Aesthetically pleasing

• Ellen Terry

  Ellen Terry, the famous actress, represented the ideal aesthetic woman. She frequently flouted society with her independent lifestyle, but became a role model for the new modern woman. A leader of style in all matters, she is photographed here against a fashionable Japanese screen. Photography was a novel and exciting development in Victorian days. Most actors and actresses had studio photographs taken in everyday dress or theatrical costume for 'cartes de visite' and later 'cabinet cards'. Both were albumen prints made from glass negatives, attached to stiff card backing printed with the photographer's name. 'Cartes de visite', the size of formal visiting cards, were patented in 1854 and produced in their millions during the 1860s when it became fashionable to collect them. Their subjects included scenic views, tourist attractions and works of art as well as portraits. They were superseded in the late 1870s by the larger and sturdier 'cabinet cards' whose popularity waned in turn during the 1890s in favour of postcards and studio portraits. This photograph comes from a large collection of 'cartes de visite' and 'cabinet cards' removed from their backings and mounted in albums by Guy Tristram Little (d. 1952) who bequeathed them to the V&A. A collector of greetings cars, games and photographs, Guy Little was a partner in the legal firm Messrs Milles Jennings White & Foster and the solicitor and executor of Mrs Gabrielle Enthoven, whose theatrical collection formed the basis of the Theatre Collections at the V&A.

  

  
  

  
  
  
  Leyland married Fredrick Richard Dawson and became Frances Dawson (1834–1910) in 1855, but they separated in 1879.
  They had four children together:
  • Frederick Dawson (b. 1856)
  • Fanny (b. 1857)
  • Florence (b. 1859), married Valentine Cameron Prinsep
  • Elinor (1861–1952)

  • Note Frances Leyland posed for this work in the drawing room of Whistler’s own home at Lindsey Row, Chelsea. Whistler actually designed the dress she wore so that she would harmonise with the colour of his interior. Notice how he balanced the delicate ribbons and rosettes of her dress with the branch of blossom on one side and his butterfly signature on the other. This is an unusual painting. Frances Leyland was a wealthy and important patron of Whistler and yet the artist concentrated more on the beautiful sweep of her dress than on her face, showing her from behind. The title, with its musical allusion, enhances the suggestion that the true subject is beauty of colour and form. The little squares you can see on the floor are part of the rush matting which Whistler used in his home instead of carpets. Look how he uses them to create a decorative pattern. The painting was a companion to Whistler’s portrait of her husband,

    Birth	1836 North Shields, Northumberland
    Marriage	Frederick Richards Leyland - ‎[View Family ‎(F12706)‎‎] 23 March 1855 ‎(Age 19)‎ Liverpool, Lancashire Note: they had three daughters and one son
    Event	Frederick Richards Leyland - ‎[View Family ‎(F12706)‎‎] 1879 ‎(Age 43)‎ The couple separated
    Death	1910 ‎(Age 74)‎ Chelsea, London

  
  
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