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Lot Essay
Another little maid of my own from early girlhood has been one of the most beautiful and constant of my models, and in every manner of form has her face been reproduced, yet never has it been felt that the grace of the fashion of it has perished. This last autumn her head illustrating the exquisite Maud
There has fallen a splendid tear
From the passion flower at the gate.
is as pure and perfect in outline as were any Madonna studies ten years ago, with ten times added pathos in the expression. The very unusual attributes of her character and complexion of her mind, if I may so call it, deserve mention in due time, and are the wonder of those whose life is blended with ours as intimate friends of the house
- Julia Margaret Cameron, Annals of My Glass House, 1874 (c.f. Hamilton, p. 14.)
Here Cameron, in her own words, describes Mary Ann Hillier, the model used in Sappho. Hillier was Cameron's maid from the age of fourteen and one of her favorite models. She embodied many of the strong, classical features Cameron sought in her subjects. Hillier was also a model of the painter George Frederic Watts, Cameron's mentor.
It was not uncommon for Cameron to give her work multiple titles. The Pretty Housemaid clearly refers to Hillier's role in Cameron's household, however, Sappho was an ancient Greek poetess and is generally associated with themes of love and friendship among women. More than simply feminine beauty, Cameron was interested in subjects relating to the world of women and can be found repeated throughout her work both in biblical and allegorical imagery. Rooted in the Victorian age, Cameron combined subjects already accepted throughout the history of art, predominantly devotional or classical with a visual language of the period, presenting topics considered suggestive or taboo in a reserved yet expressive manner.
In the catalogue for 1986 exhibition Cameron: Her Work and Career at the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House, Joanne Lukitsch observes, "While Cameron's representations of female beauty and subjects of women conformed to the conventional Victorian expectations of women, there are indications in Cameron's subjects of the importance, and even power, of women's activities which confound women's otherwise secondary status." She goes on to give Sappho as well as Flos and Iolande as an examples of this kind of imagery in Cameron's work. Lukitsch continues, "While the presence of men is implicit in many of the activities, the men are physically absent. In these photographs the conventional, reactive roles of women were honored by their elevation and seperation from men. In the last major project of her career, her 1874-75 photographs to the Idylls of the King, Cameron illustrated women characters who possessed power and influence, but who did not challenge the order of Arthur's kingdom." (Lukitsch, p. 29.)
Examples of both Sappho and Flos and Iolande were included an album given by Cameron to Lord Overstone in 1865. The Overstone Album included one hundred and ten plates, divided into three categories, "Portraits", "Madonna Groups" and "Fancy Subjects for Pictorial Effect". Produced quite early in her photographic career - she had taken up photography in 1863 - the album was a remarkable collection.
Another print of this image is in the collection of the George Eastman House, Rochester.
There has fallen a splendid tear
From the passion flower at the gate.
is as pure and perfect in outline as were any Madonna studies ten years ago, with ten times added pathos in the expression. The very unusual attributes of her character and complexion of her mind, if I may so call it, deserve mention in due time, and are the wonder of those whose life is blended with ours as intimate friends of the house
- Julia Margaret Cameron, Annals of My Glass House, 1874 (c.f. Hamilton, p. 14.)
Here Cameron, in her own words, describes Mary Ann Hillier, the model used in Sappho. Hillier was Cameron's maid from the age of fourteen and one of her favorite models. She embodied many of the strong, classical features Cameron sought in her subjects. Hillier was also a model of the painter George Frederic Watts, Cameron's mentor.
It was not uncommon for Cameron to give her work multiple titles. The Pretty Housemaid clearly refers to Hillier's role in Cameron's household, however, Sappho was an ancient Greek poetess and is generally associated with themes of love and friendship among women. More than simply feminine beauty, Cameron was interested in subjects relating to the world of women and can be found repeated throughout her work both in biblical and allegorical imagery. Rooted in the Victorian age, Cameron combined subjects already accepted throughout the history of art, predominantly devotional or classical with a visual language of the period, presenting topics considered suggestive or taboo in a reserved yet expressive manner.
In the catalogue for 1986 exhibition Cameron: Her Work and Career at the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House, Joanne Lukitsch observes, "While Cameron's representations of female beauty and subjects of women conformed to the conventional Victorian expectations of women, there are indications in Cameron's subjects of the importance, and even power, of women's activities which confound women's otherwise secondary status." She goes on to give Sappho as well as Flos and Iolande as an examples of this kind of imagery in Cameron's work. Lukitsch continues, "While the presence of men is implicit in many of the activities, the men are physically absent. In these photographs the conventional, reactive roles of women were honored by their elevation and seperation from men. In the last major project of her career, her 1874-75 photographs to the Idylls of the King, Cameron illustrated women characters who possessed power and influence, but who did not challenge the order of Arthur's kingdom." (Lukitsch, p. 29.)
Examples of both Sappho and Flos and Iolande were included an album given by Cameron to Lord Overstone in 1865. The Overstone Album included one hundred and ten plates, divided into three categories, "Portraits", "Madonna Groups" and "Fancy Subjects for Pictorial Effect". Produced quite early in her photographic career - she had taken up photography in 1863 - the album was a remarkable collection.
Another print of this image is in the collection of the George Eastman House, Rochester.