19thC; Hawarden C, D 566, 5 Princes Gardens, Clementina, c. 1862-93

Sepia photograph, mounted on green card, of a young woman seated in an armchair, eyes, closed, a book open in her hands.

Given by Lady Clementina Tottenham

From departmental notes

'Clementina, Lady Hawarden (Untitled) Photographic Study (or) Study from Life (D.566) c.1862-c.1863 5 Princes Gardens, interior: first floor, front: right window (net curtain drawn back): screen: floor-boards: Clementina, in fancy dress (blouse and long skirt), eyes closed, reclining in barrel chair, left hand holding open book in lap, right arm thrown over head, holding hair back. Inscriptions (verso): No 53 (or) No 58 (or) No 83 (or) No 88 (?) (and) Clementina Maude (?) Print from same negative as RWS 39 (D.566a). 107 x 84 mm PH 457-1968:268 Literature: Microfilm: 3.19.264 Though it has not been established that Lady Hawarden knew James McNeill Whistler, nor that Whistler ever mentioned having seen or admired her photographs, they could have been introduced by Francis Seymour Haden, Whistler's brother-in-law, with whose family Whistler lived occasionally during the 1850s. Like Lady Hawarden, Whistler focused on intimate domestic interiors in the late 1850s. Significantly, the home featured in these works is that of the Haden family in Knightsbridge. His drypoint portraits of his nephew Arthur Haden (1859) [Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington] and his niece Annie Haden (1860) [Freer Gallery] have a photographic quality which may be compared to portraits by Lady Hawarden, for instance, Ph 457-1968:402 (D.263) Ph 457-1968:479 (D.238). In mood and composition this photograph is reminiscent of Whistler's drypoint Weary (1863) [Freer Gallery], which shows his mistress Jo Hiffernan half-reclining in an armchair, her hair loose around her. It appears that in this instance Whistler and Lady Hawarden perhaps shared an interest in depicting a moment of delicate beauty. In the Whistler print, drypoint lines fill the background. In the photograph, a similar texture is described by the shadow patterns of ferns cast by the net curtain. In mood and composition this photograph is reminiscent of Whistler's drypoint Weary (1863) [Freer Gallery], which shows his mistress Jo Hiffernan half-reclining in an armchair, her hair loose around her. It appears that in this instance Whistler and Lady Hawarden perhaps shared an interest in depicting a moment of delicate beauty. In the Whistler print, drypoint lines fill the background. In the photograph, a similar texture is described by the shadow patterns of ferns cast by the net curtain.'

Reason For Production: Exhibition
Reason For Production: Retail

Virginia Dodier compares this photograph to a drypoint print by James McNeill Whistler titled Weary (1863). It shows his mistress Jo Hiffernan reclining in an armchair. The network of lines on the wall beside her is similar to the pattern of the net curtain seen in Lady Hawarden’s photograph. Whistler and Hawarden were alike in that they both illustrated moments of stillness, introspection and reverie.

457:268-1968