Some Old Time Beauties: After Portraits by the English Masters, with Embellishment and Comment

In Short

This collection examines the lives of women whose images were immortalized by the masters of English portraiture, such as Gainsborough, Reynolds, and Romney. By blending historical biography with art criticism, the work explores how these figures navigated the pressures of high society, political influence, and personal scandal. It serves as a study of the "cult of beauty" in the Georgian era, contrasting the polished, idealized versions of these women seen on canvas with the private struggles, financial woes, and enduring legacies they faced in their actual lives.

The Story

The narrative arc of the book begins with the "dashing" Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, a woman whose beauty and intellect made her a political force during the era of the Whigs. Despite her status, her life was shadowed by chronic gambling debts and a complex domestic situation involving the Duke’s mistress, Lady Elizabeth Foster. This set-piece establishes the book’s central tension: the dissonance between a woman’s public radiance and her private, often tumultuous, reality.

The portraits move next to the Hon. Mrs. Graham, whose life offers a poignant contrast. A woman of quiet devotion, her sudden death prompted her husband to leave behind a life of civilian comfort to pursue a brilliant military career in the Peninsular War, effectively transforming his grief into historical action. This arc highlights the profound, lasting impact these women exerted upon the men around them, even long after their passing.

The focus shifts to the more scandalous trajectories of figures like Lady Hamilton and the Gunning sisters. Emma, Lady Hamilton, emerges from humble origins and questionable circumstances to become the muse of George Romney and an icon of classical grace. Her story is one of dramatic reinvention, colored by the intense, often predatory, gaze of the artists and aristocratic "bloods" who sought to possess her image. Similarly, the Gunning sisters—Maria and Elizabeth—arrive in London as impoverished Irish beauties, only to be propelled into the highest echelons of the peerage through a mixture of extraordinary luck and calculated marriages. Their lives, while outwardly successful, reveal the performative nature of eighteenth-century celebrity, where a simple walk in the park required a military escort to manage the clamoring crowds.

The latter half of the collection turns toward the "stronger fibre" of women like the Duchess of Rutland and Lavinia, Countess Spencer. Here, the narrative emphasizes the role of the aristocratic hostess. Lavinia, in particular, is depicted not merely as a decorative beauty, but as a sharp-witted political strategist and a vital partner to her husband at the Admiralty. The collection concludes with the life of Elizabeth, Countess Grosvenor, whose long tenure in the public eye underscores the evolution of these women from transient symbols of fashion into pillars of the Victorian establishment. Her legacy, defined by her devotion to family and conservative politics, provides a stable, dignified bookend to the volatile, impulsive lives documented in the early chapters.

How It Unfolds

The rise of the Whig icon The book opens with the vibrant, politically active Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, whose charm was as legendary as her debilitating addiction to the faro table. Her portraiture serves as a foundation for understanding the era's obsession with both surface beauty and the behind-the-scenes failures of the elite.

The transformation of loss The trajectory of the Hon. Mrs. Graham illustrates how personal tragedy catalyzed a shift in the masculine sphere, turning a bereaved husband into a celebrated hero of the Napoleonic Wars. This section underscores the lingering, almost ghost-like influence of a beloved figure upon the lives of the living.

The spectacle of the muse The chapters on Emma, Lady Hamilton, detail the commodification of beauty, tracking her transition from a barmaid to a celebrated model for classical paintings. The narrative maps how her features were adapted by painters to suit various mythological archetypes, effectively detaching her identity from her actual history.

The political hostess The focus shifts to women like Lavinia, Countess Spencer, who utilized their social standing to command influence in ministerial circles. These accounts argue that these women were active participants in the intellectual and political life of their time, rather than mere subjects for the painter’s brush.

The enduring legacy The final segments trace the lives of women who survived well into the nineteenth century, bridging the gap between the Georgian masters and modern posterity. The text concludes by noting how the descendants of these beauties continued to shape the social and political fabric of England.

The People

Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, stands as the most vibrant figure, defined by her impulsive generosity and her struggle to maintain a veneer of composure despite financial ruin and a fractured marriage. In contrast, the Hon. Mrs. Graham is remembered for her gentle, steadying presence, which inadvertently sparked her husband’s late-blooming heroism.

Emma, Lady Hamilton, is the most tragic figure, a woman of extraordinary adaptability who sought to escape the limitations of her birth through dramatic performance and strategic alliances, only to be perpetually shadowed by the stigma of her past. The Gunning sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, represent the raw power of physical attraction; they use their beauty as currency to secure ducal marriages, though they remain largely trapped by the superficial expectations of their status. Finally, Lavinia, Countess Spencer, emerges as the most intellectually formidable. She is a woman who leverages her social grace to influence the Admiralty and the political landscape, proving that for some, beauty was merely a secondary feature of a much sharper, more tactical mind.

In Its Own Voice

"The Dashing Duchess,--the impulsive, ebullient beauty whose smile swayed ministers, and for whose favor princes were beggars!"

This opening characterization of the Duchess of Devonshire sets the tone for the book's fascination with the outsized influence of the aristocratic class.

"There is a genial graciousness in the face of she of Coventry, while the Scotch duchess is possessed of a persuasive sweetness of mien."

The author provides this assessment of the Gunning sisters, distinguishing their personalities through the lens of their painted portraits.

"She had the penetration to appreciate Nelson through the cloud of personal vanity and silly conceit which caused him to be lightly esteemed in London society."

This observation regarding Countess Spencer highlights the author’s interest in the political insight and discernment of the women he profiles.

What It's Really About

The central question is the nature of legacy: how much of a person survives in the portrait compared to the reality of their existence? The book argues that there is a profound tension between the "scientific" flattery of the painter and the messy, often contradictory truth of the subject’s life. It challenges the reader to look past the "fair form" of the woman to examine the internal fortitude required to survive in a society that valued women primarily for their aesthetic contributions. It explores the cost of beauty, the mechanisms of social mobility, and the ways in which these women—often painted as saints or goddesses—were, in truth, the active architects of their own complex, often survivalist, social strategies.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate the intersection of art history and biographical narrative will find this volume deeply engaging. It provides a window into a vanished world of salon politics, grand estates, and the intense, often performative nature of eighteenth-century society. The writing is marked by a Victorian-era appreciation for the "English masters," which makes the descriptions of the paintings feel as vibrant as the biographies themselves.

However, modern readers should be prepared for the author's period-specific perspectives. The book frequently employs a tone of moral judgment regarding the "transgressions" of certain women, and its class-conscious worldview is very much a product of its time. At times, the prose can be dense, favoring a flowery, oratorical style that reflects its 1895 publication date. Despite these stylistic hurdles, there is a genuine warmth in the author's treatment of these figures. The book is less about a dry recitation of facts and more about the "old-time flavor" of the era. It leaves the reader with a poignant sense of the ephemerality of fame, reminding us that even the most "dazzling" figures of the past were, ultimately, human beings searching for a measure of security and purpose in a world that was often as cold as it was beautiful.