Portrait of Gertrude ELLIOTT
Photography
Inventory number
2022.3.31.11.PH.TH.1906.GBAuthor:
Lizzie CASWALL SMITH (British, 1870 – 1958)Description
Paper photograph on a photographer's studio cardboard background, depicting a young woman, a famous American and British actress, Gertrude ELLIOTT, later Lady Forbes-Robertson (1874 - 1950). She is represented in a scene costume for the role of Portia in "The Merchant of Venice", a theater play originally written by William SHAKESPEARE, where she played the main female role with her husband Johnston FORBES-ROBERTSON in 1906. The gown consists of a silk brocade dress, with intricate Renaissance pattern, with puffy gigot sleeves, square neckline, creating a mixed style of Italian Renaissance and Edwardian fashions, trimmed with stones and pearls. She is wearing a two strand necklace, made of pearls of different sizes, shapes and colours, with the upper strand in a choker, and the second row going down the waistline. The lady's hair is in updo style braided with silk ribbons and pearls. She is leaning on a chair hidden under a velvet cape.Materials
Analog photographyCardboard
Origin
1906 London, EnglandDimensions
Length : 19.7 cmHeight : 26 cm