Margery thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Margery

Drawing
1893 (made)
Artist/Maker
Aubrey Beardsley (artist)
Place of origin
London (made)

A drawing in black ink on white paper depicting a caricature depicting Kate Philips in character as Margery from Alfred Lord Tennyson's play 'Becket'. The character is dressed in clothes typically worn by maids or servants.


Object details

Categories
Drawings
Caricatures & Cartoons
Theatre
Illustration
Object type
Drawing
TitleMargery (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Pen and Indian ink, and graphite on paper
Paper
Ink
Graphite
Drawing
Brief description
Drawing by Aubrey Beardsley, 'Margery' one of a series of three caricatures of actors in character in Tennyson's 'Becket', produced by Sir Henry Irving at the Lyceum Theatre, London, 6 February 1893, pen and Indian ink and graphite on paper, London, 1893
Physical description
A drawing in black ink on white paper depicting a caricature depicting Kate Philips in character as Margery from Alfred Lord Tennyson's play 'Becket'. The character is dressed in clothes typically worn by maids or servants.
Dimensions
  • Height: 126mm
  • Width: 98mm
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'AB' (Signed in ink)
  • (Inscribed in graphite with notes)
  • 'MARGERY' (Inscribed in ink)
Credit line
Bequeathed by H. H. Harrod
Object history
Bequeathed by H. H. Harrod, 1948
Subject depicted
Phillips, Kate
Literary referenceBecket by Aubrey Beardsley
Associated object
E.471-1899 (Reproduction)
Bibliographic references
  • Calloway, Stephen. Aubrey Beardsley. London: V & A Publications, 1998. 224pp, illus. ISBN: 1851772197.
  • Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design, and Department of Paintings, Accessions: 1948, Volume II, Henry Herbert Harrod Bequest, London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1957
  • Linda Gertner Zatlin, Aubrey Beardsley : a catalogue raisonne. New Haven : Yale University Press, [2016] 2 volumes (xxxi, [1], 519, [1] pages; xi, [1], 547, [1] pages) : illustrations (some color) ; 31 cm. ISBN: 9780300111279 The entry is as follows: 283 Margery Early February 1893 Victoria and Albert Museum, London (E.33-1948) Pen and Indian ink over pencil on white wove paper; 4 15/6 x 3 13/16 inches (126 x 98 mm); signed. INSCRIPTIONS: Recto inscribed by artist in ink: [monogram at bottom left in cursive]: A B / [at right side]: MARGERY. / [in pencil]: 2 have by / Monday night 6 / [?] / 6; Verso in pencil: 8496 / P.M.G. / E.33-1948 PROVENANCE: G. R. Halkett; bt. R. A. Walker in 1913 and sold to Herbert von Garvens; …; H. H. Harrod; bequeathed to Victoria and Albert Museum in 1948. EXHIBITION: London 1966-8 (152) LITERATURE: Vallance 1897 (p.203), 1909 (no.55.iii.4); Gallatin 1945 (no. 256); Reade 1967 (p.314 n.44); Samuels Lasner 1995 (no.9) REPRODUCED: Pall Mall Budget 9 February 1893 (p. 188); Early Work 1899 (no.144); Reade 1967 (plate 43). This drawing is one of eight that Beardsley made for the Pall Mall Budget to illustrate a review of Tennyson’s Beckett (1879), which opened at the Lyceum Theatre, London, on 6 February 1893. In the play Margery, played by Kate Phillips, is Godfrey’s nurse. Beardsley draws her as a chunky young girl.For further comment on Beardsley’s drawings for the Pall Mall Budget, see no. 274 above.
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.33-1948

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O601843/margery-drawing-aubrey-beardsley/
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