There have been many tributes to honor the legacy of Diana, Princess of Wales, on the 20th anniversary of her death. But nothing quite matches this “well dressing” portrait made by volunteers in Chesterfield, England.
“The well dressing is produced by 14 volunteers using the ancient Derbyshire art of well dressing, which involves creating designs from flower petals and other natural materials,” a spokesperson for the Chesterfield Borough Council, which posted photos on its Facebook profile, told the BBC. However, as the BBC reports, “the portrait has been mocked on social media, with some saying it looked more like Worzel Gummidge.” Worzel Gummidge is a talking scarecrow who appeared in a classic British kids’ TV show.
According to Historic UK, well dressing is an ancient practice known only in the counties of Derbyshire and Staffordshire, involving the decoration of wells and springs with elaborate murals made of flowers and plants. It dates back to the Middle Ages and even further—probably some surviving pre-Christian practice to honor the all-important local water supply.
“All art is meant to be a talking point and that certainly seems to be the case with this year’s design,” said the spokesperson, who is taking the responses in stride, adding that, “The well dressing is designed to attract visitors to the area and if the publicity encourages more people to come and experience our historic market town and local shops then that can only be good for Chesterfield.”
If you are local, you can see the display for yourself until September 16. Honestly, it’s a pretty good photographic likeness for something made of flowers and what appears to be wheat.
DISCUSSION
This is an excellent reminder that most of folk art is just jaw-droppingly awful. I’m sure it’s heartfelt and well-meaning (ha) but it’s just bad art. And I’m sure if she were alive she’d happily appear at the unveiling and laugh about the likeness and do the pose and everyone would get the warm fuzzies. That was the entire POINT of Diana; that she could do that. There’s nobody with that charisma in the family now.