Her Royal Highness Maria Anna Wilhelmme Elizabeth Matilde of Hesse (1843-1865) was married in May 1864 to Friedrich Franz Mecklenburg-Schwerin, but tragically died only eleven months later in 1865.
Over the past 200 years the pastimes and activities of noble, aristocratic and upper class women have reflected their position in society and the constraints on their lives. Most, because of their social status were precluded from working for money, but they had boundless time to study and learn new skills. Their creative activities included sand painting, embroidery, rolled and cut paperwork, japanning, silhouettes, featherwork, watercolours and shellwork and they became very important to them.
Shell collecting was a passion in the 18th and 19th centuries and sailors, particularly those voyaging to the East and West Indies, were bombarded with requests for exotic specimens. Rare shells were regarded as significant gifts among friends. Mrs Delany, a famous grotto and shell picture maker, mentions the sum of 15 guineas for a specimen of the ‘tender shell'd nautilus’. Throughout both centuries ladies visiting the seaside spent hours stepping across beaches and over rocks looking for shells which would be taken home, carefully sorted into cabinets or made into all kinds of decorations.