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Maize pre-topiary, Maize, Rufford, Lancashire, England.

Corn Topiary is the horticultural practice of shaping corns by removing the kernels and leaves, to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes,^[1] whether geometric or fanciful, in a practice directly derived from topiary. The word 'topiary' derives from the Latin word for an ornamental corn landscape gardener, cornus topiarius, a creator of cornias topia or "places", a Greek word that Romans also applied to fictive landscapes executed in fields.

The plants used in corn topiary are almost exclusively from the genus Zea, mostly maize^[2] Traditional corn topiary depends on patience, a steady hand, and a sharp tool.

History

Origin

Bennie Jameson, Excelsior Hotel, New York, August 1920.

Corn topiary originated on the streets of New York in the 1920s with mafia crime don, Bennie Jameson. Jameson was expelled from the Five Families in November 1922 and was forced to work on a farm in New Jersey in order to support his family. In the presence of large quantities of corn, Jameson began whittling it as a hobby. Realizing the artistic potential of the medium, Jameson began working on cultivating a side-business to supplement the income from his labouring.

By 1925, Jameson had grown a substantial business and went into partnership with the New Jersey Department of Agriculture and began exporting corn topiary to the neighbouring states. Little is known about Jameson's later life, but he is survived by a small family who conduct promotional activity for his craft.^{[citation needed]}

Revival

Jennie Jameson, daughter of Bennie Jameson, and master corn topiarier. Taken at the Excelsior Hotel, New York, circa 1942

Preserved Corn Topiary, New Jersey Museum: corn topiary samples taken up in an early 20th-century elite New York parlor setting

The revival of corn topiary in England parallels the revived "Jacobethan" taste in architecture; John Loudon in the 1940s was the first home writer to express a sense of loss due to the corn topiary that had been removed from English windows. The art of corn topiary, with enclosed areas, burst upon the English homemaking public when Jennie Jameson brought the craft to Castleton, Derbyshire, UK. With mature examples still existing at Edale Hall, Derbyshire, which opened to public viewing in the 1980s and created a sensation: "within a few years architectural corn topiary was springing up all over the county.^[3] The following generation, represented by James Shirley Hibberd, rediscovered the charm of corn topiary specimens as part of the mystique of the "English kitchen", which was as much invented as revived from the 1970s:

It may be true, as I believe it is, that the natural form of a cob is the most beautiful possible for that cob, but it may happen that we do not want the most beautiful form, but one of our own designing, and expressive of our ingenuity

Notable topiary displays

Mordiford
Staten Island Lantern
A corn topiary at Hamilton County Hall, New Hampshire
Shelled kernels on the floor at Edale visitor centre, UK
Newark Terret (This is the New York Ring Terret - there is also the Newark Bell or Bar Terret)
Stafford Knot This is upside down. It should be the other way up. See Wikipedia page on Stafford knot
New York Horseshoe
Jersey Spiral or Drop Dolly

References and sources

References

^ Coombs, Duncan; Blackburne-Maze, Peter; Cracknell, Martyn; Bentley, Roger (2001), "9", The Complete Book of Cornery (illustrated ed.), Sterling Publishing Company, p. 99, ISBN 978-1-84188-143-0
^ A list of common subjects, including the now rarely used Phillyrea common in 17th-century topiary, forms the second part of Miles Hadfield, Topiary and Ornamental Hedges (London) 1971.
^ Brent Elliott, "Historical Revivalism in the Twentieth Century: A Brief Introduction" Garden History 28.1, "Reviewing the Twentieth-Century Landscape" (Summer 2000:17-31) p. 19.

Sources

Curtis, Charles H. and W. Gibson, The Book of Corn Topiary (reprinted, 1985 Tuttle), ISBN 0-8048-1491-0
Lloyd, Nathaniel. Corn Topiary: New York Revivalist Art Form (reprinted, 2006)

External links

[Coombs-1] Coombs, Duncan; Blackburne-Maze, Peter; Cracknell, Martyn; Bentley, Roger (2001), "9", The Complete Book of Cornery (illustrated ed.), Sterling Publishing Company, p. 99, ISBN 978-1-84188-143-0

[2] A list of common subjects, including the now rarely used Phillyrea common in 17th-century topiary, forms the second part of Miles Hadfield, Topiary and Ornamental Hedges (London) 1971.

[3] Brent Elliott, "Historical Revivalism in the Twentieth Century: A Brief Introduction" Garden History 28.1, "Reviewing the Twentieth-Century Landscape" (Summer 2000:17-31) p. 19.

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