These have been coated in a micro-fine layer of platinum in
preparation for photographing on a scanning electron microscope.
Long Gallery
From left to right
 Quercus robur, English oak. Catkin showing the male flowers and tiny grains
of pollen that have been released.
 Anemone nemorosa, Wood anemone. Pollen grain
 Citrus aurantium, Seville orange. Pollen grain
 Cydonia oblonga, Quince pollen grain
 Ophrys tenthredinifera, Sawfly orchid. Composite detail of stained stem
section.
 Prunus spinosa, Blackthorn. Group of pollen grains.
 Calotis breviradiata, Short-rayed burry daisy. Wind born fruit.
End note
The Artist would like to thank the staff at Forty Hall for their enthusiastic support in
developing this exhibition. Additionally he would like to thank Madeline Harley,
Wolfgang Stuppy and Peter Gasson, Kew. Colleagues at Central Saint Martins and
the Gulbenkian Science Institute. Papadakis Publisher, Stewart Hearn at London
Glassworks and Keely Traae, Royal Doulton.
The Artist and the staff team at Forty Hall & Estate hope that you have enjoyed
exploring this installation of artworks. The images are unique and original. The
exhibition has presented to you images that the Artist has made and that use
technology and scientific knowledge.
Forty Hall & Estate is committed to bringing you the best of the Visual Arts and
Crafts in a unique historic setting. We hope you will visit us again and often to see
our ever changing programme of exhibitions, events, and activities for all the family.
Price list of artworks available on request.
Please return this Guide to the Installation of Artworks to a member of
staff at the end of your visit.
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