Georgiana Houghton’s Spirit Drawings
Georgiana Houghton’s first spirit drawings were created with a small wooden mechanism called a planchette. In the catalogue for her exhibition in 1871 Georgiana described them as: Study of Curves, A little more Design, Still more Design, Cecil’ s Flower, Cecil’ s Fruit, Zilla’s Flower: with pencils of two colours, left unfinished, as being satisfactory, Zilla’s Flower and Zilla’s Fruit – three in number, representing that she was a daughter, a wife and a mother.
The remaining works were executed by hand and fell into several series. The first were Flowers, Fruits and Plants of Houghton’s close family and friends who had passed, as well as some well known names. They included: Warrand Houghton, Sidney Alexander Houghton, Cecil Angelo Houghton, William Borer, Zilla Rosalia Warren and her husband John Neville Warren, Helen and William Harman Butler, the Stringer family, Samuel, Mary and George Warrand and several of Georgiana’s first guide Henry Lenny. Famous names were William Shakespeare, H.R.H.the late Prince Consort, H.R.H.Victoria, Princess Royal of England, Bartoldy, Murillo, Mesmer and William Blake.
Houghton’s work developed into a series of sacred drawings under the guidance of 70 archangels which reflected her faith as a staunch Christian Spiritualist. Subjects include The Trinity, The Lord, The Apostles, God, Spirit, Peace, Wisdom, Truth, Love, Salvation, Unveiling of the Heavens.
The last series were Crowns and Monograms which were of subjects that could be still on the earthly plane such as Queen Victoria and even Georgiana herself. Several of Houghton’s friends and fellow spiritualists fell into this category such as Mrs Oliphant, Mrs Spear, the medium D D Hume, Annie Howitt Watts, William Tebb, Mr and Mrs Guppy and Cromwell Varley.
Described as the Sacred Symbolist Georgiana would use specific colours in her artworks to represent a person or spirit’s characteristics. The following charts illustrate Houghton’s palette and their corresponding traits.
Yellows symbolised God the Father, Faith and Wisdom
 | Gamboge ⇒ Faith |
 | Indian Yellow ⇒ Probity |
 | Yellow Ochre ⇒ Delicacy of mind |
 | Light Amber ⇒ Earnestness |
 | Gallstone ⇒ Liberality of hand & soul |
 | Aureolin ⇒ Orderliness |
 | Brown Pink ⇒ Economy |
 | King’s Yellow ⇒ Energy |
 | Italian Pink ⇒ Perseverance |
 | Chrome #2 ⇒ Gratitude |
 | Lemon Yellow ⇒ Cheerfulness |
 | Cadmium ⇒ Courage |
 | Raw Sienna ⇒ Considerateness |
Oranges symbolised Power
 | Chinese Orange ⇒ Unselfishness |
 | Orange Cadmium ⇒ Moral courage |
 | Orange Chrome ⇒ Gentleness |
Violets symbolised Heavenly Happiness
 | Violet Carmine ⇒ Religion |
 | Mixed Violet ⇒ Religious Fervour |
 | Purple Madder ⇒ Sense of duty |
 | Purple ⇒ Cordiality |
Blues symbolised God the Son, Hope and Truth
 | Cobalt ⇒ Truth |
 | Ultramarine ⇒ Integrity |
 | Intense Blue ⇒ Decisiveness |
 | Smalt ⇒ Strength of friendship |
 | Blue Verditer ⇒ Singleness of mind |
 | Prussian Blue ⇒ Courteousness |
 | Antwerp Blue ⇒ Sensitiveness |
Reds symbolised God the Holy Ghost, Charity and Love
 | Crimson lake ⇒ Love |
 | Carmine ⇒ Tenderness |
 | Madder Carmine ⇒ Charity in thought |
 | Scarlet ⇒ Ardour |
 | Vermilion ⇒ Zeal |
 | Burnt Carmine ⇒ Steadfastness |
 | Rose Madder ⇒ Sincerity |
 | Purple Lake ⇒ Power of appreciating the great and good in others |
 | Dahlia Carmine ⇒ Nobility of soul |
 | Dragon’s Blood ⇒ Sympathisiness |
Greens / Browns symbolised Earthly Hopes
 | Mixed Green, Gamboge and Prussian Blue ⇒ Freshness of soul |
 | Emerald Green ⇒ Self control |
 | Veronese Green ⇒ Filial love |
 | Sap Green ⇒ Patience |
 | Deep Green ⇒ Fortitude |
 | Emerald Oxide of Chromium ⇒ Parental love |
 | Burnt Umber ⇒ Love of justice |
 | Sepia ⇒ Nursing powers |
 | Burnt Sienna ⇒ Clearness of judgement |
 | Vandyke Brown ⇒ Frankness |
 | Brown Madder ⇒ Adjustingess |
 | Bistre ⇒ Attractiveness |
For more information on Georgiana Houghton’s spirit drawings visit our biography, exhibitions and publications pages. To discover more about mediumistic art visit our sister website mediumisticart.com