Margot Asquith as an Oriental Snake Charmer
8 of 53 portraits of Margot Asquith
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Margot Asquith as an Oriental Snake Charmer
by Alexander Bassano
half-plate glass negative, 1897
Given by Bassano & Vandyk Studios, 1974
Photographs Collection
NPG x18798
Sitterback to top
- Margaret Emma Alice ('Margot') Asquith (née Tennant), Countess of Oxford and Asquith (1864-1945), Society hostess; second wife of 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith; daughter of Sir Charles Tennant, 1st Bt. Sitter associated with 53 portraits.
Artistback to top
- Alexander Bassano (1829-1913), Photographer. Artist or producer associated with 2805 portraits, Sitter in 4 portraits.
This portraitback to top
Shown here dressed as an Oriental Snake Charmer for the Diamond Jubilee Devonshire House Fancy Dress Ball.
Events of 1897back to top
Current affairs
Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee is marked by a series of celebratory events, and attended by eleven colonial prime ministers following the Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain's proposal that the Jubilee be made a festival of the British Empire.The Workmen's Compensation Act gives workmen a right to a limited compensation in every case of injury by accident arising from the course of employment; it is a landmark piece of legislation in employment law.
Art and science
Bram Stoker's Dracula is first published.Henry Tate of the Tate and Lyle sugar company donates his art collection to the nation, buying land and building a gallery space for it (now Tate Britain).
Physician and psychologist Havelock Ellis publishes the first volume of his Studies in the Psychology of Sex, and the English physicist John Thompson discovers the existence of the electron.
International
The burning of Benin city by Britain takes place, known also as the Punitive Exhibition of 1897. The excursion, led by Admiral Sir Harry Rawson, was a response to an attack by Benin warriors on a British delegation sent to settle a dispute over customs duties collected by British traders. During the expedition the British Admiralty destroyed much of the city's treasured art, including the Benin Bronzes, auctioning off the rest as war booty to recoup costs.Comments back to top
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