Saturday 13th December - A Quiet Half Hour

I had big plans for today but as we are all quite exhausted, I'm staying home and relaxing rather than attempt any Christmas Market action. Gives me more time for this sort of thing...

'A Quiet Half-Hour' (1876) Lionel Charles Henley

 I almost didn't pick this one as it is very similar to our first outing with the lass and her parrot on a chain.  Yes, we have the decorative items and the tea set out, but there is something completely different going on her. The speech marks on the title are either her telling someone she is having a quiet half hour or she has been told to go and have a bit of a sit down, implying that the rest of her time is active and busy. I'm particularly enamoured with the golden screen behind her with the fans attached.

That is a gorgeous shimmering screen, so are we to assume that our young lady is worldly? Has she been off in Japan?

That vase is beautiful, as is the little statuette - is it the Venus de Milo? I can't tell as it doesn't have a million tourists stood in front of it and my feet don't hurt. Again, it hints that the lass putting her feet up is comfortable with the bric-a-brac of world travel and the resulting art collection. I also love how, despite being well dressed, she appears to be lolling about in much the same way as anyone would, which is very impressive as she is presumably wearing a corset. I think our girl is an adventurer, a collector and she has gone off to have a quiet half-hour, after which she will climb a mountain or something. Good for her.

The Studio (1887)

Okay, I rather like Mr Henley, especially after I found this painting. Lionel Charles Henley (1833-93) was active from the 1860s up until his death in 1893, scoring 10 Royal Academy exhibition paintings. He was better known as 'Bill' to his friends that included George du Maurier, whom he shared a house with for a time after meeting while studying in Dussledorf. In an obituary of him in the St James Budget it was written 'He was one of the most genial and loveable of men, and of him it could honestly be said he never made an enemy.'

The Tiff (1889)

I think it can be safely said that he like a narrative piece, especially if you see some of the titles for his Royal Academy works, such as Left in Charge (1864), A Vexed Question (1882) and A Labour of Love (1885).  It was noted in his obituary in the Hampstead and Highgate Express that towards the end of his life, Henley set his paintings in the 18th century, such as The Tiff and The Miniature, which have a tendency to look very much like the work of Ed Blair Leighton

The Miniature (1880s)

I love this picture of a Regency girl studying a portrait in a little frame, with fans on the shelf behind her.  Again, she is a wealthy, leisured young woman, but once more I like the relaxed nature of the image.

Before I sign off for the day, as you know I like a bit of a nose about in people's family tree and I really don't have time today to unpick all this, but Lionel died in 1893 leaving his wife Esther Lydia Newman (or Lydia Esther, as we will see) to live apparently another decade.  Esther was a little older than Lionel, born in 1827, which will become relevant, as they married in 1862, when she was 35 years old.  I'm not judging but that seemed a little old.  However, Lydia Esther Newman (of the same dates and area) had already been married to carpenter John Edward Speed in 1845, when she was 18, and that marriage was dissolved in 1861 when it was found she had run off with Henry Charles Key and was living in sin in Brompton. Lawks. The only reason I thought this had the vague possibility of being the same woman was that in the 1901 census, Lydia 'Henry' (corrected to Henley), a widow, is living with her son, the artist Edward Speed.  I wish I had time now to see if that was indeed the same woman, but I don't. However, Lydia/Esther, I will be back...

See you tomorrow.