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Lot Essay
Fanny Cornforth (1835-1906) dominated Rossetti’s imagination throughout the first half of the 1860s and sat for nearly all of his most important works of the period. Born Sarah Cox, her combination of beauty, magnetism and her sensual nature proved irresistible to the artist. She was a complete contrast to the delicate, neurotic and ailing Lizzie Siddal, with whom he'd had a long and tortured relationship. Although there is no proof, it seems likely that Fanny became not only Rossetti’s model but also his mistress before he was reunited with and married Lizzie in 1860. Following Lizzie’s death two years later, Rossetti moved to Chelsea and Fanny was installed as his housekeeper. She remained there for at least the next decade and even when Rossetti became entranced by other beauties, such as Alexa Wilding and Jane Morris, he and Fanny remained close and he continued to rely on her for practical help and the emotional stability he so needed in his later years.
Her first sitting to Rossetti was in August 1856, as the model for the farmer’s sweetheart in Found (Bancroft Collection, Willmington). In 1859 she sat for Bocca Bociata (Museum of Fine Arts Boston), which is generally regarded as the painting which marks the emergence of Rossetti’s mature style and a crucial study in Aestheticism. Cornforth also sat for other artists including Burne-Jones and the watercolourist George Price Boyce (1826-1897). The latter appears to have formed a close bond with the model and it is thought that she perhaps also had an affair with Boyce.
Boyce first met Rossetti in 1849 and the two became firm friends. Boyce formed an extensive collection of the work of many of his contemporaries including Millais, Burne-Jones, Poynter, Leighton, Holman Hunt and Rossetti amongst others. He acquired a number of Rossetti’s early works including How They Met Themselves (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge) and in 1859 he commissioned Bocca Baciata (1859, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston). He also acquired various more informal and intimate portraits of Fanny by Rossetti, such as Fanny Cornforth, asleep on a chaise-longue, (The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles).
Her first sitting to Rossetti was in August 1856, as the model for the farmer’s sweetheart in Found (Bancroft Collection, Willmington). In 1859 she sat for Bocca Bociata (Museum of Fine Arts Boston), which is generally regarded as the painting which marks the emergence of Rossetti’s mature style and a crucial study in Aestheticism. Cornforth also sat for other artists including Burne-Jones and the watercolourist George Price Boyce (1826-1897). The latter appears to have formed a close bond with the model and it is thought that she perhaps also had an affair with Boyce.
Boyce first met Rossetti in 1849 and the two became firm friends. Boyce formed an extensive collection of the work of many of his contemporaries including Millais, Burne-Jones, Poynter, Leighton, Holman Hunt and Rossetti amongst others. He acquired a number of Rossetti’s early works including How They Met Themselves (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge) and in 1859 he commissioned Bocca Baciata (1859, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston). He also acquired various more informal and intimate portraits of Fanny by Rossetti, such as Fanny Cornforth, asleep on a chaise-longue, (The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles).