Portrait head of Elsie Bibby

Elsie Bibby was a member of the Bibby family of Liverpool industrialists and shipping magnates. John Bibby, the founder, died in 1840, but three of his four sons continued the business. On the staff of John Bibby and Sons was the young Frederick R. Leyland, who within nine years became a partner and eventually bought out the family firm in the early 1870s. Leyland was a hugely important collector and patron of Victorian Art. The sale of Leyland's collection was held at Christie's in 1899, where at least three of his pictures, including two Rossettis and a Madox Brown entered the collection of John Bibby. Nine works by Rossetti are listed as being in the Bibby family. John Bibby's sale was held in these Rooms, 3 June 1899.