Gwladys Robinson, Marchioness of Ripon when Countess de Grey as Cleopatra
1 portrait of Gwladys Robinson, Marchioness of Ripon
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Gwladys Robinson, Marchioness of Ripon when Countess de Grey as Cleopatra
by W. & D. Downey, photogravure by Walker & Boutall
photogravure, 1897; published 1899
6 3/4 in. x 5 3/8 in. (171 mm x 138 mm) image size
Purchased, 1975
Photographs Collection
NPG Ax41225
Sitterback to top
- Constance Gwladys Robinson (née Herbert), Marchioness of Ripon (1859-1917), Patron of the Russian Ballet; former wife of 4th Earl of Lonsdale, and later wife of 2nd Marquess of Ripon. Sitter in 13 portraits.
Artistsback to top
- W. & D. Downey (active 1855-1940), Photographers. Artist or producer associated with 938 portraits.
- Walker & Boutall, Photographers. Artist or producer associated with 321 portraits.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Hamilton, Peter; Hargreaves, Roger, The Beautiful and the Damned: The Creation of Identity in Nineteenth Century Portrait Photography, 2001 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 6 June to 7 October 2001), p. 8
- Pepper, Terence, High Society: Photographs 1897-1914, 1998 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 30 January to 21 June 1998), p. 22 Read entry
Lady De Grey is dressed as Cleopatra, in a costume purchased in Paris for the Devonshire House Ball. A patron of the arts, she entertained the leading international opera stars of the day at her home in Coombe Court and was a founder of Covent Garden Opera House.
Portrait setback to top
Subjects & Themesback to top
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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