AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES
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AN ARTIST'S
REMINISCENCES
BY
WALTER CRANE
WITH ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS
BY THE AUTHOR, AND OTHERS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS
NEW YORK
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1907
PREFACE
WHEN Messrs. Methuen suggested to me that I might
write my Reminiscences I was quite taken by surprise.
In the midst of a busy life one does not think of such things,
or if a thought of the possibility of recording one's personal
happenings does occur, it is probably consigned to some
dreamed-of tranquil time in days of retirement.
However, when a man begins to say " I remember," it is
a sign that he has mental records of a different world from the
present, and probably of actors long passed from the world's
stage.
In these revolutionary times, when changes are so rapid,
it needs no great pretensions to fulness of years to have
witnessed extraordinary transformations in the outward aspects
of life, in manners and customs, in dress, as well as in mental
attitude. A comparatively short life would be sufficient in
which to have observed most extraordinary changes in the
aspects of London, for instance. Twenty or thirty years ago,
measured by the changes which have taken place, might well
be centuries, and this would also hold good of the less obvious
and less noted, perhaps, shifting of intellectual focus, to say
nothing of political and social change.
The main interest of reminiscences lies, however, I presume,
in the direct personal impressions a writer may be able to give
of eminent persons he has met, or of scenes and movements
of which he has been a witness or in which he has taken part.
As the years roll by, and new generations arise who only
know the names of certain distinguished men and women, or
are acquainted with them only through their works or their
fame — poets, savants, artists, statesmen — first-hand information
or fresh personal impressions are apt to acquire an unusual
interest. Such interest is often, too, concentrated on the not-
viii AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES
so-very-long-ago times, the days that are so near and yet so
far — farther perhaps in some ways than much remoter periods
of history. People are often said to resemble their grand-
parents, and there may be in consequence a certain sympathetic
interest between the youngest and the oldest generation. The
world before railroads and telegraphs seems lost in the mystery
of fascinating romance, while the introduction of the motor
marks an entirely new epoch, affecting as it seems to do both
mental states and social life in so many ways. But sometimes
even the very newest fashions are apt to hark back, and
nothing seems so old as the out-of-date nowadays.
Life is a strange masquerade : as the procession passes in
the glare of the full noontide one hardly grasps its full
significance, but perchance partly lost in the mist of the past,
one becomes aware of larger meanings, and in perspective both
persons and events assume different proportions.
Well, I can offer no complete or systematic records of the
last fifty years or so, and it may seem a rather curious medley
of events, persons, and things which the following pages present.
I do not even pretend that it gives a complete record of one's
own artistic career. One's work as an artist is rather the warp
in the loom through which are interwoven, like different wefts,
the passing impressions of persons and events and of travel
in various countries, coloured by those personal thoughts and
feelings, which go to make up the fabric of a life.
WALTER CRANE
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. Of Early Life and Associations, Torquay, 1845-57 i
II. Removal to London, 1857, and Early Experiences
THERE UNTIL 1859 . . . . .34
III. Apprenticeship to W. J. Linton, 1858-62 . . 45
IV. Early Work, 1862-70 ..... 66
V. Marriage and Visit to Italy, 1871-73 . .110
VI. Life in the "Bush," 1873-79 . . . 154
VII. Record of Work — Italy revisited, 1880-84 • 209
VIII. Art and Socialism, 1885-90 .... 249
IX. Bohemia — Italy — Visit to America, 1890-92 . 339
X. Kensington — Hungary — Italy, i 892-1 903 . . 410
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Shield on Crane Monument, Chilton Church, Suffolk— Crane
Shield impaled, Wood Rising Church — Crane Arms as used
BY Thomas Crane (my Father). From a Heralds' College
Drawing, Early Nineteenth Century — Seal of William
Crane, South Creke, Temp. Edward IV. — Brass of Sir
Francis Crane in Wood Rising Church — Sir Robert Crane
{1480), East Window, Long Melford Church, Suffolk . 6
Early Study of a Setter (1858) ...... 42
Silhouette Portrait of Walter Crane at about the Age of
Twelve — Silhouette Portrait of my Mother, by my Father
— Silhouette Portrait of my Father, by Himself , . 55
Cock Robin and Jenny Wren ...... 75
Sketch at Haddon Hall (1865) ...... 79
A Derbyshire Pastoral ....... 86
The Passionate Shepherd (H. E. W.)— Fancy Sketch of Walter
Crane and H. E. Wooldridge in Old Age . . .87
Paris Fashions in 1866 ....... 89
Sketches at Paris (1866) ....... 90
At Ambleside ........ 108
Monument to Dr. William Harvey, Hempstead Church . . iii
The Old House at Hempstead, Essex . . . . .112
Harwich . . . . . . . . .114
The Seven Mountains, from a Window in the Hotel de Hollande,
Cologne . . . . . . . . .116
Aschaffenburg (1871) . . . . . . .118
Sketch at Munich (1871) . . . . . . .119
Venice— Lord Byron's House . . . . . .122
Sketch in St. Mark's, Venice (1871) ..... 123
We take Steps to secure Apartments (Rome, 1872) . . . 128
The Breakfast Boy, Quattro Piano (Rome, 1872) . . . 132
xn
AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES
An Allegory of the Dinner Box (Rome, 1872)
The Cervaro Festival (Rome, 1872)
Pests of Southern Italy (1872) .
Water-Spouts (Capri, 1872)
Leaving Capri (1872)
A Quiet Apartment (Rome, 1873)
There's no Place like Home (Rome, 1871-73) .
Sketch of Lionel Francis Crane at Two Years old
The Gods receiving Cupid and Psyche (i)
Early design by Sir E. Burne-Jones. Engraved on wood by William Morris
The Gods receiving Cupid and Psyche (2)
Early design by Sir E. Burne-Jones. Cut by William Morris
Pheasant-Shooting at Wortley (1876) .
Allegorical Sketch for Base of Silver Cup .
Beatrice among the Lions at Combe Bank (1881)
Old Inn Window at Bolsover, with Sketch of J. R. Wise
Sketch of "The Sirens" (Grosvenor Gallery, 1879)
Sketch of Lancelot Crane at the Age of One Year and Seven
Months ....
Sketch on Board a Yacht
Sketch of the Rev. Stopford A. Brooke (Naworth, i88i)— Sketch
of T. J. Cobden-Sanderson (Naworth, 1881)
Sketch of Mazzini's Tomb (Genoa, 1882)
Sketch at Venice (1882) ....
Portrait of Lucy Crane (1882) .
Sketch of Beatrice Crane (Littlehampton, 1882)
Memory Sketch of Henrik Ibsen (Rome, 1883)
Frontispiece to "English Living Poets"
William Morris's Design for the Card of Membership of the
Social Democratic Federation
Design for Louise Michel's International School
Mrs. Grundy frightened at her own Shadow
Cover of Linnell's Death Song .
Caricature of a page of Baby's Own ^Esop .
By Mrs. Houghton
Sketch of St. David's Cathedral (1885)
279
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
xiu
rACB
Sketch at Malisic, Bohemia (1890) ..... 346
The Triumph of Labour ....... 355
Restoration at the Brunswick ...... 363
My First Cocktail ........ 364
The One-Horse Shay in Walden Woods .... 370
The Button-Presser — Fancy Portrait of the Man of the Future 379
The Round Table at Winetka (H. D. Lloyd's Family Party) . 380
Our Guide to China Town, San Francisco {1892) . . . 386
Street Signs in American Towns ..... 393
The Flies of Florida ....... 396
Statue of Liberty, New York Harbour .... 403
CoBHAM Hall ........ 419
German Official and British Tourist ..... 422
Pilgrims to Bayreuth ....... 423
England to her own Rescue ...... 427
Sketch of Old Elvet Bridge, Durham (1895) .... 433
Sketch of William Morris speaking from a Waggon in Hyde
Park ......... 440
John Ruskin's Home, Brantwood, Coniston .... 447
Design to commemorate the Conclusion of Peace with the
Boers . . . . . . . . . 465
Sketch from Life of Maurice Jokai . . . . . 471
Vaidi Hunyad ........ 476
Caricature by Mr. Farago — the Hungarian Minister of Fine
Art and Walter Crane at Budapest (1900) . . . 479
Souvenir Card (Holland), Turin (1902) .... 490
Souvenir Card (Japan), Turin (1902) . . . . .491
LIST QF PLATES
Walter Crane, R.W.S.
From the Portrait by G. F. Watts
Frontispiece
Thomas Crane .......
From a Miniature by himself about 1840. This block kindly lent by Messrs
Velhagen and Klasing
Marie Crane .......
From a Water-Colour Drawing by Thomas Crane, dated 1840. This block
kindly lent by Messrs. Velhagen and Klasing
Anstey's Cove .......
From a Charcoal Drawing by Thomas Crane
Sketch of a Horse at Ireland's Farm, 1858-59
Mr. Pig and Miss Crane ......
From the Book designed and lithographed by Thomas and William Crane
of Chester
Sketches at Linton's Office in Hatton Garden, 1860-61 .
Study for an Early Picture, "The Eve of St. Agnes"
Walter Crane in 1862 ....
From a Photograph
Walter Crane in 1865 . . . ' .
From a Photograph
Sketch for "Twilight," Dudley Gallery, 1866
Sketch at Cawsand Bay, 1866
Self Portrait at the Age of Twenty-one
Sketch on the Pincio, Rome, 187 i
"Diana and the Shepherd," 1882
" La Belle Dame sans Merci," 1884
"The Bridge of Life," 1884
In the Seeger Collection Berlin
FACING PAGE
2
37
49
52
64
66
66
76
80
82
108
114
115
116
LIST OF PLATES
XV
FACING PAGE
Mr. R. B. Cunningham Graham ...... 136
From a Photograph kindly lent
The Right Hon. John Burns, M.P. . . . . . 136
From a Photograph kindly lent
"Amor Vincit Omnia," 1875 ...... 139
In the Collection of Sir Francis Gore
My Studio at Beaumont Lodge, 1885 ..... 143
From a Photograph
"Freedom," 1885 ........ 144
"Pandora," 1885 ........ 145
Sketch for "The Riddle of the Sphinx," 1885 . . . 146
"The Arts of Italy" ....... 148
From a Water-Colour Drawing after the Royal Institute Tableau, 1885.
Sir Henry Irving's Collection
Sketch of the Countess of Wharncliffe at her Embroidery
Frame, 1876 ........ 150
"The Renascence of Venus," 1877 . . . . -151
"The Chariot of the Hours," 1887 . . . . .177
Our Party in Greece ....... 181
From a Photograph
Page from "The First of May," 1880 . . . . .183
"Europa," 1881 ........ 191
In the Seeger Collection, Berlin
Page from "The Gladstone Golden Wedding Album," 1889 . 195
"The Roll of Fate," 1882 . . . . . . 203
In the Somerset Beaumont Collection
" Baby Bunting," 1889 ....... 223
Walter Crane ........ 247
From a Drawing in gold point by Prof. Legros, made in 1898, and now in the
Luxembourg
"Britomart" ........ 286
(Spenser's Faerie Queene, Book III., 1896)
"Truth and the Traveller," 1880 ..... 287
In the Seeger Collection, Berlin
"England's Emblem," 1895 •* • • • • • 289
In the Seeger Collection, Berlin
XVI
AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES
The Hall, 13 Holland Street .
From a Photograph
"A Stranger," 1900
"The Winds of the World," 1901
"The Mower," 1901
In the Thoma Collection, Karlsruhe
"The Fountain of Youth," 1901
FACING PAGE
• 333
. 334
The Illustrations are from original pictures by Walter Crane, where not
otherwise stated
AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES
CHAPTER I
OF EARLY LIFE AND ASSOCIATIONS,
TORQUAY, 1845-57
WHAT a curious thing is memory ! It is as if the stream
of life, flowing through the mind, reflects upon its
surface, often but dimly and partially, notable scenes and
personages as they pass, soon to be effaced by others as
shadowy, while it bears along upon its surface, in all the
crispness of clear reality, trifles, like the image of some fallen
leaf or toy boat, which ever come in front of the dimly outlined
shapes of more important incidents in a life's story.
Thus it is often that the impressions of childhood are borne
along with the course of one's life, retaining all their freshness
and distinctness when many later ones have faded or passed out
of view, like mountains or castles in the distant landscape of a
river's banks.
How far back one's memory remains distinct, or rather, at
what period it consciously begins, it is very difficult to be certain
of, and the memory varies in retentiveness in different indi-
viduals. It may be, too, that hearsay may have something to
do with it — I mean the hearing of the talk of older people
recalling events and incidents which happened in one's early
life long before the period when a child is supposed to be in
possession of a memory at all.
My father (of whom I give a reproduction of a miniature
painted by himself about 1839 or 40) and my mother both
belonged to Chester families. The picture of my mother
2 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1845-57
given here is from a water-colour drawing of her by my father,
signed and dated 1 840.
The Cranes of Chester date back to the time of Elizabeth.
Mr. T. Cann Hughes, M.A., F.S.A., of Lancaster, to whose
researches I am indebted, has discovered a long list of Cranes
who were freemen of Chester city from the sixteenth to the
nineteenth centuries ; craftsmen and traders, chiefly, of various
kinds, beginning with Ralph Crane (stringer), 8th Eliz. ; and
ending with William Francis Crane (painter), 1 847.
In this list appears the name of Thomas Crane (bookseller),
1 8 1 2, sworn freeman of the city in that year — this was my grand-
father. He was not only bookseller but editor of the Chester
Courant at that time, and also captain of the Chester volunteers
or " trained bands " of that period, and his children remembered
playing with his cocked hat, sash, and sword. He lived in
Crane Street and afterwards in Bridge Street, and from there
moved to Newgate Street in the parish of St. Werburgh. He
had six daughters and three sons. My paternal grandmother's
maiden name was Swinchatte. Both these grandparents died
in the Newgate Street house in 1836. Two of the daughters
(my aunts Bessie and Catherine) kept a school at Whitchurch
in 1834, and after the death of their parents this school was
carried on in the old house in Newgate Street, which belonged
to the family, having been left to my grandfather by a cousin
— one Parson Crane, of St. Oswalds, Chester ; ^ he was a learned
man and an antiquary, who left his collections of coins and
seals to Sir John Gerard — a connection on my grandmother's
side — the Gerard Swinchatte family.
My great-grandfather was in the Royal Navy — a lieu-
tenant on board the Monarch of 60 guns. He was in the
Napoleonic wars, and wrote in the Chester Courant an account
of a fight with the French in which his ship " ran the gauntlet
of the whole French fleet." This officer died at sea.
My great-great-grandfather was appointed house-surgeon
to the Chester Infirmary when that institution was built about
^ There was a local saying about Parson Crane, he being as remarkable for his
height as his sister was for her shortness of stature : the long and short of it was
that when folks saw a long and a short candle on the table they said, "There's Parson
Crane and his sister."
THOMAS CRANK
I'AINTF.D liY IIIMSF.I.K, AlidUT 184O
1845-57] OF EARLY LIFE AND ASSOCIATIONS 3
the middle of the eighteenth century. I possess a Bible, a
1 2 mo in three volumes, printed at Oxford by Thomas Basket,
and dated 1756. It is in contemporary binding, and is inscribed
"K Libris Thomai Crane, 1756"; on the fly-leaf at the end
of two of the volumes is written : " Thomas Crane, Apothecary
and Secretary to the General Infirmary in Chester, 1756," and
in the same careful script some missing verses from the Book of
Kings are supplied upon the fly-leaves. There are other notes
and references, including a Latin quotation from Erasmus, and
preceding the New Testament a comment as follows : " In
this collection you will find the Book of God written by the
Evangelists and Apostles comprised in a most admirable and
comprehensive Epitome. A true Critic will discover numerous
Instances of Speech more Chaste and Beautifull than the most
admired and shining passages of the Secular writers."
My father had three brothers — William, John, and Philip.
With these he was associated in a lithographic press in Chester.
This was at the old house in Newgate Street, where they
worked in a separate building in the garden. By this means
my father reproduced many of his portraits and other works at
this time (in the late " twenties " and early " thirties "). Among
the works issued, bearing the imprint " Drawn and lithographed
by T. and W. Crane, Chester," were Mr. Rowland Warburton's
" Hunting Songs," 1836, and The History of Mr. Pig and Miss
Crane. The verses accompanying the latter were written by
Lady Delamere of Vale Royal, and the book was produced by
the brothers for a bazaar at Chester. I have a copy, and am
able to give a reproduction of one of the plates designed by my
father.^ Among his early portraits were those of Lady Louisa
Grey with her child ; the Earl of Stamford and Warrington and
his sister, with a parrot in a cage ; members of the Stanley
of Alderley family ; the Greys of Groby ; the Wilbrahams ; and
the late Duke of Westminster.
His facility in and taste for drawing came out at a very
early age, and he made clever portraits when quite a boy it was
* Other works from the press were a portrait of the violinist Paganini, and "A
Ballad by the Rev. Reginald Heber, late Bishop of Calcutta — a grotesque and humor- ,
ous set of verses with eight illustrations." This latter I have never seen a copy of.~^
There was also a series of cards designed for the Chester Musical Festival of 1829.
4 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1845-57
said. He went to London, and entered as a student in the
Royal Academy schools. I have his circular ivory student's
ticket, inscribed on one side: " T. Crane, March 31, 1825 ;"
and on the other: " Royal Academy Antique School, 1768."
My father having been born in 1808, could only have been
then sixteen or seventeen years old.
William Crane died in 1843, but I think the partnership
and the press must have been given up on my father's marriage
in 1839—40, as William Crane seems to have gone out to
Australia (Melbourne), where he died. Philip Crane also went
out to Melbourne, where he opened an hotel with a friend named
Bird, but he was afterwards thrown from his horse and killed.
Of the other brother, John, less is recorded, but he appears to
have worked with the others at the lithographic press, and also
to have been an oarsman. All the brothers were fond of row-
ing, and they built a boat for themselves, too. There are
records of exciting races on the river Dee, in one of which
William Crane's boat was swamped as it reached the winning
post. I have a relic of this in the shape of a piece of one of
the timbers with a silver plate inscribed : " A piece of the
Deva, swamped September 16, 1839, presented to William
Crane the Coxswain." I have also a curious old bill of the
Chester Regatta, September 13, 1839, with a woodcut at the
head showing four-oared boats racing on the Dee, with the
tower of St. John's Church in the background, and " Row, Boys,
Row ! " printed across the sky. In the list of competitors
below appear the names of both William and John Crane, the
former in the Deva, a four-oared gig, and the latter as a
" gentleman amateur sculler."
My father and mother went to live in Liverpool in the
early " forties," and my father became Secretary and Treasurer
of the Liverpool Academy of Art, a post which he resigned on
being ordered to Torquay on account of his health, as consump-
tion was feared.
One of his artist friends at Liverpool at that time, also, I
believe, a member of the local Academy, was the late Alfred
W. Hunt, R.W.S., the distinguished landscape painter, who
afterwards lived in Durham for some years, before he established
himself in London, where Mrs. Alfred Hunt, and later her
MARIE CRANE
FKDM A \VATEK-CO:.OUU UKAWING BV THOMAS CRANE, 184O
> <
1845-57] OF EARLY LIFE AND ASSOCIATIONS 5
daughter Violet, became well known for their literary
work.
Of my mother's family I have very little information. She
had remarkable energy and sense, and devoted herself in the
most self-sacrificing way to her family. Her maiden name was
Kearsley. Her father was a " maltster," a prosperous man in a
good position in Chester. Her mother seems to have died early,
and her father married a second time. I had an aunt and an uncle
on my mother's side. The former. Aunt Emma, I remember
well staying with us in Torquay — a very attractive personality,
but unfortunately she did not enjoy good health, and died young.
She married a Mr. John Coglan, who was on the Liverpool
Stock Exchange. The uncle was my uncle Edward Kearsley,
whom I speak of later. There was another uncle, " Tom," whom
I never saw, who went to Australia and was not again heard of.
It has been generally supposed that Sir Francis Crane,
of Mortlake Tapestry fame in the reign of James i., was
an ancestor of ours, which certainly brings in a pleasant
association with decorative art. Sir Francis belonged to the
East Anglian branch of the Crane family. Sir Francis Crane,
from his brass in Wood Rising Church, appears to have died
in Paris about the age of 57 on June 26, 1636, his body
being brought to Wood Rising and buried " the i oth daye
of July following." Another East Anglian Crane — Sir Richard
— from a brass in Wood Rising Church, appears to have been
buried at Cardiff, so that there may have been a branch of
the family in Wales in the seventeeth century, and so from
Wales they may have come to Chester. The arms which my
father used shows the same coat as that of the East Anglian
branch, and occurs as the first quarter on a much-quartered
shield of a Crane monument of Elizabethan date at Chilton
Church, near Sudbury, and also on the tabard of Sir Robert Crane
(1480), a kneeling knight in the east window of Long Melford
Church, Suffolk, as well as on the brass of Francis and r
William Crane at Wood Rising, 1655, the coat of Sir
Francis Crane being the bearings of the second and third
quarters sinister of the dame's arms, which are impaled with
her husband's. A precedent for my own rebus, curiously
enough, occurs on a seal of a charter by one William Crane
SHIELD ON CRANE
MONUMENT, CHILTON
CHURCH, SUFFOLK
CRANE SHIELD IM-
PALED, WOOD RISING
CHURCH
CRANE ARMS AS USED BY THOMAS CRANE
(my father). from A HERALDS' COL-
LEGE DRAWING, EARLY NINETEENTH
CENTURY
S'^Francis Crai^ IC; Chancellor of
TE MOST NOBLE ORDER.OF TE GARTE-
(aCEDABOVT^7 years) dyed TE 1C
DAYE OF fv^E AtB^WS fN FrANCE ffe
WKINCE HIS BODY^»ASBROVGHTA^D
BVRIED IN -RIS PLACE T£ Jo''dAYEOFIv=
LY FOLLOWING Ano Dfuj<S36
)
BRASS OF SIR FRANCIS CRANE IN WOOD
RISING CHURCH
6
SEAL OF WILLIAM CRANE,
SOUTH CREKE, TEMP.
EDWARD IV.
SIR ROBERT CRANE (1480),
EAST WINDOW, LONG
MELFORD CHURCH,
SUFFOLK
1845-57] OF EARLY LIFE AND ASSOCIATIONS 7
of South Crane in Norfolk, which bears the date of the twelfth
King Edward iv. (1473).
Such details may have in themselves but a limited interest,
but I have often thought if family records could be com-
pletely kept from generation to generation, the character
of a particular member could be much more completely ac-
counted for ; though, of course, the effect of different environ-
ment must count for a great deal, as well as hereditary
tendencies.
I cannot say that I have any recollection of my birthplace —
Liverpool ; but this is accounted for by the fact of my trans-
portation from thence at the early age of three months, when,
in October 1845, o^i account of my father's state of health, the
family removed to Torquay — then coming into high repute as a
health resort.
It was in Maryland Street, Liverpool, however, that I first
saw the light — the same street, I believe, which claims to have
been the birthplace of Mr. W. E. Gladstone.
The 15th of August was my natal day — a day marked in
the calendar as the date of the death of Napoleon the First
and that of the birth of Sir Walter Scott.
I cannot say whether the latter circumstance had any
influence over the choice of my name, however.
I can claim, without any special egoism, to have made a
noise in the world at a very early period. The journey to
South Devon from Liverpool in the " forties " must have been
somewhat trying. The last part of the journey, I think from
Exeter, was performed by stage coach, and the legend is that
it was here that the voice of my crying made the coach
impossible for any inside passengers unconnected with the
family, who must have been very long-suffering, and it was
said only a particular aunt of the party had the power of
soothing my inarticulate infantine troubles.
My memory, fortunately perhaps a blank as to this period,
cannot discover any distinct visual impressions until at
least three years later. The very earliest, I think, is one of
sitting in a swing suspended between two elm trees in the old
garden of the first house we inhabited on settling in South
Devon. This was at Tor, and known as Beanland Place. The
8 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1845-57
house is vague, but the garden, where, probably, with brother
and sisters, most of this time was spent, seems more distinct,
and there was in one corner the woodhouse, where the garden
tools were kept — a dark and shadowy temple in a world of
wonder and mystery.
I have a very early recollection — a strange one — of being
seized with " croup " and waking my parents in the middle of the
night with strange squeaking sounds from my throat, and being
dimly conscious of lights being struck and carried about, and the
doctor being sent for.
My next primitive memory picture is of a tall house on
the side of a hill — Walden or Waldon Hill, with a long sloping
walled garden, and a good many stone steps, rather perilous
to us children, and I do not think residence there could have
been very lengthy, and probably recollections of the place are
merged in later memories of the aspects of the town and
harbour, of which Waldon Hill commanded a fine view.
The next move was inland again to the village of Upton,
then quite distinct from Torquay. Here memory is much less
vague and impressionistic, and, in fact, becomes almost pre-
Raphaelite. I have a distinct picture of a rather pretty villa,
one of a pair in early Victorian taste, with a verandah having
light trellis supports, which were covered with climbing white
roses in great profusion. French casement windows opened
out on to this verandah from the drawing-room, which was
decorated by a plaster cast of Thorvaldsen's popular circular
relief " Night " on the mantelpiece, the companion " Day "
occupying a corresponding position in the dining-room,
which, according to a usual plan in those days, was divided
from the drawing-room by folding doors.
I remember that another room was converted into a studio
for my father by having a skylight inserted, and recall seeing
the workmen cut the hole through the plaster ceiling for the
purpose.
This house was at the foot of a grassy hill, cut into by a
stone quarry, and I well remember seeing the quarrymen,
when a charge was to be fired to blast the rock, trooping
away to a safe distance. Our proximity to this quarry,
indeed, was the cause of some alarm, as stray fragments of
1845-57] OF EARLY LIFE AND ASSOCIATIONS 9
stone from the explosions would occasionally fall into our
garden.
Upton was a pretty, old-fashioned Devonshire village of
thatched cottages with whitewashed walls, nestling among tall
hedgerow elms. I remember a stream flowing across the road
and a foot-bridge over it, an attractive place from which to
watch the fish and the ducks. Near by was a cider press —
a most mysterious affair, turned by a horse in the recesses of
a dark shed. It was a joy to see the heaps of apples and to
taste the new sweet cider. Amid such scenes and with such
surroundings a very happy child-life was passed, not oppres-
sively shadowed by much governessing or schooling.
I have a very early recollection of going with a large
picnic party on a four-horse coach, which was most exciting,
to a place some miles off called Hugbrooke Park, famous
for the beauty of its scenery. I remember quite dis-
tinctly the luncheon spread out on the white cloth on the
green grass, and afterwards the grown-up ones of party — father
and mother and an aunt and the older children, and possibly
other guests I do not recall — going off for a walk into the
park or to see the house or some lion of the place at a dis-
tance, and that I was left with two little girls, as being too
small for such an excursion, in charge of the servants, who
certainly must have had their fun over their lunch, as there
was plenty of laughter, and they were amused, too, at the
sight of my gravely taking the two little girls for a short
walk, walking between them and holding the hands of both,
for I remember the maids pointing at us and laughing. I
fear the names of my little companions have passed from
my memory, but there is no doubt that I formed quite
serious attachments from a very tender age — but " the cold
world shall not know."
About this time my father and mother went to London
and brought back wonderful accounts of the marvels of the
great Exhibition of 185 1, with which we became further
familiarised by the pictures in the Illustrated London News,
which, as children, we delighted to experiment on in colour,
more especially the pictures of the opening ceremonies, and
the royal progresses with plenty of smart dresses and
10 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1845-57
soldiers' uniforms in them. These figures and the London
crowds in such pictures were at that time put in by the
facile hand of John Gilbert, afterwards the famous Sir John
Gilbert, painter in oil and water colour, the veteran president
of the old society in Pall Mall. The same artist was the chief
illustrator of the small children's story-books published by the
Religious Tract Society at that time, such as George's First
Journey, which told of the wonders of the late stage coach
and the early railway period. Such works, too, as Goldsmith's
Natural Histoiy and Animated Nature, one of Charles Knight's
popular publications, I think — a folio crammed with woodcuts
from all sorts of sources, including some of fearsome " ante-
diluvian animals," as they were then called, very impressive
to a child's imagination. These and such as these were the
earliest pictorial influences I can remember outside my father's
studio. He painted mostly portraits at that time, and fre-
quently made studies of his own hand in the looking-glass
to assist him in arranging the pose of the hands in his full
or half-length portraits. These were generally cast aside and
often lay on the floor, which was generally also my drawing
table at that early period. To some of these studies of hands
I attached fancy portraits of gentlemen — reversing the usual
portrait-painter's process of painting his heads first and putting
in his hands afterwards — often, I fear, with but little regard to
proportion and with more interest in the superficial decorative
effects, such as the truly " fancy waistcoats " of the early
" fifties," which frequently blossomed in large floral or tartan
designs of a most striking character. These early ingenious
efforts were shown by a fond mother to friends of the family,
who seemed to have risen to the occasion remarkably well, as
it was a joke for a long time afterwards that they expressed
quite cordial admiration for these efforts, " especially the hands."
I could not have been more than six or seven years of age at
the time, so there may have been some excuse for my artifice
in thus utilising a parent's artistic skill and experience.
I daresay my early efforts with the pencil may have
been encouraged by some of my father's friends who visited
at Laureston Villa (the name of the Upton house) about this
time. I remember he and a few other artists formed an
1845-57] OF EARLY LIFE AND ASSOCIATIONS 11
evening sketching club, meeting at each other's houses or
studios and making sketches in charcoal by lamplight. Among
these friends was Field Talfourd^ a sketch of whose head I
recall made by my father in charcoal on toned paper and
heightened with white chalk. There were also two brothers
named Stockdale of whom he did similar portrait sketches.
Mr. Walker, an artist of more advanced years, who made
rather a special line in charcoal landscapes, used to visit the
house about this time, but I am not sure whether he belonged
to the sketching club.
The years went by happily enough at Upton, at least from
the irresponsible child's point of view, pleasantly varied by
excursions on donkeys, combined with picnics in the pleasant
and romantic places with which the neighbourhood abounded,
such as Anstey's Cove and Babbicombe. These outings were
an institution on birthdays, and as there was no great disparity
of years in the little family of five, we could all join in the
same childish pleasures and were quite companionable. My
father was very fond of walking, too, and often took us for
long rambles among those pleasant Devonshire lanes and
hills. There was the quarry hill, and a hill we called " The-
hill-with-the-rock-on," a green hill having a peculiarly shaped
limestone crag emerging near its summit. Another hill was
crowned with a ruined castle, a conspicuous feature of which
was a round tower, which was commonly called " Caesar's Tower."
Most of these were visible from our windows. Then there was
the quarry, where we watched the men laboriously drilling holes
with crowbars, for blasting, and the rope-walk along the side of
the same hill, where an old weather-beaten, more or less sea-
faring sort of man, with a belt of hemp around his waist, used
to walk to and fro twisting the fibre into rope, while his boy
turned a wheel at the opposite end.
I remember in some of our walks coming upon gipsy
encampments. There was a favourite spot on the broad grassy
margin" of the road to Newton Abbott bordered by a wood.
Here one could see the low-pitched, semicircular, arched tents,
canvas over hooped sticks, somewhat like the tilts of waggons
placed upon the ground. Swarthy children tumbled in and
out of their dark interiors, where now and then an old camp
12 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1845-57
follower would be seen sitting smoking. The iron pot sus-
pended on three sticks, with a fire crackling beneath, figured
in front ; donkeys and large ponies browsed near by. Dark
brown men with slouch hats, long ringlets, and bright orange
scarfs, sleeve waistcoats and corduroys, hung about, and perhaps
a dark-eyed and black-haired handsome gipsy woman would
come forward smiling and showing her white teeth as she offered
to tell your fortune for a small consideration.
From one of these encampments my father induced a
singularly handsome gipsy woman to sit to him as a model.
I remember the picture of her with an orange kerchief tied
over her blue-black hair; but I believe she proved a very
uncertain model.
These were the boundaries of our little world, and in
such scenes, with the usual quickly passing child-like joys
and troubles, life's early chapters were soon run through, and
the first schooldays commenced.
My first school experiences were at a small mixed school
— what, I suppose, would now be considered a sort of kinder-
garten, though the Froebel system . of teaching was not then
established in England. It was kept in an amateur sort of
way by two sisters — the Misses Nicholson. I have the
faintest recollection of the sort of lessons we learned, and
was far more interested in the doings of a mysterious brother
of the schoolmistresses, who was one of the early and then
rare experimenters in amateur photography. One of the
causes of my remembering this circumstance was no doubt
the personal interest I had in at least two of the results of
his operations.
It must have been about the time of the outbreak of the
Crimean War, when it was considered mostly an affair of
Russians versus Turks — at all events, the picturesque and
dramatic side of this useless war at that time fascinated
one's boyish imagination. The school slate, however, was
then the chief, if not the only, medium for the expression of
one's pictorial ideas, and the slate-pencil, and I was glad to
turn from the troublesome cyphers of the simple addition
sum to the forming of more varied if equally conventional
figures. One slate-picture of a terrific combat between the
1845-57] OF EARLY LIFE AND ASSOCIATIONS 13
Turks and the Russians, heightened by effects of smoke
produced by rubbing the slate-pencil lines with the finger,
was considered worthy of preservation, and it was here that
the amateur photography came in. The design was photo-
graphed by Mr, Nicholson, and I well remember the wonder
with which we gazed upon the result, which was a reduced
copy of the slate-picture, but quite clearly reproduced.
Strictly speaking, I believe the process was that known as
" daguerreotyping," named after the French inventor Daguerre,
as they were not negatives but positives upon glass. I
remember standing with another small boy in the garden at
the Misses Nicholson's house, against a brick wall which
served as a background. The sight of the tripod and
camera with the black cloth and the mysterious movements
of the operator seemed to have contrary effects upon the
facial expression of my companion and myself, for, in the
result, he had on a broad grin, while I was frowning. I can
see this early picture now quite distinctly. The images of
the two little boys in the long-bodied tunics of the period,
with belts and short trousers, hatless, and standing side by
side against the brick wall, helpless but slightly defiant, like
prisoners about to be shot — or " snap-shotted," as we should
now say, though the agony was then rather longer drawn out.
My early experiments with the pencil — and I never
remember being without one of some kind — procured for me
a certain local repute among our neighbours and acquaint-
ances, but I did not seem always to appreciate its con-
sequences, for when Dr. Shute, a large and hearty man with
a big voice, one day seeing me across the street, called out,
" There goes the little artist ! " I did not like the trumpet
of fame at all in this form, and felt very shy and un-
comfortable.
The year 1854 found the family in yet another house
in Torquay. This was situate in Park Place (No. 3) and its
windows on one side commanded a view of the town and
harbour. The front door opened straight on to a street
pavement, yet there were no houses opposite, but a wood,
called John's Wood or Mrs. John's Wood, and I think, finally,
St. John's Wood.
14 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1845-57
The Park Place house was a large and more com-
modious sort of house than Laureston Villa, and probably
required by the demands of the growing family of two sisters
and three brothers. It included a more spacious studio for
my father, too. This was a long room with a French window
to the north, opening on to a balcony from which steps led
down to a long walled garden on a sloping ground. The
lower half of the window was kept veiled with thick baize
studio-fashion to concentrate the light upon the easel. It
was here I received my first ideas of the great masters, as the
mantelpiece was adorned with certain well-known plaster
statuettes, by a German artist whose name escapes me, of
Albert Durer, Raphael, Michael Angelo, and Leonardo
da Vinci. These statuettes were bronzed over, I think, by
my father himself, who was very fond of experimenting in
other crafts than painting. About this time he had a small
galvanic battery, and endeavoured to electroplate or electro-
type some plaster medals.
He was good at carpentering and had a turn for mechanical
construction, for I remember a model of a velocipede upon
which was seated the figure of Punch with his feet on
treadles, and this trundled along by clockwork across the
floor, to the great delight of us children. The circles of the
wheels were ingeniously made of successive strips of Bristol
board glued together, and the wheels, when complete, were
painted with a solution of red sealing-wax and spirits of
wine, which had a brilliant enamel-like effect. He made
also small fire-balloons, inflated and floated by means of a
small sponge soaked in spirit and lighted, thus heating
the air enclosed in the paper globular covering and causing
the balloon to rise in the air. This again was most ex-
citing to witness, and was generally reserved for the Fifth of
November celebrations.
Meanwhile I picked up in my father's studio and under
his eye a variety of artistic knowledge in an unsystematic
way. I was always drawing, and any reading, or looking
at prints or pictures, led back to drawing again. Nash's
Mansions was one of the books I loved to pore over. It
was a folio, and rather heavy and unwieldy for a small person,
1845-57] OF EARLY LIFE AND ASSOCIATIONS 15
but such difficulties were always solved by the use of the floor.
Then there was another folio, Liversege's Works, a book of
mezzotints of romantic and dramatically treated figure-
subjects, chiefly illustrations to Walter Scott's novels, as far
as I remember; also the Art Journal in its original form in
the buff-covered parts, with a more or less classical design on
the wrapper and bound in thickish volumes of plain green
cloth. The designs which attracted me the most in these
were not the elaborate steel engravings from modern pic-
tures, but the woodcuts. I distinctly recall reproductions of
Albert Durer's " The Great Horse," " The Knight, Death, and
the Devil," and the " Melencolia," and these, while among my
earliest artistic impressions, have retained and increased their
influence in later days. The powerful German imagination in
such works among the moderns as those of Alfred Rethel,
the romantic fantasy of Moritz Schwind, and, more academic
and dry, but skilfully composed and Holbeinesque in treatment,
the Bible designs of Schnorr.
Impressions from such designs had no doubt an uncon-
scious effect in forming one's future tendencies and style. For
a time they became obscure and displaced by other influences.
A lithograph of Major Dalgetty by Frederick Taylor hang-
ing in the dining-room may have had its effect, with the
reading of Scott's novels, in turning my boyish fancy in the
direction of warlike romance, and this was further stimulated
by such books as Charles Lever's Charles GMalley and James
Grant's Romance of War, and the effect of the news from
the Crimea, and pictures in the Illustrated News. The book
and print-seller's windows were full of sporting and military
prints, and certain sheets, giving the new uniforms of the
British Army in colours, proved most attractive. Attempts
at artistic expression by means of pencil or brush (and the
primary colours) were not sufficient to relieve one's martial
feelings at this time ; something more active and practical
was called for.
A tunic of scarlet flannel, with the white facings of a
Connaught Ranger, and a cap converted into a shako by means
of an important knob stuck in front, seemed more to the purpose,
with a popgun and a sword. A tent in the garden was next
1 6 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1845-57
set up, and a younger brother enrolled in the aforesaid scarlet
flannel. One thing was wanting to give a touch of realistic
war flavour, and that was gunpowder. Some was got hold of
— I think from a powder horn left by someone in the house —
and operations commenced. They took the form of a series
of small explosions on the garden path, but in firing the last
one, owing to over-eagerness to see how it was going pff, most
of the charge was received upon one's eyebrows and eyelashes,
which were pretty well singed off, and one was generally con-
sidered lucky to have escaped with one's eyesight intact.
No doubt the powder horn became less accessible after
that. I do not know that the war fever abated, though, for
some time. It was, indeed, further encouraged at the house of
a friend and schoolfellow of my elder brother, one Henley by
name, bigger than the rest of us, who formed a small gang
of boys at his house, which, being situated upon the pre-
cipitous slopes of Waldon Hill, in a garden with plenty of
ambush and important strategic positions on the tops of
flights of steps, lent itself well to our operations. These
generally took the form of sham fights. The party divided into
two and chased each other up and down the garden, with
miscellaneous arms and costumes supplied from our host's
private or ancestral collection ; for he was the son of an
officer who had seen service, and possessed the book of his
regiment containing highly coloured pictures of its uniforms,
banners, and exploits, among which such subjects as the
storming of Seringapatam and the siege of Badajos figured.
Among these martial relics was a dragoon's brass helmet, which
one remembered wearing — though almost extinguished by it
— with great satisfaction. Then there were cutlasses, blunder-
busses, pistols, and gun-stocks, all the latter capable of being
fired blank by percussion caps, giving a very exciting report.
The artillery was made up of small brass cannon, which
frequently burst through being probably overcharged, but
somehow we never seemed to need the services of a field,
or any other, hospital. Another incident connected with
the dressing up as a soldier may not be without interest
as throwing light (or rather, as in this case it proved,
darkness) on the type of furniture and decoration of the
1845-57] OF EARLY LIFE AND ASSOCIATIONS 17
period. In order to see that all was correct, and to get a
full-length picture of myself in the new uniform, in the
absence of any responsible domestic authority I mounted the
pedestal table in the drawing-room, as that eminence com-
manded a full view into the large pier glass which decorated (?)
the marble mantelpiece ; but, alas ! the way of those pedestal
tables was to wobble on their apparently solid tripod of lion's
claws, and in making a plunge to recover my balance the
table went over, cloth, books, and all, and worse still, carried
an inkstand with it, as well as the small person in the red
flannel tunic. The result was an alarming splash of ink upon
the creamy-coloured field of the Brussels carpet. I had heard
of salt as an antidote for ink-stains, however, and I went
for the salt-cellar and emptied its contents upon the ink-
stained carpet.
I think in the end the reprimand was a little mitigated
by this attempt to make reparation.
I recall the fiery rejoicings in which the town indulged, in
common, I think, with the rest of England, at the news of the
battle of the Alma, at first wrongly supposed to have involved
the fall of Sevastopol. Blazing tar-barrels were rolled about,
and fireworks let off in all directions one September night
in 1854. Few could have foreseen the tedious and terrible
winter months which followed, involving great suffering to our
troops, exposed to the rigours of the Crimean winter as well
as the blunders and red tapeism of the War Office. The
gloom was certainly relieved by brilliant victories such as
Inkermann, and the historic charge of the Light Brigade at
Balaklava ; but the war was, as usual, a mistake, involving
a fearful amount of suffering and waste of life, if also heroism,
which after all might have had better opportunities in con-
structive and social services, and in furthering the general
good of the community. There was, it is true, as usual also, a
peace party at that time who duly protested, but they were
in a hopeless minority, and were ridiculed and silenced as far
as possible, though in the end events proved them to have
been in the right.
Living, as we did, near the harbour, it was natural, in the
constant sight of ships and sailors and the life of the quays,
1 8 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1845-57
to become interested in nautical matters and all that belonged
to the sea, and we prided ourselves on correctly distinguishing
the different rigs of the various types of vessels. The collier
schooner with the square-rigged foremast was the most
frequent visitor to Torquay, and the coal was then laboriously
hauled up from the hold by means of a pulley and the weight
of three men, who hauled first from a raised plank, and then,
jumping down simultaneously on to the deck, still clinging to
the rope, brought their weight to bear upon the basket of coal
till it was hauled to the wharf. There were timber and grain
ships also, and fishing smacks, and a variety of craft, from the
smart private cutter or schooner yacht to the small lugger and
harbour punt.
It was immense fun, when, finding a good-natured skipper,
we children were allowed to ramble over a ship as it lay
moored to the pier or quay, especially if it were a large
barque or " three-master." An especial favourite was The
Margaret of Torquay, with a kindly captain, and it was a sad
event when in a gale we saw this vessel stranded upon the
sands, as she was making for the harbour on a return voyage.
I do not remember any steam vessel, and I do not think that
steamships were much used for trading purposes generally till
later. The passage to the United States and to Australia was
performed by sailing ships. " The fast-sailing clipper ship " to
New York or Melbourne was the usual form of advertisement
of such ships, generally headed by a picture of a three or four-
masted vessel in full sail cutting its way through a breezy sea.
Evening entertainments were sometimes given in some
hall in the town, of a character likely to appeal to the sym-
pathies of a seaport audience. I remember being taken
to one of these, a diorama, as it was called, of a voyage to
Australia. The lecturer, as each picture appeared, gave a
short description. The series began with a picture of the ship
about to start, and a signal gun was actually fired through
a porthole to announce her departure, when the scene slowly
moved from right to left, round the roller, out of sight, and
made way for the next. We had a " man overboard " in the
Channel, which was painted properly choppy, and various
incidents of the voyage, the landing at Melbourne, and the
1845-571 OF EARLY LIFE AND ASSOCIATIONS 19
journey to the gold diggings, and so on, that being the
principal or perhaps only reason for taking the voyage in
those days.
At another similar sort of entertainment a wreck was
pictured and the rocket apparatus practically demonstrated,
the shot being actually fired, or something to look like it, and
through a raging sea we presently discerned a rope made taut,
and some little figures of sailors emerging clinging to the rope,
and crawling to the cliff hand over hand.
The circuses and the " wild beast shows," however, which
not unfrequently visited the town, were more exciting, the
whole company of the circus generally riding through in
costume, with teams of spotted horses drawing weirdly painted
and gilded cars, bewitching lady equestriennes, huntsmen,
soldiers and clowns, and a brass band. On one occasion a
whole hunt, the ladies and gentlemen in scarlet, made a brave
show.
Then the circular tent, the plank benches and the sawdust,
the feats of horsemanship, and the jokes of the clown, were
beyond words.
Once I saw the battle of Waterloo fought in the ring.
There was Napoleon on his white horse and grey caped over-
coat, telescope and cocked hat all correct, and the Duke of
Wellington equally so. Both made stirring speeches to their
troops, who cheered like true supernumeraries, and then the
Life-guards charged the Cuirassiers, and the foot-guards duly
upped and at them'd ; there were alarums, and excursions, and
finally a grand melee in the ring and a great expenditure of
gunpowder, which filled the stifling tent and nearly choked the
audience as they made their way out, deeply impressed — at
least, the juvenile portion. At the wild-beast shows, or
caravans, we made the acquaintance of live lions and tigers,
giraffes, zebras, and elephants. The usual plan was a
parallelogram formed by drawing up the waggons or wheeled
cages into line on some green or open field and disclosing
their railed fronts to the spectator. Here the poor prisoners
from Africa and the uttermost parts of the earth were gazed
upon or teased by the crowd making holiday, the monkeys
making the best of it out of the nuts freely offered them.
20 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1845-57
The most thrilling experience was the ride upon the elephant,
when, with a dozen or so of other children, one felt the curious
swaying movement, something like that of a vessel on the sea,
as we paraded around the limited confines of the show.
Every year there was the Torbay Regatta, generally,
I think, in August, for one associates it with bright hot
weather. This was for us, perhaps, the great event of the year.
The sound of brass bands was in the air from early morn,
the ships in the harbour and bay gay from stem to stern with
strings of bunting in all the colours of the rainbow. The
quay was transformed, rows of yellow vans were drawr; up
along the edge of the quay with their backs to the harbour.
Gorgeous pictures of fat women and strong men hung aloft.
There was a theatre with wonderful characters in costume
(like those we used to buy lithographed upon sheets and
jewelled, to be cut out for the toy stage) strutting about on
the boards ; there was the never-failing attraction of Punch
and Judy ; there were merry-go-rounds and shooting galleries,
there were oranges and nuts, and innumerable seductive ways
of getting rid of pocket-money. -
I have never forgotten a fine lady in a riding habit who
borrowed a tall hat from a gentleman in the audience — and
they were very tall hats in those days — and after discovering
a number of unconsidered trifles in it, which she held up for
the diversion of the audience, and to the confusion of the
owner of the hat, she finally made and cooked a currant
pudding in the hat (which was handed round to be consumed)
before brushing it and gracefully handing it back to its owner,
uninjured.
Then there were sports upon the water in the afternoon.
A cutter was moored just outside the pier in a sheltered
bit of the bay. This was the Committee's boat, and the
official centre and starting-point for the races, and the scene
of various aquatic sports. There was the greasy bowsprit
with basket hung with coloured ribbons hanging at the end.
To gain this, many athletes essayed to walk the bowsprit
very lightly attired, and with bare feet, of course. Many were
the attempts, and wild were the attitudes struck upon the
bowsprit in the endeavour to preserve balance on the part
1845-57] OF EARLY LIFE AND ASSOCIATIONS 21
of the various competitors for the prize in the basket,
sometimes a duck, sometimes a pig. When at length one
succeeded in detaching the basket, he tumbled with it, or
without it, into the sea, and then it became a swimming
race for the prize joined in by the other competitors. On
one occasion, I remember, there was a boat race, the
competing boats representing various trades and their crews
rowing with the implements of their different trades. Coal
heavers in black calico rowing with shovels, bakers in white
with wooden bread shovels for oars, gardeners propelling
their boat with spades, were the most distinct. Then
there were yacht races, but these took a course around the
bay and beyond it, and though no doubt followed by the
experts with glasses and great interest, for the juveniles, in
passing out of sight often passed out of mind, while the
excitement centred on the Committee boat and its fantastic
performances.
Of other popular festivals or shows I have a recollection
of seeing a local pageant in the form of a procession after
the manner, more or less, of the Lord Mayor's Show in
London, a principal feature of which was a series of cars
representing various crafts or trades in operation. Trolleys
or waggons were used hung with coloured draperies, and
within the limited workshop space various groups of workers
successfully did their best to illustrate as picturesquely as
possible the stages of certain handicrafts. I remember a
man sawing a piece of wood on one of these crafts-cars,
and the saw coming through the calico hanging which draped
the side of the trolley.
On another occasion, a fete was given at Whatcombe, a
place on the coast towards Teignmouth, where the red
Devonian sandstone emerged in fantastic buttresses from
the sloping green sward and formed a sort of natural
amphitheatre. Here, in the centre, a maypole was erected
with garlands and ribbons, and a group of child-dancers
danced around it, twisting and untwisting the ribbons to
the music of the band of the Royal Marines, very gorgeous
in scarlet uniforms and plumed shakos. The fete was given,
I believe, in honour of the visit of some member of the
22 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1845-57
Russian imperial family, and I recall that the scarlet band
played a striking march we were told was " the chant of
the Croates." While gazing at the maypole dance, small
person though I was, I must have inadvertently obscured
the view of a still smaller person in charge of an attendant
sitting on the grass of the slope behind me, for I distinctly
remember the man plucking my sleeve and motioning with
his hand, when I turned, to indicate that I was standing
in the august but very youthful light of a young Russian
prince, as I was afterwards informed,
Mayday was not, however, usually kept with such
splendour. The usual local method of commemorating the
festival, at Upton at least, manifested itself in the form of
dolls representing the Queen of May, presumably, dressed
and decked with flowers, and arranged in a sort of arbour
of flowers, the whole being enclosed in a sort of shallow
draper's box. It was the custom for the little girls of the
village to take these round to the houses of the gentry where
there were children, and send them in to be looked at and
in the expectation of some trifle of money as a reward for any
skill and taste shown in the arrangement of May-in-the-Box.
We had our first resident governess at Park Place,
Miss Hawkes — so that we were still in the bird family.
Miss Hawkes so became in the course of natural abbreviation
" 'S 'awkes " with her pupils. I believe she was very worthy
and conscientious, but do not remember any strong attach-
ment between us, or anything very exciting during her
period of authority. We were duly plied with " Magnall's
questions," and gathered our ideas of English History from
Mrs. Markham. The Child's Guide to Science encouraged
an interest in the chemistry of domestic life, and Henry's
First Latin Book helped our first stumbling steps in that
language. Certain " lessons " had to be committed to
memory, and, parrot-like, repeated by rote the next day.
That " learning lessons " became the chief daily bogey in
an otherwise happy existence, spent largely on the sands,
shrimping, on that part of the shore of Torbay in front of
what were known as Tor Abbey fields and flanked on one
side by a bold cliff of red Devonian much broken and
1845-57] OF EARLY LIFE AND ASSOCIATIONS 23
undermined by the sea, and called " the Corbans." Here
on the wide sands, or among the flat, smooth, seaweedy
rocks, embedded in it, we children sported, shrimping in
the pools or in the shallow sea, where the little flounders
could be felt fluttering over one's bare feet.
Sailing toy ships, too, was a favourite sport, and a good
investment for pocket-money. I remember spending mine in
what to me was the very beau-ideal of a schooner yacht,
fully rigged, shining in paint and varnish. The joy of
possession was great, but in my eagerness to show my prize
at home, in my haste I broke the top off one of the masts,
which a little discounted the effect.
One was not without a little experience on the sea,
too, for my father was very fond of boating and sailing,
and we used often to be taken out with friends in small
cutters on trips about the bay, or sometimes my father
would take two of us in a small lug-sail boat, as it was
called, an open boat which could be rowed or sailed, weather
permitting, by fixing a mast into a round hole in one of
the seats, and hoisting a small square red sail, controlled
from the tiller by the steersman. In such a craft in fine
weather we would sail across the bay to Brixham — a distance
of six miles and back, with great satisfaction watching the
little white houses dotted about the cliffs across the blue
water. Such sea experiences enabled one to enjoy Robinson
Crusoe (a birthday present from a kind aunt) with more zest
and probably earlier in life than is commonly the case.
On one occasion a naval training ship anchored in the
bay, and we had the excitement of sailing round her, and
even of going aboard and seeing the guns, and the young
Jack Tars, and all the wonders appertaining to a man-of-war.
Bathing, too, must not be forgotten, from the early
fearsome dips from a bathing machine (with a terrible ogre
of a weather-beaten, bonneted " bathing woman," as she is
seen in some of John Leech's early Punch pictures, whose
very appearance was enough to strike terror to the hearts
of children shrinking from the salt sea-waves) to the later
bathes from the shore with big boys. Not that one acquired
swimming until years afterwards, and in a river, too.
24 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1845-57
But impressions of the sea have always been strong
with me from the time when first the tumbling waves,
showing their snowy crests in the blue, were pointed out to
me as " white horses," which, indeed, I could well believe
them to be. At other times we were initiated into the craft
of sea-fishing, A ground-swell, however, always upset me,
the effect of the long, slow-recurring roll having the speedy
result of taking away one's interest in any subsequent
proceedings, to say the least, and inducing the strongest wish
to return to terra firma.
A favourite diversion on land about this time with my
brothers and myself was butterfly-catching, and we ourselves
were soon caught by the collector's enthusiasm in our small
way, and were never tired of talking of the beauties of
" painted ladies," red admirals, fritillaries, peacocks, orange-
tips, etc., and keen was the excitement of the chase after
these fragile creatures, with a light net of green gauze at
the end of a thin cane. A certain barber of the town, to
whom we were wont to go to have our hair cut, was also
a collector, and we used to look with wonder and envy at
the specimens in the glass cases which adorned the walls
of his operating-room. It was some compensation for having
to undergo the rather irksome process of having our hair cut
to see his collection.
At one time dancing lessons demanded our attendance on
certain afternoons of the week at the Royal Hotel, where a
Miss Renaldi was accustomed to give instruction in dancing
and deportment to a mixed class of small girls and boys, and
we were introduced to the elements of elegance and put
through our paces, starting with the regulation " first position "
to the " chasse" and learned the stately " quadrille," then in
fashion, and " the Lancers," and danced with much more form
and ceremony than in the more free-and-easy style of the
present day, when it not unfrequently becomes a romp.
Among our near neighbours in Park Place were the
Rodway family, the head of which, a surgeon-dentist, dis-
tinguished himself outside his own profession, in which he
had a good repute, by taking a leading part in raising a
volunteer rifle corps, of which he became captain, and in which
1845-57] OF EARLY LIFE AND ASSOCIATIONS 25
he was aided by three stalwart sons, who added to the strength
of the corps. It must have been one of the earliest in the
rifle-volunteer movement, and came into existence under the
influence of the Crimean War feeling, and the success of the
rifle in that war, mingled, I suppose, with some suspicion of
the designs of Louis Napoleon, in spite of the alliance.
What was wanting in numbers was made up in enthu-
siasm, and the corps met regularly for drill, the ground
being a fine open and level down near Meadfoot, known as
" Daddy's (or Devil's) Hole Plain." This curious name was
connected with a fissure or landslip which had at some remote
period occurred on the seaward side, and formed a deep
chasm between an inner and an outer cliff. There was a
legend connected with this rather romantic spot about which
I am vague and only remember that, in the usual manner of
attributing natural cataclysms to supernatural agency, the
story led up to a finale in which the landslip was accounted
for by the stamp of the devil's hoof.
Well, the dauntless volunteers of Torquay frequently met
upon this plain and went through their platoon drill. No
breech-loaders then, if you please. The management of the
ramrod was an important part of the proceedings, which
ultimately led to the discharge of the rifle, the immediate
means being the use of percussion caps upon which the hammer
descended when the trigger was pulled. It seemed quite a
long and elaborate business compared with the ease and celerity
of modern methods.
Blank cartridge was fired on these occasions, and I well
remember the boys of the town used to collect in front of
the firing line, at a respectful distance, and when the rifles
went off, they threw their arms up and tumbled over in the
most realistic way, afterwards scrambling for the cartridge
papers. These riflemen had a kind of sword-bayonet, which
looked very formidable when fixed on the rifle, and made a
fearsome hedge of thorny steel when they " formed square
to resist (imaginary) cavalry." An " invisible green," practi-
cally nearly black, was then considered the correct colour for
the uniform of a rifle corps, black patent leather belts,
cartridge box, etc., and a low shako with a plume of cock's
26 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1845-57
feathers completed the outfit. Individually this dress had a
neat appearance, although having a somewhat heavy and
funereal look in the mass, but never blending with the natural
greens of the landscape.
When not occupied by the volunteers, Daddy's Hole Plain
was considered the best place for flying kites, and this in its
time and turn was a favourite sport with us boys.
We were, however, always ready for a ramble along the
coast, and there was a delightful path along the cliff-edge
from Meadfoot onwards to Anstey's Cove and Babbicombe,
two places endeared to childish memory as the scene of many
a birthday picnic or crab-tea — such as could be enjoyed at
the little inn at Babbicombe Bay. There is even memory
of a picnic on Berry Head — the pointed headland bounding
Torbay on the west, and looking generally grey and
inaccessible enough. Berry Pomeroy Castle was also visited.
A good view could be had from " Land's End," a favourite
short walk from Park Place. Here a terraced footway
wandered past the gardens of -various private dwellings, to
terminate in a sort of pier head on the cliff with stone coping
and seats. From here we could look down upon the fantastic
rocks and the natural arch at " the gentlemen's bathing cove,"
across the bay to Berry Head, and Brixham, and Paignton,
or eastwards towards Meadfoot, though I think we were too
far round the point to see the Orestone and the Mewstone,
the two small rocky islands which were conspicuous from
Meadfoot sands. Then, wandering farther to the east, there
were the delightful coves and bays above named, with
Whatcombe farther on and then Minnicombe, till Teignmouth
was sighted, which seemed to bound our world upon that side
just as Berry Head did on the west On the road to Anstey's
Cove there was situated a place of some geological renown,
namely, " Kents Cavern." A local geologist of some celebrity,
Mr. Pengelley, distinguished himself by his researches here and
his lectures upon the fossils and the bones of extinct animals
found on the spot. I have no personal recollection of ever
having been taken to the place or seen any of its wonders, but
only of its whereabouts being pointed out rather vaguely, as
being in a wood somewhere near the road on the way to Anstey's
1 845-57] OF EARLY LIFE AND ASSOCIATIONS 27
Cove ; but the name of the place and what one had heard
about it caused it to haunt one's imagination as a place of
mystery and wonder.
The first scientific lecture, or perhaps one ought to say
archaeological, I remember hearing was one upon Egyptian
hieroglyphics by a kindly and venerable-looking old gentle-
man whose name I think was Ford.
He arrested attention, however, by himself illustrating
his lecture by drawing on the blackboard, and explaining
the hieroglyphic system by applying it to the inscription of
modern words or names, such as America.
So, from one source or another, no doubt one was gathering
the elements of ideas, some of which were destined to be
developed further in later life. More or less formal and
regular "lessons" went on, too, at home. Miss Hawkes was
succeeded by a much more lively and interesting personality
— a lady, a friend of the family, who took charge of the lesson-
giving for a time, and I remember, though not with much joy,
being bad at languages, French was made a feature under
the new curriculum. The lady was Miss Clarke, who became
much endeared to us all, and has remained a faithful friend
through life, and is still living, at the age of ninety-three, in
the enjoyment of wonderful health and all her faculties. It
was, indeed, through her that I became acquainted with the
lady who afterwards became my wife, in London many years
later.
Torquay at that time was rather remarkable for the number
of its different religious sects and coteries, each claiming the
special patent of salvation. Miss Clarke was an ardent
Evangelical, and made no secret of her views. My mother was
always that way inclined, although with a liberal tendency
and a mind open to broader ideas. She was interested by
such books as Vestiges of Creation, and other literature of
the day skirmishing on the borderland of science and
religion ; but we children were brought up in the ordinary
low church tenets, and the Religious Tract Society furnished
most of our Sunday reading, I think.
As a counter influence we had a great -aunt, Miss
Swinchatte by name, a sister of my father's mother. We called
28 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1845-57
her Aunt Sarah. She was a Unitarian — so that the differences
in reUgious views in the same house were considerable. This
aunt stayed with us for some time, but we children made
rather too much noise for her comfort, I fancy, though she
was kindly disposed, and she finally left our roof. I have
a distinct image of her as a thin-featured, refined, rather
colourless, keen and particular but not unkindly old lady in
spectacles, who spent most of her time in an armchair reading.
A more popular aunt was my father's sister, who generally
paid us an annual visit, bringing us little presents and joining
in our games and excursions, though apt to be a little rigid
and severe at times, and not realising or making allowance for,
as time went on, the difference a few years make in the life
and development of character in young people — not, by the
way, at all an uncommon failing in many excellent persons.
We were marched to church regularly, once or twice every
Sunday. My earliest recollections are of a new modern
Gothic church with low-backed rather penitential seats with
" poppyheads " at the ends, mitigated by loose cushions and
" hassocks " of the kind of crimson rep one always associates
with low church furniture. Our family seat was a " front
row " facing the chancel. There was a central and two side
aisles and a small gallery or organ loft over the vestry. This
was dark and shadowy, and my irresistible idea was when the
Litany was read that the " miserable sinners " were somehow
up in this gallery, where dark silhouettes of bending forms
could be dimly discerned, as it was difficult to associate the
term with the sleek and prosperous -looking people who
filled the body of the church, or the well-dressed gentlemen
who covered their faces with their silk hats for a few mysterious
moments as they entered. How vividly I recall some of the
faces of that congregation, but it is those of the men
principally. The women were a good deal disguised in those
days with coalscuttle bonnets and often thick veils over the
front of these, so that it was often impossible to see what
they were like.
The men were more showy in their dress, too, than now,
the Sunday coat being by no means universally black, but
often green, blue, or plum-colour, with brass buttons. The
1845-57] OF EARLY LIFE AND ASSOCIATIONS 29
gorgeous waistcoats of the early " fifties " have already been
alluded to, and the ensemble was heightened by satin stocks,
and completed with buff or other light-coloured " continua-
tions " carefully strapped under Wellington boots. Those
were the days, too, when " white ducks " were generally worn,
and, in the summer, formed part of the official costume of
policemen and marines. It must certainly have been a much
cleaner world then, though I remember how soon in one's own
experience the positive whiteness became sullied, generally by
green smudges on the knees, owing to incautiously kneeling
on the lawn with too much everyday abandon.
My father was always extremely quiet but correct in his
dress. He seemed to accept the world and its customs pretty
much as he found them, and had a nice sense of propriety
on all occasions, though possessing a keen sense of humour,
which, no doubt, gave him the necessary mental relief during
somewhat oppressive social functions.
The terrible feeling of unnatural righteousness which
seemed to be put on with the clean linen and the Sunday
clothes, making any healthy exercise seem out of the question,
became a little mitigated on Sunday afternoons, despite an
unusually good dinner, by a walk in the country. This was a
regular thing with my father, and we boys were always ready
for a ramble over the Warberry Hill and along the coast, when,
no doubt, the long-suffering parent would be exposed to a
running fire of questions about all sorts of things met with by
the way.
At other times, in the intervals of portrait-painting, my
father would make landscape studies and sketches of the local
scenery, and sometimes utilise them as backgrounds. He had
been a versatile artist all his life, and painted figure subjects,
landscapes and animals, as well as portraits and portrait
miniatures, though these latter occupied his chief professional
time, and it was on his facility and grace as a portraitist that
his reputation was maintained.
Torquay, however, did not offer much scope or opportunity
for his talents, and he found more support among his old
connection in Lancashire and Cheshire, and this necessitated not
unfrequent absences from home.
30 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1845-57
It was presently thought advisable to send my brother and
myself to school. The principal boys' school was then under the
mastership of a Mr. Page. It was commonly called " Page's
school," and was situated upon the Teignmouth road in the
upper part of Torquay, quite in the suburbs, and almost in the
fields at that time. The schoolhouse was a large square block
connected with the master's suburban-looking residence in a
garden, facing a large bare-looking playground with what was
called a Giant's Stride in one corner. Here, after the preliminary
parental private interview with Principal Page, we may be said
to have turned over a new leaf as we went somewhat shyly as
new boys one day — I rather think it was at the commence-
ment of the autumn term in 1856. My brother Tom was
about two years older than I, and had already had some
school experience at another ^ school in the town, but it was
my first acquaintance with a boys' school. We were,
however, only " day-boys," and were regarded rather as in a
different class by the boarders, though duly officially named
Crane Major and Crane Minor. [ I cannot say my recollections
of school life were at all happy. The brutality of it struck me
very much. A herd of boys in a gaunt bare room, the walls
relieved only by one or two varnished maps ; the floor bare,
and rows of much-worn and well-inked wooden double-sloped
desks, and forms without backs for the boys, and a master's
desk or two. The constant use of the cane for quite trifling
faults or mistakes was disgusting. Mr. Page was a severe
man and seemed to enjoy using the cane, or at least did not
seem to think his authority could be maintained without it.
He was rather short but sturdily built, and he generally
appeared in a black alpaca coat and a black smoking-cap with
a tassel hanging on one side, and there was generally a hush
at his entry into the schoolroom. There was one poor chap,
a Jew and a foreigner, who was always catching it, perhaps
because he did not understand so well as the others. I do
not think the other masters were empowered to use the cane,
however. The second master was very harsh and unsympathetic.
I was hopeless in arithmetic always, and at this school on
Monday mornings a class was taken by the aforesaid severe
master, what was called " mental arithmetic." There were no
1845-57] OF EARLY LIFE AND ASSOCIATIONS 31
slates or pencil and paper allowed, and the problems which
were read out by the master had to be done in the head.
After a pause each boy was asked in turn for the answer. If
^ boy could not answer, or made the wrong answer, it was
promptly, " Next boy I " The questions were generally of the
sort beginning, " If a dozen of such a thing cost so much, what
would a hundred dozen cost ? " — or more or less complex variants
of this type, but they were often put in a puzzling way, and
what with nervousness and anxiety to get out an answer of
some sort in time, I believe any calculating machinery I may
have had was from that time hopelessly deranged.
I got on better with the Latin master (Mr. Stuart, a
Scotchman with a characteristic accent), with writing on themes
which were set by the same master, who was much more
sympathetic to me than the others.
There was a midday dinner served in a long room on
the ground floor, also used as a classroom. The food was
abundant, certainly, plain roast and boiled with vegetables.
A standing dish was roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. The
second master would carve for the boys, and each boy could
indicate his choice, if he had any, vocally. This was done in a
sort of chanted response to the carver's look, generally this
form : " Any way, no fat, please sir." We day-boys, a very
small group, sat at the Principal's table with his own family.
He had a son of his own as one of the scholars.
Writing from dictation, generally some well-known poem,
such as, " On Linden when the sun was low," I liked well
enough, and writing generally, but we had a lot of lessons to
take home, and these grew to be such a burden on my spirit,
and the anxiety to get them creditably done was such that an
attack of congestion of the brain came on and stopped my
school career temporarily^
My mother belonged to the homeopathic persuasion in
medicine, and we were fortunate in having a very sensible
and kindly doctor. Dr. Mackintosh, who relied mostly on
changing the diet ; whether it was that nature was not violently
interfered with by violent remedies, or by " pouring drugs of
which we know little into bodies of which we know less," I
know not, but we seemed to be all successfully pulled through
32 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1845-57
the usual childish ailments. We were quite fond of globules
and tinctures. The mother had a little medicine-chest of her
own, and dosed us for small ailments ; it was only for more
serious symptoms that the doctor was called in. So we
remained innocent of powders in jam, rhubarb and magnesia,
and all the fearsome medicines we had heard or read of as
being so revolting, and needing such bribery to induce
children to take.
Cruikshank's picture of the wretched boys at Dotheboys
Hall being dosed by Miss Squeers with brimstone and treacle is
well known, and it was then a tradition that a little occasionally
was a good thing, but I do not remember that it was very
objectionable to taste.
It is quite likely that one had acquired a sort of horror
of schools from Dickens's account of Mr. Squeers's establish-
ment, heightened by Cruikshank's illustrations, for I certainly
well remember we had that well-known edition, and also the
later ones illustrated by Phiz (Hablot K. Browne), many of
which were first issued in parts in green paper covers.
I do not remember making any very fast friendships
among my schoolfellows, but this may be accounted for by
the short and interrupted time one spent at the school, and
also being a day-boy. The chief opportunities of becoming
acquainted with one another were of course in the playground,
where we played football and hockey. The personality of
many of the boys is, however, quite distinct, and their
appearance, and many of their names. There were three
Dutch boys of a Jewish type — Major, Minor, and Minimus.
I recall their rather thick pronunciation, long noses, and
speckled suits. There was a big boy with a large head and
shock of light hair named Glasgow, who wore very short
jackets and trousers, possibly because he was always out-
growing his clothes. There was a gentle-looking boy named
Lambshead, curiously enough the son of a butcher in the
town. Another of the day-boys was one named Weymouth,
who had a high repute for cleverness at his books and
arithmetic at the school. He joined us part way in our
daily walks to and from the school, but afterwards became a
boarder, and so was practically lost to us as a companion. I
1845-57] OF EARLY LIFE AND ASSOCIATIONS 33
have some recollection of a school cricket-club and of matches
played in a field not far off, but they are somewhat faint.
My schooldays, however, were destined to be very short.
The last incident I can remember in connection with them
was the distribution of some of my early drawings among my
schoolfellows as mementoes on the last day of our attendance,
when we bade farewell to Mr. Page and his school. Some of
these were illustrations to Walter Scott's novels and ballads,
chiefly combats and fights, such as that between young
Morton and Balfour of Burleigh in Old Mortality (or Lord
Cranstoun and William of Deloraine in the Ballads), which,
curiously enough, I met with in the rooms of one of our old
schoolfellows who had settled in London years afterwards,
and who had carefully preserved this relic, which was crude
enough.
In the spring of 1857 a great change took place in
the family. My parents decided to remove to London. I
fear my father's professional prospects were not improving in
Torquay, where his art met with very little encouragement,
and he was advised to take up his residence in London, as
offering the best field for an artist. His health, which had
been a difficulty from the first, had improved very much at
Torquay, and no doubt his residence there had prolonged his
life. It was not without risk that the new departure was
resolved upon. It entailed, of course, the giving up of the
house in Park Place, and also the sale of the furniture and
effects, so that the break with the old days was complete, and
it was like beginning life again in a new world.
CHAPTER II
REMOVAL TO LONDON, 1857, AND EARLY EXPERIENCES
THERE UNTIL 1859
IT was in May 1857 that the Crane family bade farewell
to Torquay after a residence of nearly twelve years and
made their way to London, my father having gone before, to
secure a house and arrange matters for us.
I have no distinct impressions of the journey. The early
wonder of the railroad had a good deal worn off. The rush
of railway extension and railway speculation had come and
gone with the " forties," and travelling by train was settling
down into the matter-of-course, useful, time-saving way of
getting about the country. There had long been the South
Devon railway extension from Exeter to Torquay, or rather to
Tor, for the line down to the sea was not completed for some
years later. We had often watched the arrival and departure
of the little train of the old-fashioned stage coach-body pattern,
drawn by a long green-bodied engine with bright brass safety
valves and a tall black funnel ; and trains with plenty of
white steam puffing out had long been favourite subjects for
treatment in slate and pencil.
I have an early dim recollection of being taken as far as
Exeter in the early days of the line, and even have an im-
pression of the cathedral and of being awed by its shadowy
solemnity.
We must have duly reached Paddington, and have been
somehow transported far down the Bayswater Road to near
where the line of green omnibuses used to stop at Starch
Green, Shepherd's Bush, then quite a rural spot, just beginning
to get a suburban touch with some newish villas.
My eldest sister (the author of Lectures on Art and the
1857-59] REMOVAL TO LONDON 35
Formation of Taste) had been for a year or two at a girls'
boarding-school in Royal Crescent, Notting Hill, which was
conducted by Mrs. Howell, a great friend of our parents. Her
two daughters had stayed in Torquay, and we were all very
friendly together, so that we were not altogether without
neighbours, comparatively speaking. The son of the house
was a blue-coat boy of Christ's Hospital, and his appearance
in the quaint costume made a great impression, the old
English scholar's dress being quite new to us. My father
painted a portrait of young Mortimer Howell in this dress,
standing with a book in his hand, with the gateway of Christ's
Hospital in the background, and a capital picture it made.
This young man afterwards entered the Indian Civil Service,
passing the very stiff examination with distinction.
My father had taken a furnished house in what is now
called Goldhawk Road — the address was No. 2 Alfred
Villas, Starch Green. The house was a semi-detached one,
of the early Victorian builders' quasi-Greek-fronted type in
painted cement, with Mr. Ruskin's abomination — a Doric portico
— and a small flight of steps to the front door, and a small
forecourt or front garden, defended from the pavement by an
outer wooden gate with posts and balustrade, and there was
a long narrow strip of garden at the back divided from the
neighbours' on each side by low brick walls, which, so to speak,
kept the word of privacy to the eye but broke it to the hope.
The house belonged to one Lady Phillips, apparently the
dame of a sometime Lord Mayor of London, from the
evidence of certain portraits hanging in the rooms, if I
remember aright. There was the usual early Victorian
suburban villa arrangement of front and back drawing-room
divided by folding doors. The outlook in front across the
road was a brickfield. This at least had the charm of novelty,
and I began to sketch the shed with the horse going round,
the men laying the bricks of London clay in the long rows
under straw to dry, and the smoking pile when they were
baked, emitting that curious stuffy oven odour which used to
permeate the suburbs of London.
There were pleasant walks westward by Stamford Brook
to Turnham Green and Beck Common, and the sight of
36 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1857-59
what is now Bedford Park, then green fields and trees, with a
pleasant pathway along the brookside to Acton, then quite a
distinct village, or southwards down Paddenswick Road and
Shaftesbury Road — then a new road cut through orchards —
to Hammersmith, and so down Hampshire Hog Lane to the
Mall with its old elms and fine river view, since so much
associated with William Morris and his friends.
" Now for London ! " as the omnibus conductors used to
say, when the Starch Green 'bus, after reposing a while at the
" Half Moon and Seven Stars " waiting for another to come up,
turned round and travelled easj:wards again. It seemed a long
journey up the Bayswater Road then. There was a fringe of
semi-detached villas more or less continuous on the south side
of the road nearly as far as Shepherd's Bush Green, Then
an unenclosed goose green with ditches at the side, and a
few white posts and rails. Here at its eastern corner the road
— Uxbridge Road — diverged to Acton, with here and there,
at intervals, some two-storeyed early nineteenth-century brick
cottages and an old roadside inn, with horse trough and sign-
post, and seats outside for wayfaring customers. To the south
of the Green there were no houses at that time north of Brook
Green. Shepherd's Bush Road was a country lane with hedges,
and a long row of tall poplars bordered a region of market
gardens extending to Hammersmith. There was no Addison
Road Station, but only a coal dep6t at Uxbridge Road and
the line to Willesden used only for coals. Just beyond the
station on the right the semi-detached villas began again up to
Addison Road, and most of the Addison Road houses were
there, I think. Then of course there was Royal Crescent
and the houses opposite Holland Park, much as they are now,
with the little gardens in front, but no shops. Holland Park
itself was intact and uninvaded by the " desirable residences "
of the builder. A fine belt of trees extended from the foot of
the hill up to Campden Hill, protected by an old brick wall,
panelled and buttressed at intervals, bearing various dates
formed by lighter-coloured bricks let into the structure here
and there, presumably commemorating different dates of repair :
1848 was one, I remember.
The tower of the Grand Junction waterworks was then, as
1 857-591 REMOVAL TO LONDON 37
now, a feature on the top of Campden Hill, and at Notting
Hill, in the narrow part of the High Street, there was actually
a toll bar, white gate and all. Silver Street was much the
same, I think, and Palace Gardens represented the height of
palatial aspiration in domestic architecture for the rich ;
Kensington Gardens with its fine trees, as now, forming a
pleasant green bordering to the road farther on, but West-
bournia was only beginning, and many of the mansions of
Lancaster Gate were being built. Onwards to the Marble Arch
there was little change, except there were no flats in brick and
terra-cotta.
The noise of Oxford Street and rattle of the London traffic
over the stone paving, which was then general, was very
dazing and confusing to visitors fresh from the country, and
I remember the roar one heard from Hyde Park caused by
the grinding of the wheels and the beat of the hoofs. It is
still audible, but much softened since the days of wood paving.
Of course we were taken to the various sights and Lions of
London occasionally.
The Pantheon in Oxford Street, a building near the circus
with a gloomy Roman portico over the pavement, at that time
was open as a kind of bazaar of all sorts of ladies' fancywork,
with a picture-gallery upstairs. There were some terrible
things there truly, but I was greatly struck with certain colossal
canvases by B. R. Haydon — " The Meeting of Alexander the
Great and Xerxes," I think was one of the largest, full of energy,
fiery rearing chargers and brass helmets. The finest of all was
" Marcus Curtius Leaping into the Gulf," a Roman warrior fully
armed on horseback plunging down a dark abyss, a work of
real imagination and force, which was in later years to be seen
in the picture-gallery at the Old Canterbury Music Hall. It
seems strange that Haydon is only represented in the National
Collection by a comparatively unimportant and uncharacteristic
work, the " Punch and Judy Show," at South Kensington.
Whatev^er qualities might be wanting in his work as a painter,
it is certainly to his credit that in a time of humdrum
domesticities and stagey historic incident in painting, he
asserted the claims of heroic treatment and large mural
intention.
38 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1857-59
The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square was then
(1857) shared between the Old Masters and the Royal
Academy. At that time it was the work of the living that
interested me most, and keen was my delight on the occasion
of a first visit to the Academy Exhibition. Up to this time,
since the war fever was over, under the influence chiefly of
prints after Sir E. Landseer, Richard Ansdell, and J. F. Herring,
I had become chiefly interested in drawing animals, and it was
thought that I should make them my principal study. I had
often been set to copy bits out of a print of an early work of
Landseer's, " The Hawking Party, or the Return from Hawking,"
which used to hang in the dining-room at Park Place. This
picture contained portraits of the Earl of Ellesmere and other
members of that family, but the horses and hounds were the
principal figures for all that. The scene was at the gate of a
castle or country mansion, and I well remember the figure of a
falconer on the left with his hawks, and a white horse which
was supposed to be a fine study in foreshortening. Many of
Landseer's pictures were among the engravings in the Art
Journal^ such as " Peace " and " War," and his pictures of
Highland deer and other well-known sentimental and in-
cidental subjects in animal life were very popular, and filled the
print-sellers' windows and adorned the walls of middle-class
houses abundantly at that time. I had, however, never seen
an original Landseer, and this in itself was sufficiently exciting.
But the pre-Raphaelites were then the newest sensation in the
art world, and in this particular Academy show it was Millais'
famous picture of " Sir Isumbras Crossing the Ford " which I
chiefly remember. It impressed me beyond words. To begin
with, it had a horse in it — indeed, it was mostly horse, some
people said. It was, however, much more. It was strikingly
original : it was romantic, and was a very forcible and truthful
piece of painting, and in a manner quite fresh to my youthful
eyes. The picture was the talk of the season, and was the cause
of a certain elaborate caricature being published, which rather
cruelly represented Mr.Ruskin as the Knight, while D.G. Rossetti
and Holman Hunt were the two children he was conveying
across the river — not on a great horse but on the back of a
colossal ass — while early pre-Raphaelite brethren on the
'857-59J REMOVAL TO LONDON 39
banks of the river prayed for their safe conduct across the
ford.
I remember seeing this print — which was afterwards dis-
covered to be the work of the distinguished artist Frederick
Sandys — in Messrs, Colnaghi's window at the time, and can
recall my father speaking of it with much amusement.
The effect of seeing the work of the pre-Raphaelites was
not immediate on my youthful practice. I seem to have been
under many different influences about this period, and one
certainly was that of Turner, whose work was then temporarily
housed at Marlborough House, together with the Vernon Col-
lection, and the Hogarths and Reynoldses and Gainsboroughs
now in Trafalgar Square. The Turner influence was fostered
by my reading the first volume of Modern Painters, which my
father possessed, and the moving and eloquent descriptions
with which the book abounds. Then, too, we had Rogers'
Italy, with the Turner vignettes, and I remember I used to try
my hand at little subjects with setting suns in them, groups of
cows standing in water, and suchlike pictorial material.
It may have been owing to the fact of my father having
several pastel heads placed in the Academy Exhibitions about
this time that helped to encourage him to settle in London.
We did not, however, stay long in Alfred Villas, but moved
after a month or so to Shaftesbury Terrace, Hammersmith,
a new row of houses at the Hammersmith end of Shaftes-
bury Road, then newly laid out, and having orchards on
each side higher up.
The education question troubled my parents a good deal,
and as want of means was a difficulty, they were advised to
try and obtain nominations to Christ's Hospital School for my
elder brother and myself Letters were duly written to certain
influential governors or patrons — such as the Earl of Derby,
the Earl of Lansdowne, Lord Shaftesbury, Mr. Gladstone — but
they brought nothing but more or less courteous replies ex-
pressing inability to help in the matter, which was not
encouraging ; so the idea was given up, and we remained at
home — to my great relief, privately, it must be confessed.
One of my father's friends at this time was Mr. (afterwards
Sir) Robert Rawlinson, C.E., and a well-known member of the
40 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1857-59
Society of Arts, who had won considerable distinction in con-
nection with the Crimean Campaign, he having been sent out
by the Government to advise and make a report as to the
sanitation of the camp. I well remember him coming to see
us one Sunday at Hammersmith, as he was rather a remark-
able figure, and dressed in what was then considered a very
old-fashioned style. He wore short white duck trousers over
Wellington boots, and a blue swallow-tail coat with brass
buttons, a stock round his neck, and had long side whiskers
extending beneath the chin. My father was commissioned
to make a chalk drawing of Kis head, which was done, and I
rather think sent to the Academy. Mr. Rawlinson was by way
of buying a picture now and then, and had a study of Donkeys
on a Common, by R. Ansdell, R.A., which he, hearing of my
fondness for drawing animals, and seeing some of my early
attempts, lent for me to copy, and also at another time a small
landscape picture of a ripe cornfield with a farmhouse and
trees, a bit of distant country, and a heavy, cloudy sky. This
was by Dawson, a Nottingham painter of some repute.
(Curiously enough, I met with this very picture in the
Municipal Art Gallery at Kidderminster the other day.)
The Donkeys I later offered for sale at a tiny picture
shop, one of the little row which still survive at Knightsbridge,
squeezed against the side of the Park — the last shops on the
left on the way to Hyde Park Corner, and I believe I obtained
the magnificent sum of los. for it.
I never enjoyed myself copying, however, and was always
happier drawing direct from Nature or doing something " out
of my head."
Of course I got a good deal of instruction under my
father's eye, and was allowed to make my first essay in oil-
painting in the summer of this year — a black and white grey-
hound's head, I remember. He used to set one to paint groups
of still life to get practice in drawing, colour, and values, and I
think it taught one a good deal, and then one always had the
advantage of seeing an accomplished hand at work.
At Hammersmith I found good sketching ground at Beck
Common, and where now stands the populous and aesthetic
suburb known as Bedford Park, I used to draw the browsing
1857-59] REMOVAL TO LONDON 41
cattle and ponies. One day I was sketching an old shaggy
pony on the Common when its owner, a milkman, came forth
and took it, like time, by the forelock. He, however, looked at
my sketch, and said that if I came to his place he would give
me a glass of milk for it. The bargain was accepted, and I
gained not only a glass of milk down, but access to a yard
and stables with all sorts of interesting models in the shape of
animals, so that I was quite happy.
Echoes of events shaking the big world reached one but
faintly, but I do remember the talk about the terrible time
of the Indian Mutiny and its excesses, and the horrible
retaliation of its suppressors, as one heard of blowing of Sepoys
from the mouths of cannons, and of British soldiers bayonet-
ing the wounded Sepoys in the hospitals who begged to be
shot instead. It left its mark in the pictorial world too,
as there were sensational pictures in the Academy in the
following years of British officers preparing to shoot their
wives to save them from the infuriated Sepoys seen breaking
in at the wings, and suchlike incidents.^
I do not remember how long we stayed at Shaftesbury
Road, but the next year (1858) found the family in Lambton
Terrace, on the then outskirts of Westbournia. The neighbour-
hood immediately beyond had been overbuilt, and now looked
dreary and desolate enough with rows of gaunt, roofless carcasses
of houses arrested in their march upon the green fields. In the
middle of an open ground close by, strewn with bricks and
building debris, stood a partly finished church, then known as
Dr. Walker's church (where I recall sketching the caretaker's
dogs), now surrounded with houses, and the centre of a
populous district near the Westbourne Park Station of the
' What is known as "The Mutiny" was really a revolt. My recent visit to
India has convinced me that it must have been a most determined eflTort on a
very large scale to regain possession of the government of Oudh for the native
princes. Whatever his shortcomings, the deposition of the last king and his banish-
ment was highly unpopular, and the appropriation of the lands and revenues by the
British did not make it better (the king lieing granted an allowance, out of his
own property as it were !). Much has been said alx)ut the oppression of the natives
under the native princes, but are the natives better off under British rule? Are
not the ryots taxed to subsistence point, and is not their condition as much owing
to poverty as to famine?
I
42
AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1857-59
Metropolitan Railway. There was no such railway then, of
course, but open country right away to Kensal Green and
Willesden.
An old farmhouse, with a pond and a willow leaning over
it (Notting Barn), stood close to what is now Notting Hill
Station. I used to sketch about here, and also farther afield,
at Wormwood Scrubbs, before the prison overshadowed it, and
EARLY STUDY OF A SETTER (1858)
before it was enclosed by the War Office, and was innocent
of rifle butts. Cattle grazed on both sides of the railway
embankment then, and also beyond the Scrubbs, on Old Oak
Common, which was about the limit of my sketching rambles in
those days.
My favourite spot was a cottage or small farm, near the
canal, where lived an old couple named Ireland. They gave
me the run of the place. They kept sporting dogs there, and
the gate was guarded by a fine yellow collie ; there was a
1857-59] REMOVAL TO LONDON 43
donkey and other interesting animals for me to make studies
of also, but apart from this, the place was used by Lancaster
the gun-maker of Bond Street as a rifle range. There was
a mechanical running deer to shoot at in the field backed by
black timber fencing, and there was a shed in which a man
in list slippers carried on the craft of cartridge making, and
sometimes parties of men would come down to try guns.
The place has long ago disappeared before the spreading
town, which has now come up to the railway, and only stops
short at the Scrubbs.
My sketching was varied by visits to a cow-keeper's
stables near us, where I got studies of cows and horses, and
sometimes even accompanied a party of milkmaids — of the
sturdy Irish type then usual in London — upon the milk cart
some distance down the Acton Road to where the cows were
fed in the summer time in the meadows, and returned again
with them after the milking was done with the full cans in
the cart.
Such pursuits were varied by occasional visits to London's
sights. I do not happen to remember my first visits to
Westminster Abbey or St. Paul's, though later I can recall
impressions of the Houses of Parliament and the British
Museum. South Kensington Museum is more distinct, and it
must have been in its quite early days when it was called the
" Brompton Boilers " from the round-roofed iron sheds painted
white and green which then housed the collections. The
place was guarded by sappers and miners in shell jackets ;
near the entrance was a model of the estate with plans of
extension, and a label with the inscription, " Rome was not
built in a day," and I think this was repeated on any unfinished
work in the place. The museum was full of interest and
variety, and had not the gloom and sepulchral feeling of the
British Museum. There were numbers of delightful and
interesting things one had never seen before — casts of Italian
Renascence sculpture, mediaeval carving, jewellery and glass,
armour and weapons, fireplaces, tiles, furniture and tapestry,
all tumbled together as in a vast curiosity shop, but making
a most attractive ensemble, and probably, in my case, preparing
the way for that keen interest in the arts and crafts of design
44 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1857-59
which was in later years to absorb so much of my time and
energy. At that time the most popular place was the gallery
which housed the Sheepshanks Collection, which was most fas-
cinating, rich in Landseers and Mulreadys ; and Mulready, I
think, was particularly interesting to my father, who frequently
took us to the gallery. A favourite place with me was a
certain corridor leading from the museum on the ground floor
to the offices. The walls of this corridor were hung with a
collection more or less historically complete of wood-engraving.
Here one got first acquainted with Burgmair's " Triumphs of
Maximilian," and met Durer again in one's old friends, " Ritter
Tod und Teufel " and " Melencolia " and " The Great Horse,"
Alfred Rethel's " Death the Friend " and " Death the Enemy,"
and his very dramatic and striking series of Death in the
Revolution of i 848. Specimens of Linton's work hung here,
and Bewick and his school, and the illustrators of the mid-
nineteenth century. No doubt I imbibed many ideas here,
and from the varied contents of the museum generally, but
I little thought how closely I should be connected with the
place in after years.
There were plenty of growls at its situation — so far from
London and out of the way, and difficult to get at. The
Brompton 'buses were the only ones which came at all near
its gates. " The Boilers " were then in an extensive garden,
and approached through iron entrance gates by a carriage
drive belonging to an old-fashioned house which was on the
estate, and used, I think, as an official residence for some time
— in fact, it only disappeared a few years ago to make room for
the new buildings for the museum now nearing completion.
Exhibition Road had only recently been made — the houses
of Prince's Gate were just begun, at the Park end. The
gardens of the Horticultural Society were intact behind a
fence extending all down the west side of Exhibition Road.
London practically came to an end in this part, and was lost
in market gardens, or desirable building land to be let on
ninety-nine years' leases.
CHAPTER III
APPRENTICESHIP TO W. J. LINTON, 1858-62
I THINK it was some time in the year 1858 that, through
the good offices of a friend in the publishing house of
Smith & Elder, of Cornhill (Mr. Wooldridge, father of the
recent Slade professor at Oxford), some drawings of mine were
shown to Mr. Ruskin. I was accustomed to amuse myself
by making illustrations to poems I was fond of, such as Cowper's
" Task " Scott's Ballads, and « Blomfield's Farmers' Boy." These
were generally in the form of small pen sketches. Among
them however, was a complete set of pages in colour illustrat-
ing Tennyson's poem. "The Lady of Shalott." Each page
contained a subject enclosed in a sort of border with the
text written within it. It was considered more of a complete
decorative effort than anything I had produced hitherto. Mr.
Ruskin was fairly encouraging, and praised particularly the
colour of this Lady of Shalott set.
The same drawings were shown about the same time,
however, to Mr. W. J. Linton, who was considered the head
of his craft as a wood-engraver at that time, besides being a
writer and a poet and an ardent champion of political freedom,
and an adherent of the Chartists.
He seemed so taken with the drawings that he very
generously at once offered to take me into his office without
the usual premium, with the idea of my learning the craft of
drawing on the wood, at that time necessary for those who
sought a career in book illustrating. He evidently thought
more of my possible capacity as a designer, and praised the
Tennyson set for their conception and arrangement, which he
said was their chief merit, not so much the colour, as Ruskin
had thought.
45
46 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1858-62
Well, as it was necessary to consider my prospects of
making a living, and as I was quite willing, the offer was
accepted by my father; and finally, in January 1859, an inden-
ture of apprenticeship to W. J. Linton for a period of three
years was signed and sealed, and I remember being instructed
to place my thumb upon the little red seal, and say the mystic
words, " I deliver this as my act and deed." There was no
compulsion, as I was eager to begin my new career, and seemed
fully aware of what it might lead to, as I carefully recorded
the date in a pocket-book, and added in boyish round hand,
" One of the most important events of my life."
W. J. Linton was in appearance small of stature, but a very
remarkable-looking man. His fair hair, rather fine and thin,
fell in actual locks to his shoulders, and he wore a long flow-
ing beard and moustache, then beginning to be tinged with
grey. A keen, impulsive-looking, highly sensitive face with
kindly blue eyes looked out under the unusually broad brim
of a black " wideawake." He wore turn-down collars when the
rest of the world mostly turned them up — a loose, continental-
looking necktie, black velvet waistcoat, and a long-waisted coat
of a very peculiar cut, having no traditional two buttons at
the junction of the skirts at the back, trousers of an antique
pattern belonging to the " forties," rather tight at the knees
and falling over Wellington boots with small slits at the sides.
He had abundance of nervous energy and moved with a
quick, rapid step, coming into the office with a sort of breezy
rush, bringing with him always a stimulating sense of vitality.
He spoke rapidly in a light-toned voice, frequently punctuated
with a curious dry, obstructed sort of laugh. Altogether a
kindly, generous, impulsive, and enthusiastic nature, a true
socialist at heart, with an ardent love of liberty and with much
of the revolutionary feeling of '48 about him. He had a
curious way of breaking off his sentences, leaving the listener to
supply the last word.
He never obtruded his opinions, however, and such
maxims as he may have given me at times were quite incon-
trovertible : such as, " A man cannot be a great man unless
he is also a good man," which I recall his saying once ; and on
hearing about some people rather under a cloud through impe-
1858-62] APPRENTICESHIP TO W. J. LINTON 47
cuniosity, and not being able to pay their rent, he said, " They
may be very good people, and yet not able to pay their rent."
A gentle way, perhaps, of correcting bourgeois sentiment.
In the spring of 1859, he with Mrs. Lynn Linton, his
second wife, was living with the eldest son of the former
marriage (VV. W. Linton) at a pleasant house in Epping Forest
at Loughton.^ I remember going down there, and it was the
first time I met Mrs. Lynn Linton, who was already known to
literary fame and later became much more widely so, especially
by her remarkable novel, The True History of Joshua Davidson.
She was a rather large and fine-looking woman, with very
remarkably prominent eyes, although very short-sighted. She
had an affectionate manner with her friends, and spoke of
them as " dear." She had a rather gentle, almost tremulous
voice, and generally conveyed the impression of an emotional
character, yet she had the repute of being a particularly strong-
minded woman, full of advanced theories,
I frequently saw her afterwards when they lived in Leinster
Square, until the final break-up came, and Mr. Linton and
his two daughters and youngest son went to live at Newhaven,
Connecticut, in America, where he carried on his engraving
and established a printing press.
Mr. Linton's office was then in Essex Street, Strand —
No. 33, as then numbered, though I think since altered. It was
one of the old-fashioned eighteenth-century houses on the left-
hand side going towards the river, but entirely devoted to offices.
Linton had the third floor and the top garrets as well. The
deed was signed in one of these, in the presence of my father,
Mr. Linton, and Mr. Harvey Orrin Smith, who was then in
partnership with him. Mr. Orrin Smith was the son of the
well-known engraver of that name, and was thus a connecting
link with the early nineteenth-century school of English wood-
engraving from the time of Thomas Bewick onwards. Linton
himself was almost the last master of white line, and the ease
' The Linton family previously to this lived at a house named Brantwood, on
Coniston I^ke. This house was owned by Linton. At one time he let it to the poet
Gerald Massey, and ultimately sold it to Mr. Ruskin, who with the Arthur Sevems
lived there for many years, and eventually died there, leaving the house to the Sevems,
I believe.
48 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1858-62
and freedom of his touch upon the boxwood was astonishing.
His office was a typical wood-engraver's office of that time, a
row of engravers at work at a fixed bench covered with green
baize running the whole length of the room under the windows
with eyeglass stands and rows of gravers. And for night-
work, a round table with a gas lamp in the centre, surrounded
with a circle of large clear glass globes filled with water to
magnify the light and concentrate it on the blocks upon which
the engravers (or '* peckers," or " woodpeckers," as they were
commonly called) worked, resting them upon small circular leather
bags or cushions filled with «and, upon which they could easily
be held and turned about by the left hand while being worked
upon with the tool in the right. There were, I think, three or
four windows, and I suppose room for about half a dozen
engravers ; the experienced hands, of course, in the best light,
and the prentice hands between them. There were four or five
of these latter, apprenticed for five or seven years, to learn the
craft of engraving on wood. Of these some were deaf. It
was, indeed, very usual to apprentice deaf and sometimes even
dumb youths to wood-engravers. They went by the name
of " Dummies " in the office. The medium of communication
was always talking on the fingers. The deaf and dumb were
very expert at this between themselves, and used all sorts of
abbreviations, so that they appeared to express themselves
as rapidly as people do in ordinary conversation. Mr. Orrin
Smith was an adept at it, and all his instructions to the deaf
apprentices were conveyed by these means. He was a man
of considerable energy, and appeared to throw much expression
into the process of spelling out his words, especially when he
was vexed about some work having gone wrong, when extra
speed and emphasis would be thrown into the action of
his fingers, so much so that it was reported on one occasion
he decorated his speech, or perhaps relieved his feelings, by a
big big D.
He was an excellent friend to me, however, and I recall
the kindly way in which he set me to work on the first morn-
ing of my attendance at the office, feeling very new and strange.
He set me down at his table to draw one of my own pen-and-
ink sketches on a small block of boxwood, showing me the
1858-62] APPRENTICESHIP TO W. J. LINTON 49
way to prepare it with a little zinc-white powder (oxide of
bismuth was generally used) mixed with water and rubbed
backwards and forwards on the smooth surface of the boxwood
until dry. On this the design was traced in outline, and then
drawn with a hard pencil to get the lines as clear and sharp
as possible for the engravers. I did not find the 4 H pencil
put into my hands a very sympathetic implement, though the
surface of the wood was pleasant, but I dashed off something
with it, much to the surprise and probably embarrassment of
Mr. Orrin Smith, who hoped I was disposed of for some time.
He told me to work much more carefully and slowly. Rather
depressed, I began again, but my stock of knowledge, equal to
rapid sketching, did not gain by being laboured, and the draw-
ing soon got as shiny as a black-leaded grate.
My chief work at first was making little drawings, on
fragments of boxwood, for the apprentices to practise upon.
The outside edges of the boxwood, after the square block had
been sawn out of a cross section of the tree, were used up in
this way.
Wood-engraving was, however, rapidly entering a mechani-
cal stage, and engravers were becoming specialised for different
sorts of work. There was a " tint " man and a " facsimile "
man, for instance. Work for the weekly press necessitated
speed, and the blocks used were jointed and screwed together
so that they could be taken apart by the use of nuts and
spanners, and put together again. By these means a block
could be distributed among several different engravers, so that
the work could go on simultaneously, and of course much
more quickly than if the block was engraved throughout by
one pair of hands. Before the block was separated the joints
were cut, so that the drawing at the edges of each piece
should not be lost and that the work on each should fit
together properly. It was usual in a block containing figures
and faces for the heads to be cut by the master hand, and
what was called the less important " facsimile " work by the
apprentices. In the vignetted drawings then popular there
was a good deal of more or less meaningless scribble and
cross-hatching to fill up, or to balance, or to give a little
relief and colour to the subject.
4
56 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1858-62
In the drawings on the wood for serials and book illustra-
tions which mostly came into Linton's office at that time, both
wash and line were used generally.
John Gilbert had set the pattern of the prevailing type,
and there were many inferior Gilberts about. Gilbert himself
had been accustomed for many years, I believe, to draw the
rather sensational illustration — or " tale cut," as it was called
in the office — to the thrilling serial novel carried on in the
London Journal, a popular weekly periodical, but he at last
gave it up, and the weekly drawing was supplied by another
artist, who had to carry on Gilbert's tradition in composition
and treatment as closely as possible. This was Louis Huard,
who had a facile light touch, but not the force and richness
of Gilbert. A severer school was represented by John Tenniel,
whose work I greatly admired, who worked in pure almost
hair line, using, it was said, a 6 H pencil for his drawings
on the wood ; and the drawing I remember seeing certainly
looked like it. Another designer whose work I remember
seeing, though almost forgotten now, was John Franklin, who
worked in a sort of decorative conventional manner founded
upon the style of the German masters of the early sixteenth-
century presses. John Leech and Tenniel were then the chief
supporters of Punch, and often, during the dinner-hour, I
used to wander through the Temple and out into Fleet
Street, and study the cartoons displayed in the window of
the old Punch office at No. 185.
" Pam," and " Dizzy," and John Bright, and Napoleon III.
were familiar figures in Tenniel's cartoons, but I was not a
politician, and such characters I regarded, perhaps not without
reason, as moving in some mysterious drama of which I did
not understand the plot, or as playing some curious game of
the rules of which I was totally ignorant.
A more interesting and really heroic figure was Garibaldi,
who excited the greatest enthusiasm in England by his
valiant struggles for Italian freedom ; so much so, that an
English volunteer contingent was organised, and went out
to help him. W. J. Linton was on the executive committee
of this movement, and gave much of his time to it. I
remember him speaking of the difficulty he and his colleagues
1858-62] APPRENTICESHIP TO W. J. LINTON 51
had in restraining youths from throwing up their engagements
in their eagerness to join the red-shirted corps.
When, a year or two later, Garibaldi visited England,
nothing could exceed the enthusiasm with which he was
welcomed everywhere, and the cheering of the crowds which
greeted his appearance in the streets was something to
remember.
A new hand had recently showed itself in the pages of
Punchy however, in quite a distinct manner and at first one
which showed study of German woodcuts applied to direct
sketches from life. This was Charles Keene. The German
influence came out very strongly in a set of illustrations by
this artist which appeared in the new periodical Once a Week,
which was started by Messrs. Bradbury & Evans in 1859.
These were Keene's illustrations to Charles Reade's story
afterwards known as Tke Cloister and the Hearth, though in
its original form, as a serial tale in Once a Week, its title was
" A Good Fight." I remember a tall figure in a Glengarry cap
on the side of his head, in a short velveteen jacket, loose tie,
and ample peg-top trousers lounging into Linton's office and
sitting on the table chatting with the engravers, smoking a
short pipe ; rather close curly hair framed a long, somewhat
.sallow visage with contemplative eyes ; add a moustache and
small imperial, and you have the appearance of Charles Keene
at that time.
The windows of the main office in Essex Street looked
on to Fountain Court, Temple. The fountain at that time
was a simple basin, nearly flush with the pavement, with an
edge of Portland stone, and from the centre, nearly from the
level of the water, a single jet leapt into the air, and as the
breeze dispersed the spray, when the sun shone about mid-
day, we used to see rainbows. Some old elms, and the old
houses of the coUrt beyond, formed with the fountain a pleasant
picture, and I was moved to attempt to sketch the scene in
water-colour, rainbows and all. While I was at work, a
well-known artist who worked for the Illustrated London News
at that time, Samuel Read, came in, and looking at the sketch,
said encouragingly, " You'll make a landscape painter, my
boy." Then I remember he turned to one of the engravers,
52 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1858-62
the only one in the room at the time, and said, " Why in the
world is he put to engraving ? " when he was reassured by
my friend the engraver that I was there to practise drawing
on wood only.
Out of office hours I carried on a certain amount of
practice in painting and study of various kinds, my models
being chiefly members of the family. About this time,
through our old friend Miss Clarke, I was offered a rather
difficult commission by her brother, Mr. Joseph Clarke of
Saffron Walden, an antiquarian and sometime curator of
the museum there. He pQssessed an incomplete copy of
Wilkie's " Blind Fiddler," partly laid in in oil-colour on a
canvas. Mr. Clarke wished me to complete this for him,
and I tried to do -the best I could with it, working from an
engraving of the well-known picture ; but I do not remember
enjoying myself over it much, although I believe my patron
was fairly well content with the result. Mr. Joseph Clarke
used to write me beautiful letters on a kind of drawing paper
in a kind of script of his own. He himself was quite a
remarkable character, and wore the old-fashioned dress-coat
with high collar and voluminous neckcloth of the " thirties."
Of others who called to see Linton in Essex Street I
remember Lord Elcho, the present Earl of Wemyss (then a
fair young man with refined features and the long whiskers
of the period, the mouth being shaved), who was interested
in the early volunteer movement, in which he took a prominent
part. He had decided views about an appropriate uniform,
and the object of his visit to Linton was to get a frontispiece
engraved to a book he was bringing out on the subject.
This frontispiece was to be from a photograph representing,
I think, his lordship, in the new uniform, which resembled
that afterwards adopted by the artists' corps — silver-grey, with
brown leather belts, but with a grey helmet, without any spike,
not otherwise unlike the present tropical helmet of our troops.
This was the principal novelty then, as shakos were universally
worn.
I used to walk every day, except Sundays, from West-
bourne Park to Essex Street and back in the evening, taking
my lunch with me. I had government office hours — ten to
llOt^E nil >"IIA 1 I ON (,AI(1>IN
ENGRAVKN Ar WOKK
engravers' globe and CAI' of the period volunteer uniform, i86c (LONDON IRISH)
SKETCHES AT LINTON'S OFFICK IN HATTON GARDEN, 18e0-l
WALTER CRANE
1858-62] APPRENTICESHir TO W. J. LINTON 53
four, and a half-holiday on Saturdays. Sometimes I went
by way of the Park, sometimes by Oxford Street and down
Drury Lane — then full of rather bad slums and courts noted
for rows — and so along Wych Street — now cleared away and
turned into A Id wych under the London County Council
improvements — to St. Clement Danes and Essex Street.
In the dinner-hour sometimes we wandered about or played
hide-and-seek in the courts of the Temple, and went down the
Essex Street steps to the river to watch the barges and the
penny steamers, but this was before the Victoria Embankment.
Sometimes Linton's son, who was also engaged in the office,
would be my companion home, for about this time the
Lintons took a house in Leinster Square, Bayswater. At
other times my companion was a book, as it was quite
possible to read strolling along the quiet footpaths of the
Park. I remember bearing one by one the heavy volumes of
Ruskin's Modern Painters ^ which were obtained from Mudie's,
as my appetite had been whetted for more by reading the
first and only volume of Ruskin my father possessed, except
the pamphlet on " pre-Raphaelitism," in which he says, speak-
ing of Sir Edwin Landseer, " It was not by a study of Raphael
that he attained his eminent success, but by a healthy love
of Scotch terriers."
In the summer of 1859 a sad sorrow fell upon us in the
death of my father. The change and the air of London,
and no doubt increased anxieties, had told upon his health,
and so seriously that the end came in July. It was, of course,
a terrible blow. A kinder father never lived, and with his
death the family lost their bread-winner. He had never been
able to win a secure position by his art, though always at
work ; and although he maintained his position and kept his
family in comparative comfort, he was not able to leave any
provision, dying as he did at the early age of fifty-one, and
we were none of us of an age to be able to earn a living,
but it became more necessary than ever to regard our pursuits
as a means towards this end.
There was a sale of the works my father left at Messrs.
Foster's Rooms in Pall Mall. I do not remember what
sort of a sum was realised, but I believe Sir Robert Rawlinson
54 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1858-62
was one of the buyers. Accounts of my father as an artist
may be found in the Dictionary of National Biography,
Mr. MarilHer's Liverpool Painters, and other works. He was
certainly a very versatile artist, as a glance over the extent
of his work would show, ranging as it does from the
lithographed designs and portraits of the days of the press
in Chester with his brother William, to the miniatures for
which he was known in his earlier career, and including his
studies while a student at the Royal Academy, as well as
landscape, architectural, figure, animal, flower, and still life
studies and designs, subject pictures in oil, portraits in
oil and water colour, charcoal and pencil drawings, and
pastels. The grace and charm of his portraits and his sense
of composition, his facility and delicacy of execution, both
a draughtsman and a colourist governed by the traditions
and ideals of his time, must be generally acknowledged by
those who are acquainted with his work. One of his early
lithographs was a portrait group of a former Earl of Stamford
and Warrington, and his sister, as children ; and another
reproduced one of his early subject pictures, " An Old Arm-
chair."
He was also very skilful in making silhouette portraits
in black paper, which had a vogue at one time. Specimens of
these are given here.
We were greatly indebted to the kindness of an uncle
at this sad time, my mother's brother, Mr. Edward Kearsley,
then member of a firm of wholesale woollen cloth merchants
in the City. Arrangements were eventually made that he
should live with us, and a removal from Lambton Terrace
was decided on. A house was taken in Westbourne Park
Villas, one of a pair of semi-detached, with a small front
garden and a large back one which extended to the embank-
ment of the Great Western Railway, From here my uncle
could get his omnibus from the " Royal Oak " to the City in
the morning easily enough- — and they used to run special
express ones in those days for business men. My elder
brother was engaged in a lawyer's office in Gray's Inn Square,
and a school was found for my younger brother close by ;
my elder sister found some teaching work, and my younger
,858^62] APPRENTICESHIP TO W. J. LINTON 5 5
SILHOUETTE PORTRAIT
OF WALTER CRANE
AT ABOUT THE AGE
OF TWELVE
SILHOUETTE PORTRAIT OF MY
MOTHER, BY MY FATHER
SILHOUETTE PORTRAIT OF MY
FATHER, BY HIMSELF
56 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1858-62
sister was at a school near Chester ; so that we were all
disposed of in a way — though not provided for. At
Westbourne Park I was perhaps a trifle nearer to Essex
Street, which I often found rather a long tramp, and wore
out much shoe leather. My work, however, about this time
was varied by my being sent by Linton to make studies
of animals at the Zoological Gardens, with some view,
I believe, of eventually utilising some for a projected work
on Natural History. He was interested in a new process
of engraving which he had, I believe, invented in association
with a man named Hancock, who prepared the plates. This
process he named the Kerographic process. It was to some
extent an anticipation of some of the later mechanical
processes of engraving metal plates of zinc or copper so
as to adapt them to surface-printing, although in this case
without any photographic agency. The drawing was made
upon a copper plate, like an etching, though in this process
a thicker ground had to be cut through by the needle than
an ordinary etching ground. In fact, I believe an ordinary
black etching ground was first laid over the surface of the
plate, and then another ground which had a greyish white
surface, and on this the drawing would appear in black line,
so that the artist could see the effect pretty much as when
printed, or as when drawing on paper. It was necessary to
cut through the double ground cleanly with the etching point,
however, to ensure a line that should not be " rotten,"
What was done to the plate afterwards I do not precisely
know, but from the results I believe the drawing on the plate
was bitten in by acid in the same way as an etching, and then
a cast taken from it, which would give the lines in relief,
and this cast would be produced in hard metal, and probably
electrotyped to print from in the ordinary way.
The process attracted some attention at the time, and
a little book descriptive of it was issued by Linton, with
specimen illustrations drawn by different artists. The
process which professed to reproduce any line drawing in
facsimile was advocated as cheaper and more exact than
wood-engraving for facsimile work, and, curiously enough, by
a wood-engraver himself
1858-62] APPRENTICESHIP TO W. J. LINTON 57
One of the' specimens in this little book was contributed
by myself, and was a dog's head, more or less after Landseer,
I think. I also drew several other plates of animals, but
do not remember what became of them. The plates in
Gilchrist's Life of William Blake were produced by this
process, and I well remember being struck by the beauty
of Blake's designs as the work passed through Linton's
office. Amongst others, the Kerographic process attracted
the attention of Mr, Ruskin, who I remember calling one
day to see Mr. Linton on the subject. Whether he had
any idea of using it for any of his books, I do not know ;
it was enough for me that I was at last actually in the
presence of the great man — and I am sure he had no more
enthusiastic admirer and devoted follower at that time than
the youth of fifteen in Linton's office.
In appearance Mr. Ruskin at that time was still like
that early remarkable full-length portrait by Millais, though
perhaps nearer to Herkomer's fine water-colour head of him,
before he grew a beard. I recall his tall thin figure with
a slight stoop, and his quiet, rather abstracted manner. He
looked like an old-fashioned type of country gentleman with
literary tastes, and wore the high velvet-collared coat one
sees in his early portraits.
The office was no longer in Essex Street. We had
been deprived of the delights of Fountain Court, and with
many regrets had moved to far less pleasant quarters in
Hatton Garden. It consisted of rather a ramshackle old work-
shop of two storeys, across a yard, with low ceilings and rough
floors, and windows extending the whole length of one side
each room, of the old workshop or factory type with small
frames of blown glass, showing bull's eyes here and there
(quite precious now ! ). There was a long room off the yard,
and nearer the street the office proper. The view of roofs
(mostly pantiled and haunted by cats), brick chimneys, and
back-yards occasionally gained a certain unusual distinction
by the presence of a peacock and hen belonging to some
neighbours. They would parade about upon the parapets,
sometimes coming close to our windows, and we could
see the cock bird spread his gorgeous Byzantine half-
58 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1858-62,
dome of feathers in the neighbouring yard before his
unemotional spouse. This plumage in the sunlight was
some compensation for the loss of the rainbows of Fountain
Court. It was to this Hatton Garden office that Ruskin
came. Young Linton was at his desk, for he kept the books,
and I was engaged upon a large anatomical drawing in colour,
to be used as a lecture diagram. Anxious to be of some
service, however slight, to the great man, I offered to shut
the window, but he said "no"; but presently, feeling a
draught, I suppose, he reached up to the sash and shut it
himself, before I had time to jump up (there was a cupboard
under the window), and all I could pretend to do was to
fasten it. " Never mind fastening it," he said, and beyond
expressing an encouraging approval of what I was at work
on, I do not recall anything further Mr. Ruskin said on
that occasion, and not finding Mr. Linton, he very soon left.
Thrilled as I had been with his eloquent writing, it was a
memorable event to me just to have seen the great man,
who, of course, was quite unconscious of my devotion, and
probably quite oblivious of the fact of having seen any of
my work before, as he was of my identity.
Another distinguished person who was a client of our
office was the late Dr. B. W. Richardson, for whom a
quantity of medical diagrams were done — some to illustrate
a work of his, and others for lectures. In fact, the one upon
which I was engaged on the occasion of Mr. Ruskin's visit
was, I believe, for Dr. Richardson.
On one occasion I was sent to his house somewhere
in the Wimpole Street direction, and have a recollection of
a very kindly man with a massive head sitting at a desk
in a room lined with books.
In i860 the volunteer movement was in full swing.
The enthusiasm was immense, and nearly all the able-bodied
young men joined. Among the engravers in the office there
were at least three volunteers, each a member of a different
corps. Cartridge belts and plumed shakos were quite common,
and hung up alongside ordinary hats and coats, for drills and
parades were to be attended after work. One really wonders
how one escaped being drawn in, at least, to a cadet corps.
1858-62] APPRENTICESHIP TO W. J. LINTON 59
but I can only suppose I was rather too old for the cadets
and not old enough for a full-sized volunteer — and then I
had no money. I got more or less drill exercise, however,
as the volunteer members of the staff liked to show their
military knowledge by putting the apprentices through their
manual and platoon drill. We had also rather a rage for
athletics, and had frequent recourse to heavy dumb-bells
and the horizontal bar, as well as scratch wrestling and
boxing matches ; and sham fights were not unfrequent on
Saturdays after " the governors " had gone, when the ap-
prentices of one room would endeavour to carry the other
room by assault and turn its defenders out. Terrific struggles
on the narrow stairs generally followed and much torn
clothing.
I still varied my office work with study at the Zoological
Gardens. A student's ticket had been obtained for me by
Mr. Linton, and his recommendation was supported by a
veteran illustrator, William Harvey, whose graceful vignettes
to Lane's Arabian Nights had been familiar to me from
childhood.
At the Gardens I made the acquaintance of several
other students. Among these was Ernest Griset, who later
acquired considerable fame as a very original and humorous
draughtsman of animals and grotesque humans. His first
important work was the illustration of an edition of ^sop's
Fables published by Messrs, Cassell, and Griset at one time
had designs in Punch.
He was a lad of about sixteen when I knew him, very
strongly built, with a distinctly French type of face, and
having the peculiarity of being double-jointed in his thumbs.
He was very fond, then, of drawing battle scenes between
Gauls and Romans, and used pen and ink with great skill
and precision. His animal studies, too, were full of life
and character, and he himself always vivacious and full
of fun.
Another artist (J. W. Wolf) well known to naturalists for his
faithful drawings of birds and animals used to be seen at the
Gardens, especially on the occasion of any new addition to the
collection, as he would then come to make a drawing for
6o AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1858-62
publication in some illustrated journal of natural history, and
at one time I think he worked for the Illustrated London
News. His work was frequently seen in Once a Week in the
earlier days, and in the popular natural history books of the
Rev. J. G. Wood, but his principal work was the elaborate
coloured illustration of important works like Gould's Birds.
The sheaves of studies of animals and birds which I made
no doubt gave me considerable facility in the drawing of
animals and a memory of details of characteristics of their
form and action which has constantly been of value.
Interesting as such study was to me, however, it was not by
any means my only work for Linton. I was to receive a
small salary in my third year, and by that time I think I may
have acquired enough facility in drawing on the wood to be of
some practical if not commercial value. Anyway, I was put
to all sorts of work, sometimes even as improver of other
artists' animal drawing (!) or to restore some parts of a
drawing which had got rubbed out in process of engraving.
No doubt drawings on the wood did go through great perils
and dangers in those days ere they emerged in black and
white from the press, and it is not difficult to understand that
occasionally an artist had some difficulty in recognising his
own offspring. The least enjoyable work I can remember was
certainly the drawing of an incredible number of iron bed-
steads for a certain catalogue for Messrs. Heal, which was
being engraved in the office. It was distinctly tiring, to say
the least. All seemed fish to the engraver's net then —
diagrams of all sorts, medical dissections, tale cuts, Bible
pictures, book illustrations. Among the latter I recall seeing
D. G. Rossetti's charming designs to Miss Rossetti's Goblin
Market, which Linton engraved, and a very fine drawing of
Frederick Sandys' " The Portent " for the Cornhill. Also, but
rather later, Leighton's beautiful series of drawings to Rotnola
for the same journal, some of which passed through Linton's
hands.
I well remember saving up my pocket-money for some
weeks to buy the Moxon edition of Tennyson's Poems with
the pre-Raphaelite illustrations. There was a bookseller's
shop on the north side of Oxford street — I think Rumpus's
1858-62] APPRENTICESHIP TO W. J. LINTON 61
first shop, nearer the Marble Arch end than now — and I used
to stop on my way home to feast my eyes on the illustrated
Christmas books displayed there. The Tennyson cost 31s. 6d.,
which seemed a large sum then.
I was not without some small experience as a press artist.
There was an illustrated paper called the News of the Worlds
with an office in Fleet Street. The editor himself almost
personified his paper, as he was an enormous globular person
who occasionally rolled into the office to look after his blocks
or to commission more. I was sent out as a special, occasion-
ally, to the Law Courts to make sketches when any interesting
case was on. The Law Courts were then at Westminster
Hall, and I remember going to the Court of Arches when
there was being tried rather a celebrated case of the Bishop
of Salisbury v. Rowland Williams. This, I believe, was an
action arising out of the publication of Essays and Reviews^
a book of essays in biblical criticism and subjects of debate
in the Church. This book made a tremendous sensation and
aroused the fiercest controversy in theological circles, quite
astonishing when one considers the comparative mildness of
the opinions expressed ; but it was an early attempt in free
England to claim freedom of opinion in a region and on subjects
hitherto considered beyond question — that is, since they were
last disturbed. Although in Germany biblical criticism was
well advanced, it was almost unknown in England, and
considered something like sacrilege by the congregations at
large. The writers were mostly Oxford men, and some of
them clergymen in orders, which I suppose was the chief cause
of the trouble. Among the latter was the Rev. Rowland
Williams, who was pulled up by the Bishop of Salisbury for
something he had written or said in his church. I forget who
was the judge who tried the case, but I remember the counsel
for the defence was making his speech, and in the course of
a forcible and spirited appeal for freedom of opinion on the
part of clergymen, he expressed himself to this effect : " Must
the clergy be content to remain silent and neutral when
questions affecting the very foundations of their faith are
discussed — must they indeed become a race of neuters, without
either the intellect of men or the charms of women ? "
62 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1858-62
I remember, too, there was considerable applause in
Court at the conclusion of his speech, and a spectator said to
me, " He's hit the nail on the head," or some emphatic remark
of approval of that kind.
I can't say I enjoyed myself in the atmosphere of the Law
Courts, and I cannot suppose what I did there could have
been of much value, as I was very shy and nervous at
sketching in public ; but I believe, from the newspaper point
of view, a much more successful effort was a sketch I did of
the Lord Mayor's coach in Fleet Street, with the crowd crying
" Hats off! " and throwing all sorts of hats and caps into the
air as they swarmed after the carriage when the show passed
— the office of the News of the World being, of course, in-
troduced in the background.
I also went as a special artist for the same paper to the
Canterbury and the Oxford Music Halls. The Canterbury
was, I believe, the first of the " Halls," and was situated in the
New Cut, Lambeth, a place of no very distinguished reputa-
tion. I remember meeting the late Mr. Charles Morton, who
has been called the father of the Halls. He was then manager
of the Canterbury, a bright, active, cheery man with hair and
whisker a la Dundreary in evening dress and opera hat on,
and wearing an Inverness cape. I believe I made some
sort of a drawing of the entertainment hall, but there was a
picture-gallery attached, and here I met again my old friend,
the picture of Marcus Curtius leaping into the gulf, by
B. R. Haydon. Surely it could not have been thought
symbolical of Mr. Charles Morton leaping into the gulf
existing in London between the concert and the theatre on
the one hand and the public-house on the other ? If so, he
certainly managed to fill it up with great success.
At the Oxford it was some wonderful troupe of trapesists
that was my subject for the paper. The Philharmonic at
Islington, too, I visited, and among other entertainers a noted
conjurer of the time, M. Robin, at the Egyptian Hall, who was
by way of exposing the tricks of the spiritualists.
I also remember an interview with Mr. Charles Mathews
the younger, who had an entertainment at the Bijou Theatre,
hidden somewhere in the dark recesses of the old opera house
1858-62] APPRENTICESHIP TO W. J. LINTON 63
" Her Majesty's " in the Haymarket. I went to make a
sketch of him in his scenery. His entertainment was
entitled Mr. Charles Mathews' "At Home," a sort of quick-
change character entertainment, I think. He hadn't much
time to give, and I got a carte-de-visite photograph of him
to work from. He was a curious little active, impatient man,
with a rather wizened-looking but humorous face, clean shaven,
but with some thin hair brushed up at the sides. As he
stood a moment talking in a narrow corridor leading to the
stage when he was in the midst of his preparations for his
first night, he said, " Let's get out of this d d draught ! "
as he led the way into some more sheltered spot.
Another quaint character I visited in my capacity as special
artist was a noted auctioneer of horses somewhere in Barbican.
I went to sketch his box and the scene where the horse sales
took place, and I remember he said if the drawing was a
success when it came out in the paper he would give me " a
new hat" — a favourite form of present among horsey men, I
understood, but I forget whether I earned it or not, or if he
kept his word.
Once two of the engraver apprentices requisitioned my
services as draughtsman in a little scheme of their own. I
think it was a portrait and a view of somebody's birthplace
for some journal for which they were commissioned to do the
blocks. The work was done after office hours at their
lodgings, and we sat up most of the night. We were all
unaware that as apprentices we were not at liberty to under-
take private commissions, until " the governors," when it was
discovered, informed us, with a gentle admonition.
In the summer of i860 I saw the sea again for the first
time since leaving Torquay. The kind uncle before mentioned
took us all for a fortnight to Littlehampton, and immensely
we enjoyed it. The summer was a record one for rain, but
we happened upon the only fine interval in Sussex, about the
end of July and beginning of August. I was delighted to
get some sketching in the country again, and was always at
it with my water-colour box. Drawing-paper was dear ;
there was a heavy paper duty, imposed by some wiseacre,
so one had to be economical, and frequently used both sides.
64 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1858-62
It occurred to my uncle in the cloth trade that I might
be able to utilise his old pattern cards — cards, that is, upon
which small samples of cloth had been gummed. The cloth
was pulled off, and then the reverse side offered a fair field
for drawing. I used these extensively about this time.
We went up the little river Arun in a boat to Arundel,
and saw the great castle, with its ivied keep, then in ruin,
rising from the woods, and we picnicked on the river's bank
in the garden of the old hostelry of " The Black Rabbit," a
charming spot at the bend of the river beyond the town,
backed by a chalk cliff and the woodlands of the park, and
with old poplars and willows leaning over the water. It was a
joyful time, and we were sorry to return to Westbourne Park.
We were not to dwell there long, however, for my uncle
projected marriage, and this naturally led to altered arrange-
ments. The year 1861 saw us into lodgings in Argyle
Square, close to King's Cross, and shortly afterwards we
moved into a house (No. 46) a few doors off. This was a
very convenient distance from the Hatton Garden office, and
equally advantageous for my brother and sisters, who all had
some engagements out.
The year 1861 was remarkable for the appearance of the
great comet — a truly splendid sight, its enormous luminous
nucleus, or tail, sweeping across a great arc of the starry
heavens. All sorts of predictions concerning its significance
and destiny were afloat, and it was currently believed in
some quarters that it would strike the earth, and then there
would be an end of all things — on our planet, at least.
In the summer of 1861, with my mother, I remember
spending a holiday in Chester, her birthplace. We stayed
with a grandmother, or rather step-grandmother, a very
hospitable old lady, with much shrewd observation and
humour. She had had, no doubt, opportunities for the
cultivation of such faculties, as she had been formerly
landlady of one of the oldest of the Chester hostelries. Her
hospitality, it is true, was apt to take the embarrassing form
of loading one's plate long after the capacity to assimilate
more food had given in. " Cut it straight and eat it all,"
she was fond of saying.
STUIJY FOR AN KARLV PICTURE: "THK KVK OF ST. ACNKS'
WALTER CRANE
1858-62] APrJlENTKlESIIir TO VV. J. LINTON 6$
Chester being the birthplace of both my father and
mother, and the home of both their families for several
generations, naturally had great interest for me, apart from
its own picturesqueness and old-world charm.
I was greatly struck with the old city, with its timber
houses and mediaeval rows, and the delightful walk around
the walls, the weir, and the river, and the pleasant country
around, and found plenty to do. Indeed I got a commission
from the vicar of St. John's Church — then undergoing
restoration, I fear — to make a drawing of a fresco which
had been discovered in the process of scraping off the white-
wash from the big round piers. This was an early, perhaps
fourteenth-century work, showing St. John in sacerdotal
robes, with cross staff, and a book, upon which rested the
sacred Lamb. There was a landscape background with deer
and red castles in it, treated in an early tapestry manner,
without perspective. I remember making a careful coloured
drawing of this for the vicar, Mr. Marsden.
I had a glimpse of Wales, also, at this time, making one
day an excursion by train to Llangollen, and going up Dinas
Bran, from which I made a small water-colour sketch of the
gorse and heather covered hills, under the flying cloud
shadows of an August day.
CHAPTER IV
EARLY WORK, 1862-70
THE years 1861-62 will always be memorable for the
great struggle in the United States culminating in the
tragic and dramatic death of Abraham Lincoln — the Civil
War, which ended in the freeing of the slaves, and excited very
strong feeling in England and also divided opinions, for while
the sympathies of the upper and middle classes were generally
with the Confederation of the South, the working classes
generally supported the Federalist cause of the North. Politics,
however, were still much beyond my ken, and one only heard
afar, as it were, the rumble of the contest by reading the
accounts of the battles which filled the newspapers. " John
Brown's Body," however, became a favourite marching tune
with our volunteers.
I was soon to say good-bye to my volunteer patriots and
office companions in Hatton Garden, for the term of my
apprenticeship came to an end at the beginning of the year 1 862.
Some of my earliest bits of original work appeared in a
small monthly journal about this time entitled Entertaining
Things^ which was memorable for containing one or two of
the earliest drawings of George du Maurier, who also began to
contribute to Punch shortly afterwards.
On leaving Linton I was pretty much thrown on my own
resources, though I continued to do small works for the office
from time to time ; among other things, I remember having to
put upon the wood a series of rather vague sketches of Faroe
and Iceland by the author of a small book bearing that title.
I used, in seeking for work, to call on different publishers
to whom I had- obtained introductions and hawk round my
poor little folio of designs and proofs, and through an old
66
1862-70] EARLY WORK 6j
clergyman friend of my mother's I did some work for one or
two firms of publishers of religious tracts — miserable things
and miserably paid. I was so inexperienced that on one
occasion, having to sign a receipt for my little account, — which
must have actually run over two pounds, for a wonder, — I so
respected the design of the inland revenue stamp as to leave
it untouched by my signature, on which the publisher remarked
on the necessity of obliterating it to some extent, as it had
been so ordered by " the wisdom of our legislators."
Another highly evangelical publisher once exacted 5 per
cent, for paying me cash. The amount was a little over a
pound, I think, but he had to do the sum himself, as I was quite
innocent of what 5 per cent, might be.
I was engaged, too, by a Mr. Orr to make some drawings
for an Encyclopaedia — I think Chambers's — and in order to get
at the proper authorities it was necessary to obtain a ticket
for the British Museum Reading Room — planned and directed
by the great Antony Panizzi. As I was under age, an
exception to the rules had to be made in my favour, and my
ticket was endorsed in red ink.
I was deeply impressed on being admitted to the great
temple of authorship, reference, and research, and, duly initiated
in the mysteries of the catalogue and writing on slips for works
required, took my place at one of the desks for the first time.
The curious hush of the place, broken only by the occasional
coughing of the readers, or the soft fall of a book upon a desk,
exaggerated by reverberation in the circular building, combined
with savour of morocco bindings, was quite peculiar ; the atmo-
sphere perhaps a little stuffy, but otherwise undoubtedly a
very comfortable place to read and work in.
Here I drew a variety of subjects from various authorities
for the Cyclopaedia, ranging from the bust of Shakespeare to
the scenery of Honolulu.
Having access, however, to the Reading Room, I became
acquainted with many valuable books of reference, and found
the library, in common with a host of other workers, of great
use to me in many ways. I had an introduction to Mr. James
Hogg, who in this year started a new illustrated magazine with
the name London Society. I offered him a drawing of a group
68 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1862-70
of fashionable promenaders in Kensington Gardens, which he
at once accepted, paid me two guineas for it, and asked for
more. I did several similar drawings at different smart resorts,
such as Richmond Hill. I remember, too, illustrating an
article for the same magazine on the subject of Dickens's Dogs
— the various dog characters in Charles Dickens's novels being
discoursed upon and described.
My early friend Mr. Wooldridge was again the medium
of introduction to important work. Mr. J. R. Wise was about
to publish, through Messrs. Smitfi & Elder, his work on The New
Forest: its History and Scenery. An illustrator was wanted,
and after an interview with Mr. W. Smith-Williams, who then
acted as reader to the firm and conducted arrangements with
authors, I was commissioned to accompany the author, Mr.
J. R. Wise, on a tour through the Forest, and under his
direction to make a series of sketches to be engraved by
W. J. Linton, my late master, who also, I think, had some share
in recommending me for the work.
At the end of May 1862, therefore, I started with Mr.
Wise for Hampshire. Hythe, on the west side of Southampton
Water, was the point of departure for the Forest district, which we
set out to walk through. Wise himself was a very good walker,
and says in his book that he should trust that " twenty miles
a day was not too much for any Englishman." Certainly we
frequently did that distance during our tour in the New Forest.
I remember often how welcome was the village inn at the end
of a long day's tramp. It was before the days of smart hotels,
and the old-fashioned village inn, with its sanded floor and
settles, was the usual form of hostelry, though there was often
an extra parlour for travellers wanting a private room. Egg
flip was the thing to take after a walk ; this took off" the
fagged feeling, and prepared the traveller for something more
substantial.
The weather, though, was not in our favour, it turning out a
very wet June, associated with the constant cry of the cuckoo,
which Wise cheerfully said was considered to be a sign of rain.
I do not remember our exact route, but we started from Hythe
to Beaulieu, passing some British barrows on a moor, and I
remember putting up at the village inn at Beaulieu and
1S62-70] EARLY WORK 69
watching the swifts darting up and down the street. It was
a pretty place, with a river and a mill at the bridge which led
to the gates of the old Cistercian Abbey.
We stayed during part of the time at a cottage on Alum
Green, near Lyndhurst, as from there most of the finest woods
were accessible. When it was too wet to go out or to sketch out
of doors we amused ourselves by composing a mock mediaeval
ballad of the Red King, or rather, Wise wrote the ballad and
I engrossed the verses and illuminated them. This he sent
to some friends of his in the district, with whom later we were
to stay, and great was our surprise and amusement when we
discovered that our little geste of a ballad had been taken in
earnest, and was supposed to have been a copy of a veritable
original which had been unearthed by the author !
In J, R. Wise, who was about ten or twelve years older
than myself, I found a most valuable friend. He was a most
remarkable man, and though this work of his on the New Forest
soon won a place as a standard book, he never attained to great
literary celebrity. He had before this published a novel which
had had a fair measure of success at Mudie's. His real tastes,
however, were scholastic. He was an extremely learned man,
being a philologist, a naturalist, and an archaeologist ; and being
wide-minded, and something of a poet as well, he found interest
and intellectual food everywhere.
One could not but benefit greatly in such company.
He was an Oxford man, but left, I believe, on account of his
free opinions, which were the cause of serious differences with
his family, he having been originally intended for the Church.
He was a cousin of J. Anthony Froude, the historian, and had
an extensive acquaintance among the more advanced thinkers
and writers of that day, but he himself lived almost as a recluse,
and was but seldom seen in London. He belonged to the
school of J. S. Mill in philosophical thought and politics, and
was one of the early appreciators of Herbert Spencer and
a subscriber to the first issue in parts of the First Principles
of his system of philosophy, which I first saw upon his
table.
Opinions from such sources came rather in the nature of a
counterblast to those in which I had been brought up, and told
70 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1862-70
rather against the Ruskinian point of view, which at first was
rather a shock to me, until I was able to see things in a
broader light.
We spent the whole of June and the early days of July,
about five or six weeks in all, in the New Forest, working
round again by the sea to include Hurst and Calshot Castles
among the sketches which were at last cornplete, and of course
comprised " Rufus's Stone," though this proved a somewhat
disappointing spot, the stone (to, protect it from tourists) being
put in a jacket of cast iron, and there being no giant oaks
thereabouts. My task, so far, was finished. I had to draw all
the subjects from my sketches on wood for the engravers, and
the publishers acquired the original drawings I had made on
the spot. The old lady in Chester, hearing of this New Forest
work, circulated the report among some painter cousins that I
liad received a hundred pounds for " a few roots and stumps
of trees." As a frontispiece was needed for the book, a short
visit to the Forest later was found necessary. This was in
September, I think, when we stayed again at the Stoney Cross
Inn, and I remember rising early to get the view for the
frontispiece at sunrise. At the inn we met Mr. Lowes Dickin-
son, a portrait painter of some renown then. He was a grave
man, with a short beard, rather slow and deliberate of speech,
and was attired in the voluminous knickerbockers of the day. I
remember a full-length portrait of Charles Kingsley by him
seated in his library chair, which had considerable force and
vivacity, and was hung in a prominent place on the line in
one of the rooms of the Academy Exhibition, that year, I think.
While I was with Wise in the New Forest, the news came
that a small picture I had painted in the spring of 1862,
entitled " The Lady of Shalott," ^ and sent to the Academy,
^This little picture, which represented the Lady of Shalott (from Tennyson's
poem) drifting in her barge past a green river bank, with trees and tall grasses
showing against an evening sky, was hung on the floor of one of the old rooms at
Trafalgar Square. Small as it was, it obtained recognition from the Times
art critic, then Mr. Tom Taylor, who praised it as " the work of a young and rising
artist." As I was then on the floor, I had certainly need of rising !
I remember, on the strength of being an exhibitor, receiving a ticket for the
soiree, which then took place usually about the end of July. Old Sir Charles Eastlake
was then president, and I remember him receiving in the old rooms in Trafalgar
1862-70] EARLY WORK 71
having been hung, had found a purchaser at the modest
price of five guineas. This gentleman was Mr. Brown
of Selkirk, a cloth manufacturer, and, as it afterwards
turned out, numbered my uncle, the cloth merchant, among
his customers. The purchase of my picture was, however,
quite an independent action on his part, and he followed it up
by commissioning me to paint a companion picture showing the
Lady of Shalott at Camelot, having drifted down in her barge,
to the wonderment of the knights and dames of Arthur's court.
This was done, to be promptly rejected by the Academy
the next year. Both pictures were quite small, not more
than about i 5 inches by i 2, or thereabouts, and, undaunted, I
continued to send works of such modest dimensions every year
to the portals of the Royal Academy ; but they got no farther for
at least ten years afterwards, though my good friend Mr. Brown
bravely bought them for some time, until he must have
possessed quite a small collection of early Cranes before he
grew tired. The last thing I did for him was a posthumous
portrait of his father, worked from daguerreotypes and early
photographs.
Mr. Brown came to look me up years afterwards, I
remember, but did not again venture to invest in me. About
five-and-twenty years afterwards, I heard of his death from
a brother of his in business in Golden Square, informing me that
all my pictures were to be sold except the portrait and asking
for advice concerning the best market. I offered to buy them
back at the original prices, but received no response. I was then
in Italy, however, and possibly the letter may have miscarried.
The subjects of these early pictures were — " The Lady of
Shalott " (R.A., 1 862) ; a companion, " The Lady of Shalott at
Camelot," 1863 ; "The Eve of St. Agnes," 1864; "La Belle
Dame sans Merci," 1865.
The great event in London in 1862 was the International
Exhibition at South Kensington, where now stands the
Natural History Museum, and I think an annex extended to
a certain distance up each side of the Horticultural Gardens,
Square with his badge of oftice, a small, thin man with a scholarly, refined face and
old-fashioned, courtly manner. I knew no one, however, and was an unknown in
a crowd of unknowns — to me at least.
72 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1862-70
which were also utilised as the Exhibition grounds. My
connection with it was as the sketcher of a stall of a patentee
and manufacturer of a new sort of pencil formed of continuous
compressed leads, but the young lady who presided at the
counter was the most attractive exhibit to me. Afterwards
a drawing of mine made at the works, somewhere in the East
End, showing a workman engaged in making the pencils, was
enlarged and used as a poster.
The Exhibition was undoubtedly a big affair, and gave
a good and comprehensive display of the art of the period.
There was a splendid national and international show of
modern pictures. There was a very fine group, a representa-
tive group, of the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's pictures, in-
cluding some of Madox Brown's finest works, such as the " King
Lear " (the tent scene), the " English Autumn Afternoon," and
" The Emigrants." All these I saw for the first time, and
was immensely struck by them. Leighton's " Cimabue's
Madonna carried through Florence" also I had never seen
before, and was greatly taken by its graceful design and
decorative effect. Among the French school the pictures
which stand out most distinctly in my recollection were two
famous works of Ingres — " La Source," and the splendid
study of a nude youth sitting with bowed head in glowing
sunlight against a pure blue sky, on a rock by the sea.
Among one may almost say miles of pictures these remain in
one's memory as works of extraordinary force and distinction.
English decorative art, too, began to assert itself in this
Exhibition. There was a most interesting group of furniture
and examples of interior decoration of all kinds shown by
the Ecclesiological Society, among which, I think, there was
early work of J. Seddon, the architect, Pugin, William Burges,
Philip Webb, William Morris, and E, Burne-Jones.
One saw in the work of these men the influence of the
Gothic revival and the study of mediaeval art generally.
There were plenty of other kinds, too, and a conspicuous
feature under the dome was a huge Majolica fountain by
Messrs. Minton, considered a triumph, in which a group of
St. George and the Dragon formed a centre.
These were the earlier days of the Cornhill Magazine^
i862 7o] EARLY WORK 73
under the editorship of W. M. Thackeray. I remember the
cover design by Godfrey Sykes coming into Linton's hands
while I was with him and being engraved by him. I believe
I was sent by Linton on one occasion to Thackeray's house
with some message about that time, but I have no recollection
of ever having seen him in the flesh. There was in later
years, however, a report that I had been discovered by
Thackeray in one of his Roundabout Papers. This was not
so, although it was in the Cornhill that Wise's book on the
New Forest was reviewed among other Christmas publications
of the year 1862, but this article was written by George
Henry Lewes. My illustrations were praised as " the work of
a very young artist of only seventeen." I did not at all
appreciate this kind of notice, as I felt quite full-grown, and
had no wish to have my age published at large.
The New Forest was very well reviewed generally, and
although, as Mr. Wise confided to me, he only received forty
pounds for his work, he had hopes it would lead to further
literary work of the kind. About this time he stayed with us
in Argyle Square, and he became a contributor to a new
journal started by Professor Huxley, Mr. Mark Pattison, and
other leading scientific and " literary men of advanced
opinions." This journal, a weekly review, was called The
Reader. Wise wrote regularly for it while it lived, and
also did a great deal of reviewing for the Westminster
Review, an important quarterly in the interest of advanced
thinkers generally. George Eliot was at one time
connected with this review, and for some years wrote the
Belles Lettres section, I understood. Being brought through
my acquaintance with J. R. Wise into rather close touch with
literary work, I began to try my hand at writing, and have
some recollection of an article on " Sympathy " being actually
printed in The Reader.
In the summer of 1863 I joined Mr. Wise again, but this
time in Derbyshire, in a then remote valley of the Peak
district, ten miles from Sheffield, a little place called Lead
Mill, on the Derwent, near Hathersage, where by his usual plan
of walking the country he had found lodgings, and a
country that he liked. It had, indeed, very great charms.
74 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1862-70
as well as very distinct character. On one side bold crags of
gritstone, or "edges," as they were called, breaking above
green fields and woods sloping down to the Derwent, meander-
ing over its stony bed, from running shallows into deep brown
pools, dear to trout-fishers, and overhung with ashes, oaks,
alders, and sycamores ; on another side opening out into doughs
and valleys leading up to larch woods and high moorlands,
purple with heather, and here and there a grey stone seventeenth-
century farmhouse. Far away to the west the ridges of the
Peak hills and mountains above Castleton were lost in the
blue mist.
Mr. Wise had thoughts of doing for the Peak district
what he had done for the New Forest, and hoped that I might
help him as illustrator; but despite the success of his first
book, he did not receive sufficient encouragement to go on
with the work, which in all its different branches in the thorough
way he would have done it would have been remarkably
interesting, though no doubt, however congenial, arduous
enough for the writer.
Book or no book, however, I was enchanted with the
country, and set to work sketching with great energy, spending
my days by the riverside, or on the moors, or in the woods,
striving to record in part something of the beauty which
surrounded me,
I think from this time onwards I spent several months
of each year in the summer until 1871 in this valley.
Members of a fishing club were accustomed to come out
from Sheffield to follow their favourite sport in the Derwent,
noted for its trout, and among these, through my friend
Wise's introduction, I found some patrons, and from time
to time painted favourite spots on the river or about the
neighbourhood for some of these wealthy citizens of Sheffield.
During the year 1863 I had an introduction to Mr.
Edmund Evans, and thus commenced a connection which has
lasted to the present time, though Mr. Wilfred Evans now
manages his late father's business.
Mr. Evans was one of the pioneers in the development of
colour-printing, and not only did a quantity of ordinary trade
work in this way, but also choice books. One of the
1 862-70]
EARLY WORK
75
directions in which his craft was extensively used was that of
covers of cheap railway novels, which we sometimes called,
from their generally yellow hue and sensational character.
Early ToyBook\ [First Series. Ward & Locke, 1865
" COCK ROBIN AND JENNY WREN "
" mustard plaisters." Designs of this kind were my principal
work for Mr. Evans at first, but later (about 1865) I began to
design for him the children's picture-books published by the
T6 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1862-70
house of George Routledge & Sons which afterwards attained
such popularity.
The first, however, were done for Messrs. Warne. They
were a History of Cock Robin and Jenny Wren^ Dame Trot and
her Comical Cat, and The House that Jack built. They were
designed with solid black or blue backgrounds, the figures
being relieved against them in bright colours. The series for
Messrs. Routledge commenced with a Farmyard Alphabet
and a Railway Alphabet, printed in two colours only, in
addition to the key block. These were followed by designs
of figures without backgrounds printed in red, blue, and black, of
which The Song of Sixpence is a type ; but gradually more
colours were used as the designs became more elaborate, until
a few years later they had developed, under various influences,
among which that of Japanese colour prints must be counted
as an important factor The Fairy Ship and This Little Pig
are examples of this period.
Mr. Evans was not only a man of business but a clever
artist in water colour himself, and aided my efforts in the
direction of more tasteful colouring in children's books ; but it
was not without protest from the publishers, who thought the
raw coarse colours and vulgar designs usually current appealed
to a larger public, and therefore paid better, and it was some
time before the taste for the newer treatment made itself
felt.
The summer of 1864 was again spent in Derbyshire,
painting. My friend Wise still remained there, and had formed
an extensive acquaintance in the neighbourhood. Through
him I was introduced in various directions. There was the
Squire Shuttleworth at The Hall, a sporting man with memories
of cock-fighting days, when his birds " fought a main at
Derby," and a fine specimen of a game cock with clipped
comb was still to be seen among the humbler domestic fowls
of his yard. There was a lady, a relative of Wright, the
painter of Derby, the friend of Sir Joshua Reynolds, known
for his pictures of firelight and lamplight effects, forges,
scientific experiments, etc., prints of which exist. This lady.
Miss Wright, lived at Brookfield, a pleasant house to the north
of Hathersage, almost hidden in trees. In the house were not
w <
1862-70] EARLY WORK Tj
only prints of Wright's works, but two beautiful water-colour
drawings of J. M. W. Turner,
There was the village doctor, with a taste for rare birds
and a room full of stuffed specimens.
Another strata of the local society was represented by the
proprietors of certain needle factories in the village, which
introduced the unpleasant elements of smoke and cinders
there, and a somewhat reckless population of " hands."
Sheffield grinders, I was told, in those days had but a short life,
the fine steel dust getting into their lungs, so they seldom
lived longer than about thirty years. It was not surprising
that many of them were given to drink.
One did not hear much sympathy with the condition of
the workers expressed by the proprietors of the mills, however,
even when, as in one case, a millowner had risen from that
condition to be a proprietor.
The friends we saw most of, perhaps, lived at a delightful
house in a garden terraced on the slope of hill almost hidden
in trees, known as Learn Hall. The host was a keen sportsman,
and spent most of his time cither on his grouse moor above,
or fly-fishing in the river below. In his good lady I found a
patroness, and made several drawings of the neighbouring
scenery, of which she was very fond.
Croquet was the favourite lawn game in those days,
and keen were the struggles over the then comparatively
wide hoops, and the vicissitudes of play on a sloping
ground whereon many a summer afternoon was whiled
away.
I was pleasantly housed not far from Learn in a sixteenth or
early seventeenth century stone house, known as Hazelford Hall,
comfortably nestled against the side of a hill and backed by larch
woods. The house had been divided into two, and one half
was occupied by a farmer and the other half by a gamekeeper
of the Duke of Devonshire's, and it was with the latter I had
quarters. There was a tradition that this house was one of
several built at the same time by a former landowner for his
sons. There was Highlow Hall, Nether Hall, and Hazelford
Hall, all similar in style and built of the local gritstone, with
fine chimneys, and roofed with stone shingles. I had a large
78 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1862-70
room with a heavy mullioned window and leaded panes, as
well as the freedom of the woods and the moors.
The country gentlemen of those parts generally prided
themselves on their wine cellars, and wonderful were the
vintages which we tasted at their tables. '47 and '5 1 port
was not unfrequently offered, and I even remember tasting a
bottle of so venerable an age as 1820.
The dinner hour was generally early, and the custom was
to sit a long time over the wine afterwards.
The gamekeeper with whom I lodged was a noted character
in his neighbourhood, with the finest command of old English
and broad Derbyshire I ever heard, and he was not loth to
give one opportunities of judging of the wealth of his vocabulary,
for he had considerable dramatic power in telling a story, and
he had many of his sporting experiences, and told of finding
, badgers and other " fearful wild fowl." He spoke, too, of the
old Duke and the Marquis of Hartington (the present Duke
of Devonshire) and of their shooting parties, which he had
served in virtue of his office.
Among the famous places in the neighbourhood I re-
member seeing Haddon Hall for the first time, also Chatsworth,
as well as Castleton and the Peak Cavern.
Towards the end of this summer my friend Wise some-
what suddenly bade me farewell, and giving up his lodgings,
left the valley. I walked with him one evening across Eyam
Moor, and did not meet him again until ten years afterwards.
He had a way of burying himself in remote districts, and I
completely lost sight of him for the time.
My intellectual development owed much to him, certainly,
and to him I was indebted for my first acquaintance with
Emerson. I began with The Conduct of Life, and found the
optimist of Concord very stimulating reading. It had a bracing
effect on my awaking thought, and helped to clear my mind
from superstitious shadows and theological bogies which at
one time rather oppressed me, and even, under the influence
of the impressive ritualistic services and aesthetic effects
at All Saints', Margaret Street, and St. Alban's, Holborn,
threatened to drive me into the arms of that section of the
Church. But with the reading of Emerson new windows
1862-70]
EARLY WORK
79
seemed to open to my mental vision and disclosed a wider
prospect. It was like getting out into the fresh air and
sunlight after the mysterious gloom and close atmosphere of a
cavern. All Saints', however, was perhaps an advance upon
the rather sleepy services at St. Pancras', our parish church,
\ jf^cn-^ji^i^:
SKETCH AT HADDON HALL (1865)
ik^
where the only vital spark about that time seemed to be the
young and eloquent Mr. McClure, a curate there, whom I met
as Dean of Manchester Cathedral many years afterwards. At
least, there was a feeling of the movement of a revival with the
ritualists which stirred one, and its very intensity brought the
whole question of religious faith up for judgment in one's mind.
8o AN ARTISrS REMINISCENCES [1862-70
Aided by such books as Phases of Faith, by F. W. Newman,
the brother of the well-known Cardinal, and rather a wide
range of reading from this time onward, including the writings
of J. S. Mill, Darwin, and Herbert Spencer, and above all the
poems of Shelley, I soon decided for Free Thought.
We had formed a book club or reading fund in the
family for the acquisition of books, and we also had a
subscription at Mudie's, so that the supply was kept up. Some
of us also attempted writing short essays on various subjects,
which were read in the family circle and discussed.
Reading, too, of Auguste Comte and the Positivists may
have had some effect, and I remember attending one of the
London Positivists Society's meetings at a large room, I think
in Bouverie Street, where Professor Newton, who was one of
the leaders, delivered an address. I think George Henry
Lewes and George Eliot (Marian Evans) were present, and
Professor Beesley, Dr. Bridges, and Mr. Frederic Harrison — all
very energetic and able advocates of the Positivist School and
in the van of political and social thought and progress. These
were exciting times altogether. The stir of great movements
was in the air. The discoveries and conclusions of Charles
Darwin were startling the world, and scientific criticisms were
revolutionising philosophic thought, but at the same time
alarming the old theological camps and the Church, and a cloud
of so-called " refutations " appeared, while on the other hand
the Church was divided by the ritualistic movement.
The political world, too, was agitated by the demand
for the extension of the suffrage and parliamentary reform,
which the two parties played battledore and shuttlecock with,
until the people grew dangerous, and something had to be done,
though it was not until 1866 that matters came to a head.
One's art-life was but little affected by these things, and
work went quietly on. In the evenings I had joined the
classes at " Heatherley's," the well - known art school at
79 Newman Street, for the study of the life and costume
model. Many well-known artists had worked here, at different
times. Frederick Walker at one time, I believe, though I
never saw him ; but I have a vague recollection of Pinwell,
a very remarkable artist of his school ; Mr. Lionel Smythe
I]
' r
/
/
-4i\
< 5
1862-70] EARLY WORK 81
(now A.R.A. and R.VV.S.) was a student there in my time; and
Mr. Gilbert Redgrave (afterwards an official of South Kensing-
ton) ; Frederick Barnard, who was always full of fun and
caricature, and was also a clever amateur comic actor ;
Mr. 11. Ellis Wooldridge (the son of my friend at Smith &
Elder's), who became Slade professor at Oxford ; John Burr,
a painter of some distinction ; Miss Louise Starr, now Madame
Starr-Canziani, a great favourite and much admired for her
spirituel appearance ; and a host of others.
There was an actual Heatherley in those days, a rather
typical Bohemian-artist-looking man, with long hair and beard,
who glided about in a ghostly way through the classrooms
in slippers and wearing a sort of long gabardine. He must
have worn boots sometimes, however, for it is related that when
a student asked him for a drawing-pin he would look at the
sole of his boot, where usually he would find one sticking —
the tendency towards collecting on boot-soles being a well-
known characteristic of drawing-pins in studios. He did
not attempt much teaching, at least in the life class, and
would only offer a gentle criticism or suggestion in an under-
tone now and then as he glanced at one's work and passed on.
There was a sketch club among the students, and we had
exhibition nights, when the sketches which had been made
in response to a given subject were displayed. The end of
the terms, too, would be celebrated by evening entertainments,
in which generally some theatricals formed the piece de
rhistance, the parts being taken by different students, and
the orchestral accompaniment generally supplied by a musical
student with a guitar, who would sit on the steps in front of
what formed the stage till the green baize curtain which
divided the classrooms was " rung up," or rather pulled apart,
and the performance began before a merry crowd of young
men and maiden students.
About this time I obtained permission to make studies
in the Armoury of the Tower of London, and while working
there got quite familiar with the rigmarole of the beef-
eater who personally conducted small parties of the British
public through the collection, monotonously chanting such
sentences as " This-suit-of-armour-was-worn-by-King-Charles-
6
82 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1862-70
the-First-when-a-boy," and so forth. I was much inter-
ested in armour and costume, and at that time wanted
a fifteenth - century suit of plate for a picture I con-
templated. Before, however, finding what I wanted in the
Tower, I wrote to Mr. G. D. Leslie (not then R.A.) (who
exhibited a picture in the Academy entitled " The War
Summons," I think, in which was the figure of a herald in
armour wearing a salade), asking him where such armour
could be obtained, and he replied, " I painted the armour from
a model ; I made my model of -wax, and covered it with tin-
foil," and I think he also referred me to the Tower.
I think it was during this year (1865) that Mr. Madox
Brown opened the very remarkable and interesting exhibition
of his works at a small gallery in Piccadilly. It was a
collection of both early and late work (some of which was at
the 1862 Exhibition), and his latest most important picture,
entitled " Work," was here seen for the first time. I shall
never forget the impression that the work of this most re-
markable artist made upon me. " One-man shows " were
very unusual in those days, and such a display of original
conception, intellectual force and grasp, united with vivid
realisation and extraordinary variety of subject, as was com-
prehended in this small exhibition, is indeed rare at any
time. The absolute sincerity, the conviction with which every
subject was handled and painted, the extraordinary penetrat-
ing power of each picture, charged as it was with subtle
thought and significant detail, gave an unusual distinction
and peculiar and marked individual character, by which the
work of Ford Madox Brown (with all its whimsicalities and
quaintness, which are essential elements in it) stands out in
the history of English art.
The work of another remarkable and since greatly
renowned artist became known to the world for the first time
at this period. It was at the exhibition of the Old Society
of Painters in Water Colours in the summer of 1865 that
I first saw the work of Edward Burne-Jones, who had just
been elected an Associate.
" The Merciful Knight," " Merlin and Morgan le Fay,"
" Green Summer," " The Annunciation," " Cinderella," " Astro-
WAl/lKR CRANE AT THE AGE OK 21
liV HI.MSEI K
iSr,2-7o] EARLY WORK 83
logia," "Le Chant d'Amour," "Cupid and Psyche," "Love
disguised as Reason," " Phyllis and Demophoon," were the
works I more particularly recall, and I think the first two or
three named were in the exhibition I speak of. The critics
received them mostly with scoffs — in fact, in the way an artist
who strikes some new note is generally received by them. It
is natural enough, for the new note often contradicts the
accepted canons of painting and makes established reputations
tremble. " If we have been right all these years," say the
established ones — painters or critics — " then this must be
wrong." They rally to the defence of the ruling conventions,
and cry in chorus, " Great is Diana of the Ephesians ! " or her
equivalent for the time being.
Anything like a philosophical conception of art seems so
rare, one seldom in art criticism perceives anything like a
conception of its growth and evolution, and the necessity of
change, and transformation even, both in form and method as
the accompaniment of life and movement, and in correspond-
ence with the changing mental attitude in each succeeding
generation. No doubt commercial exigencies have much to
do with it, consciously or unconsciously, but it appears in some
quarters as if there was only one kind or phase of painting to
be admired — at least, among the living.
Modern painting, however, always offers a chance for
individual distinction, and with the increase of exhibitions,
and the development of specialism, originality, or individu-
ality, may now have a better chance of recognition than
formerly — but I do not know that it is more plentiful,
while imitators increase.
D. G. Rossetti, whose influence naturally inspired so
largely the early work of Burne-Jones, never exhibited, and
was reported to have said that on the rare occasions when he
had done so the result was only abuse from the critics, and,
as he had his private supporters and sympathisers, there
was no object in exposing his work to such a reception.
Burne-Jones's course as a painter certainly did not run
very smoothly at first, though the tide turned later, and he
received the fullest measure of appreciation, honour, and
fortune in his lifetime.
84 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1862-70
The drawing " Phyllis and Demophoon," hung in the Old
Water Colour Gallery, caused a considerable flutter, which it is a
little difficult to understand, except that one remembers that feel-
ing in regard to the work of the pre-Raphaelites ran remarkably
high, and people opposed to the new school would express
themselves against it quite bitterly sometimes. The difficulty,
or rock of offence, was in this case primarily the old one (in
puritanical England) of the nude — then quite rare in British
art, but the picture was anything but realistic, more like a
dream in its conception and colouration.
In deference, however, to the wishes or representations of
some influential friends of the Society, the artist was asked
to remove his picture, which he did, and at the same time
his name from the roll of membership. In consequence of
the incident a second resignation took place, that of Mr.
(Sir) Frederick Burton, a very refined and distinguished
artist, who afterwards became well known as the Director of
the National Gallery.
But though the artist exhibited publicly no more until
some years afterwards, those early works had their effect —
especially upon a certain small group of young students I
wot of. The curtain had been lifted, and we had had a
glimpse into a magic world of romance and pictured poetry,
peopled with ghosts of " ladies dead and lovely knights," —
a twilight world of dark mysterious woodlands, haunted
streams, meads of deep green starred with burning flowers,
veiled in a dim and mystic light, and stained with low-toned
crimson and gold, as if indeed one had gazed through the
glass of
•' Magic casements opening on the foam
Of perilous seas in faerylands forlorn."
It was, perhaps, not to be wondered at that, fired with such
visions, certain young students should desire to explore
further for themselves.
With the year 1 866 came a chance for artists in water
colours unattached to either the Old or New Societies, in the
shape of a "General Exhibition of Water Colour Drawings," which
was organised by a Committee of artists, of whom Messrs.
Walter and Arthur Severn, H. S. Marks and G. D. Leslie
1862-70] EARLY WORK 85
(Associates of the Academy), Mr. Frank Walton, and others
whose names I am not certain of, were the first members.
Mr. (now Sir Ernest) Water low, the present President of the
Royal Society of Painters in Water Colour, I remember on
the Committee when I joined it later, and I think his work
first became known at "the Dudley," as we called it. It was
not, however, a Society necessitating membership in order to
be able to exhibit, as is the case of the existing Societies, but it
was an exhibition open to all comers.
I sent a drawing of a subject I had found in Derbyshire
— a ruined cottage — a group of trees against a twilight sky —
a sloping meadow of tall grass in which the figures of three
mowers at work appeared. It was named " Twilight," and
was hung on a screen, and promptly found a purchaser at
six guineas. The exhibition was held in the Dudley Gallery,
so long associated with exhibitions, and recently the home of
the New English Art Club, but now demolished with the Old
Egyptian Hall and its mystery and magic, that so long had
lured crowds from Piccadilly into its deep and dark recesses.
Intending visitors to picture shows there indeed got mixed
up with the mystery and magic people who at times formed
a considerable queue along the Piccadilly pavement. I
remember in later days making for some picture show on
there, I think the " New English Art Club," and the policeman
on duty wanted to turn me back to the end of the queue,
until I had convinced him I was interested in another kind
of art — sometimes quite as magic, and even as black, occa-
sionally, as Messrs. Maskelyne's.
The opening of this Dudley Gallery General Exhibition
was quite an epoch, and was the means of bringing many
new artists to the front and to recognition. Luke Fildes, then
a student at South Kensington, fresh from a provincial school,
showed his first work in colour here — a study at Whitby.
I made his acquaintance about this time, through an aunt
and cousins who lived at Warrington, from which school he
and his friend Mr. Henry Woods came up to London. They
took a studio together in Hunter Street, and we frequently
exchanged visits and views.
Quite a group of students, or young artists just beginning
S6
AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1862-70
practice, used to meet at each other's studios about this time
and onwards to 1870. Many of them were, or had been.
Academy students, others were from South Kensington. The
studios or rooms were generally in or about Bloomsbury,
which would seem at this period to have some claims to be
a centre of the newer impulses in art.
The gifted but ill-fated Simeon Solomon, who distinguished
himself by showing some brilliant work at the Dudley, chiefly,
at first, studies of priests in their robes with the vessels and
emblems of the office around them — very rich and golden in
tone were these drawings, I remember, and quite the finest and
A DERBYSHIRE PASTORAL
Caricature by Walter Crane
most complete things the artist exhibited. The other side
of his imagination, however, showed much grace and poetic
suggestion in his groups of young men and maidens of an
idyllic world, occasionally reminiscent of Stothard or Westall,
and the designs of the early nineteenth century in conception
and treatment. The range of his fancy was perhaps best shown
in the slight sketches and suggestions for various pictures
and allegories which he had in a large book in his studio
in Charlotte Street at that time.
At one of these studio gatherings I remember meeting Hamo
Thorneycroft, then just beginning his career, well backed by
the fame and position of his father and family in the arts.
1862-70]
EARLY WORK
87
THE I'ASSIONATK SHEPHERI) (H. E.
Caricature hy Walter Crane
W.)
T. Blake Wrigman, well known as a portrait painter and
also for his subject pictures, was another of our company,
still happily to be claimed as a friend and neighbour, as also
E. H. Fahey, the landscape painter, whom I first met at the
studio of another old and
firm friend, Robert Bateman,
who had the leadership of a
particular group, or clique,
as it would be now called, I
presume. This group con-
sisted of H. Ellis Wooldridge^
(before named as holding the
Slade professorship at Ox-
ford in after years), Edward
Clifford, known as a water-
colour painter, and for his
graceful portraits of various
members of our aristocracy,
also for his mission to
Father Damien and his
connection with religious
and philanthropic work later
in life. With these three
painters was a poet — Ben-
jamin Montgomerie Ranking,
author of Fulgencius and
other PoemSy Strea^ns from
Hidden Sources. I became
more or less associated with
this group from sympathy
with their artistic aims.
Sometimes we had the same
^ Wooldridgc used to join me in Derbyshire, where, in the later time with my
brothers and sisters, we were often a merry party at Hazelford. We used to be fond
of caricaturing the incidents of the day, and also each other. Wooldridge was always
musical, and was acquainted with the fine Italian composers of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries long before their recent re-discovery. He was also a singer of
taste. This accounts for the emblems with which I have surrounded him in the little
fancy sketch. In the other I am a sort of Colin Clout. The third sketch is an
anticipation of our friendship in old age — discussing a bottle of old crusted port.
These are only a few out of many — I mean sketches, not bottles of port.
FANCY SKETCH OK WALTER CRANE AND
H. E. WOOLDRIDGE IN OLD AGE
Caricature by Walter Crane
models, and I recall the
88 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1862-70
satisfaction we had in securing sittings from the original
lady of many of Burne-Jones's early works, — notably
" Astrologia," — Miss Augusta Jones by name.
Another comrade was A. Sacheverell Coke, whom in the
opinion of one literary man, at least, as confided to me, was " the
best of us " as an artist. He had much facility of design, and
sought his subjects in classical mythology, mostly derived rather
from the point of view of the early' Venetian school as to treat-
ment and colour. He afterwards designed the tile-work for the
interior of the St. James's Restaurant grill-room, the subjects
being the gods and goddesses of Greek and Roman mythology,
with incidents in their history. Whether their influence
improved the flavour of the chops and steaks I do not know,
but it might be truly said the gods certainly were never without
burnt sacrifices on the grill. The series was so complete,
too, that the panels as a whole might form a pictorial
commentary on Lempriere or Dr. Smith — if customers
ever occasionally looked higher than an opposite picture-hat, or
over the edge of the evening paper. Anyway, their chance is
lost for ever, since St. James's is now a heap of dusty ruins
— a mere incident in the transformation of London !
Edward R. Hughes must be named as another of our
early friends who has since won a distinguished position as a
painter, carrying on, from his uncle, Arthur^ Hughes, the
traditions of the pre-Raphaelite painters. Now a member of
the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours, having held the
position of deputy-President, his work is always in evidence in
their exhibitions, often highly romantic and fanciful in subject,
decorative in effect, and very highly wrought in transparent
colour. His portraits, notably of children, in red chalk are
also much appreciated.
Another young artist I remember meeting about the time
I speak of was an American of the name of Morgan (certainly
not Pierpoint). His work, of a romantic and imaginative kind,
struck me as having much promise. I never, however, met
with him again.
Early in this year (February 1866) I had my first
glimpse of France and Paris. My eldest brother held
at that time a clerkship in the General Post Office, and he
I 862-70]
EARLY WORK
89
taking his holidays at that time, I joined him and two friends
for the trip across the Channel. The Channel certainly
asserted itself on that February night from Newhaven to
Dieppe. Cross Channel steamers were very different from what
they are now. Ours was a paddlewheel steamer, small and
PARIS FASHIONS IN 1866
crowded, and we were bounced about for nine mortal hours,
instead of the usual five allowed for the passage, I soon
found myself in a condition similar to that of one of Bret
Harte's characters, when " the subsequent proceedings
interested him no more," and only slowly came to life again
after landing. We put up at some little French hotel near
90
AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1862-70
the Rue RivoH, and worked away at seeing the lions for all
we were worth. Paris then was under the Second Empire.
The old Palace of Tuileries was intact and the Venddme
Column, and there was a general pervading air of reverence
and glorification of the Napoleonic legend about the public
I
^«fl ^-Tv ¥^S 1 1 III III
SKETCHES AT PARIS (1866)
places and monuments, and the big N surrounded with a
laurel wreath was a very frequent emblem. The military were
much in evidence, and there was a great display of various
uniforms and of crinoline on the part of the ladies. We had
a series of rapid and vivid impressions of Paris and its life as
1862-70] EARLY WORK 91
we flitted from its public monuments to theatres, Cirque
Napoleon and Bal masque, with intervals of cafes and
restaurants, — all singularly fresh and strange to our young and
insular party. I recall, too, above all, the deep impression
I had from the great masterpieces of the Louvre, and worshipped
at the shrine of the Venus of Milo. These remain, but what
of the Empire ?
Some weeks of the summer of 1866 I spent with our old
Torquay friends. Dr. and Mrs. Mackintosh, at a house they had
at Cawsand Bay, to the west of Mount Edgecombe, the point of
which formed one of the arms of the bay, Penlee Point being
the other. The house commanded a view of Plymouth
Sound and the Breakwater. Here I spent most of my time
in sketching, or in walks with the daughters of the house and
a numerous family of girl cousins, many of whom were victims
of my pencil.
We used to watch the casting of the tuck net and the
drawing it in to the shore of this fishing village, or the war-
ships that used to anchor in the Sound, or the yachts putting
out to the bay, or sometimes we paddled in a boat to Penlee
Point. I remember I introduced Plymouth Sound into a toy-
book, illustrating an old Multiplication Table rhyme beginning
•' Twice two were two good boys." I think I had " twice six "
steamships — anchored in Plymouth Sound, and put in the
lines of coast and the Breakwater.
During this visit, one day having occasion to go into
Plymouth, on returning to " The Hard," and waiting for the
ferry-boat to take me across to Mount Edgecombe, W. S.
Coleman, the artist, came up, having the same object, and
we embarked together. I had not seen him since the days I was
with Linton, when there was a small drawing class started
at Leinster Square, which he, as an artist and a friend of
the Lintons, visited and criticised.
He was staying at the inn at the ferry Mount Edge-
combe, and he persuaded me to join him at luncheon.
There was a negro waiter, I remember. We had a pleasant
chat, and I left him to pursue my way to Cawsand through the
dripping plantations of Mount Edgecombe, as it turned out
wet, and was one of the wettest walks I can remember.
92 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1862-70
W. S. Coleman was known at first as a naturalist, or rather
as an illustrator of natural history and botanical works. Later
he won considerable repute for his water colours, and for his
designs for faience. I met him again a year or two after-
wards, at one of the Dudley Gallery Committee's dinners.
The year 1866 was remarkable for the agitation for the
extension of the franchise. I remember the great demonstra-
tions and the vast processions of workmen, walking six abreast,
mounted farriers at the head, and with them, also mounted,
one Colonel Dixon and his daughter, who, with Mr. Beales, a
barrister, threw themselves into the movement, and became,
especially the latter, its leaders and chief spokesmen, with
George Odger, George Howell, Mr. Cremer, and other working-
class leaders.
A Liberal Government had first brought in a rather mild
and moderate measure for the extension of the franchise, limited
I think to six-pound householders, or something like that.
They were defeated, and a Conservative Government, under
Mr. Disraeli, succeeded them, and brought in a Bill for house-
hold suffrage, with a lodger franchise, thus, as they said, " to
dish the Whigs." This, however, was not brought about
without the irnmense demonstrations aforesaid, and big
meetings in Hyde Park. One of these meetings was foolishly
forbidden by the Conservative Home Secretary (Mr. Walpole,
privately a most amiable character, I believe), and the result
was that the people who had marched in procession in great
numbers to the Park finding the gates closed against them
by the order of the police, pulled the iron railings down,
pressed into the Park, and held their meeting. This pro-
ceeding was violently denounced by one portion of the press,
and vigorously upheld by another as justifiable and righteous ;
but anyway the result was that a much more comprehensive
Franchise Bill was passed, and by a Conservative Government,
than had been dreamed of by their Liberal predecessors.
The people were in earnest, and therefore got what they
wanted, as they have a way of doing in England ; but I
remember a writer, I think in the Spectator, remarking on
one of the workmen's demonstrations, saying that " they
might be in earnest, but a man could not look in earnest with
1862-70] EARLY WORK 93
a pipe in his mouth," and most of them marched with pipes
in their mouths.
I think it was in the autumn of this year that some old
friends of my father's — Mr. and Mrs. Randle Wilbraham —
invited me down to Cheshire. Rode Hall was their house,
a country mansion of early nineteenth-century type, situate in
a park, with a fine lake much frequented by waterfowl. Mrs.
Wilbraham was a charming lady of artistic tastes, and herself
an amateur of some skill and feeling, and was most kind and
hospitable. She introduced me to the Wedgwoods of Etruria,
the renowned potters. Mrs. Wilbraham had been doing a little
china-painting herself, deriving her instruction, I think, from
M. Lessore, who at that time did a quantity of work for
Messrs. Wedgwood. I tried my hand on some vases of their
cream-coloured ware, sketching the Seasons and other sym-
bolical figures in a light sort of treatment with a pen in purple-
brown, using a medium composed of oil of turpentine and
glycerine. I afterwards did some more elaborate and coloured
work, including designs for an encaustic inlaid chessboard
exhibited by the Wedgwood firm in the Paris Exhibition
of 1867.
Mr, Randle Wilbraham was a fine specimen of an English
country squire and county magistrate. Under his roof I had
some opportunity of learning the feeling of his class and the
party of law and order expressed on the Reform question — a
relative of his, a clergyman, roundly saying at the breakfast-
table, after family prayers, apropos of the Hyde Park meetings
and Mr. Beales's part in them, " I should like to throw a
brickbat at Beales."
Another country-house comment came from a notable
Cheshire squire, the Hon. Mr. Arthur Lascelles, brother of the
Earl of Harewood, in whose house (Norley Bank) I afterwards
was a guest with the Wilbrahams. He remarked that it was
" characteristic " (I presume of Englishmen) that the working
men who pulled down the railings and entered the Park had
insisted on good order being kept during their meeting, and
he was ironical about the breakers of order themselves insisting
on its maintenance.
All sorts of fearsome prophecies were flying about as to
94 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1862-70
what would happen after this tardy and moderate extension
of the franchise, carefully guarded and qualified as it was.
The Hon. Robert Lowe, at one time Chancellor of the
Exchequer in a Liberal Government, was full of apprehension.
He earned rather unpopular distinction by putting a tax upon
matches, apparently in ignorance of the desperate effect it
would have upon the poor matchbox-makers, whose wages
were already cut down to the lowest subsistence point, at 2|d.
a gross ! They promptly processed to the West End in large
numbers, and sent in deputations, until the tax was dropped as
impracticable, and Mr. Robert Lowe was made a peer.
Thomas Carlyle, too, was moved to write Shooting Niagara^
and After^ possessed with this strange fear that the whole
course of English life would be changed, and that " our new
masters," as the household suffragists and enfranchised lodgers
were called, were all fiery revolutionists with torches and red
flags.
But, after alii nothing in particular happened. The same
sort of men were returned to Parliament, with a few notable
exceptions, such as that of John Stuart Mill, who sat in the
new Parliament as member for Westminster.
I recall seeing and hearing him at one of the many big
political meetings at St. James's Hall during the period of the
Reform agitation. Gentle - mannered, small and spare of
figure, but of a very marked intellectual aspect, and great
earnestness, he spoke in what truly might be described as " a
still small voice." Philosopher and recluse, it was extra-
ordinary the enthusiasm he evoked, standing, too, as he
did for all sorts of advanced and unpopular opinions.
On the same platform, I remember, was Mr. (afterwards
Sir) William Vernon Harcourt, who had rather a pompous
Parliamentary manner but was an able speaker.
At one of these meetings I remember seeing Charles
Bradlaugh and Mrs. Annie Besant come in and seat themselves
amongst the audience.
On another occasion, I was on the platform at St. James's
Hall, when Mr. Henry Fawcett addressed the meeting. I
think Mrs. Fawcett guided him to the platform, as his
blindness prevented him from finding his way about without
1862-70] EARLY WORK 95
assistance. His vigour and energy as a speaker were remark-
able, despite such a drawback, and his enunciation was clear
and forcible. He took occasion to introduce Mr. (now Sir)
Charles Wentworth Dilke, who I think was then standing as a
candidate for Chelsea, and in doing so he told the audience
that when he (Mr. Fawcett) announced that Mr. Dilke had
imbibed his philosophy and political principles from the teach-
ing of John Stuart Mill he could only say that he had derived
them " from the highest, the noblest, and the purest sources."
Great applause followed, in the midst of which Sir Charles
Dilke came forward and made one of his first public appear-
ances and speeches.
Another famous orator I heard also at St. James's Hall was
John Bright. He began very quietly, but gradually warmed
up, and was particularly effective in his denunciatory passages.
He had a grave, rather heavy presence, with a quiet air of
commercial prosperity and middle-class respectability about
him, but he had a fine resonant rich voice, and all the hidden
art of a practised and eloquent speaker, so that it seemed as if
he were playing upon the emotions and passions of a great
audience, as a musician plays upon some instrument, evoking
instant response to his skill and feeling.
Political excitement did not, however, interfere with my
ordinary work, and in some ways helped to inspire it, as about
this time I made a design for a pictorial composition on the
theme of Freedom, in which Humanity was personified by
a youth chained in a prison and guarded by the figures of a
king in armour sitting on one side, and a cowled priest with
a book and crozier on the other. These were, however, asleep,
and did not prevent the appearance of Freedom — a figure in
floating draperies and wearing the bonnet rouge, with out-
spread rainbow-tinted wings, which occupied the centre of the
picture. This design I some years afterwards took up again
and carried out on a large canvas, and exhibited in the
Grosvenor Gallery (in 1885). After being seen at the Chicago
Exhibition in 1903, this work was shown at the International
Fine Art Exhibition at Venice, where it finally was purchased
by a gentleman from St. Petersburg — which seems a strange
home for a picture of " Freedom."
96 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1862-70
Other sides of my work went on, and I endeavoured to
extend my connection in black-and-white work by getting
introductions to the publisher of Punch and the editor of
Once a Week.
The result of an interview with the former (Mr. Bradbury)
was that some sketches of mine went before the editor of
Punch, and my first (and only) contribution to that journal
appeared (in the summer of 1866, I think). It was a half-
page drawing — " The Chignon Show."
In 1867 I had one or two drawings in Once a Week, too,
while it was edited by the late Rev. E. Walford. Mr. Swain,
who engraved both for Punch and Once a Week, executed the
blocks.
I had, too, an introduction to Edward Dalziel, of the
well-known firm of Dalziel Brothers, whose names are so
closely associated, as engravers, with the remarkable develop-
ment of book illustration and the black-and-white art of the
" sixties."
At this time they were occupied upon the very important
series of Bible illustrations — upon which most of the strongest
artists of the younger school of that day were engaged. I
remember seeing a very elaborately studied design by the
present President of the Royal Academy — then Mr. E. J.
Poynter — representing Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh, and
the changing of the rods into serpents.
Another striking design was one of Cain and Abel by
Frederick (afterwards Lord) Leighton.
There were others by Holman Hunt, Simeon Solomon,
and Ford Madox Brown, those of the latter having all his
dramatic power and intensity of realisation.
For the Dalziels I made a drawing, published in Good
Words, — three swarthy Moorish mariners shipwrecked with a
treasure chest, — and a set of illustrations to some book for
young people the title of which I forget.
About this time the Brothers Dalziel were publishing The
Arabian Nights in parts, and to this work Mr. A. B. Houghton
contributed some very remarkable drawings. He was one of
the brilliant company of black-and-white artists who were
associated with the GrapJiic in its early days.
1862-70] EARLY WORK 97
In those days I may be said to have worked for Fuji — and
there certainly was not much money to be had — a weekly
comic journal which ran as a sort of cheaper Punch for many
years. Through the engraver, a namesake (Mr. Henry Crane),
although no relation that I knew of, I tried my hand at giving
pictorial form, as half and quarter pages, to various jokes.
Mr. Tom Hood the younger was editor for some years.
I never met him, but he seemed always inclined to be friendly
to my work when it came under his notice as the writer of a
sort of critical review of current illustrated literature which
appeared weekly in Fun.
A lady of considerable literary celebrity at that time was
Mrs. Henry Wood, who had achieved a notable popular success
by her novel East Lynne. She started a monthly illustrated
magazine named The Argosy, with her son, Mr. Charles W.
Wood, as editor. I was asked to design a wrapper for The
Argosy, with which it braved the battle and the breeze for
some years afterwards. Its chief support was a serial tale by
Mrs. Wood, and to this tale I furnished the monthly illustration.
It was Anne Hereford.
I remember calling to see Mrs. Henry Wood at a house
on the north side of Regent's Park, somewhere near Primrose
Hill. She was quite an early- Victorian-looking lady, with a
bunch of ringlets each side a smooth parting, surmounted, if I
remember rightly, with a cap and ribbons. She had a placid
bearing, and the quiet, observant look usually noticeable in
writers. I do not recall that she expressed any very definite
views about the illustration of her book, and in these matters
I mostly had to do with her son, the editor of The Argosy, in
which Mrs. Henry Wood wrote under the nom de plume of
" Johnny Ludlow."
During the summer or autumn of this year (1867) I again
paid a visit to my Cheshire friends, the Wilbrahams. One of
the charms of Rode Hall to me was its proximity to that fine
old half-timbered and moated house known as Old Moreton
Hall. I made several drawings of it at the time, and delighted
in the richness of its barge boards and variety in its timber-
work, as no doubt did my father before me, as he too made
drawings there.
7 /
98 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1862-70
While at Rode we drove over to Biddulph Grange, where
my friend Robert Bateman's father (Mr. James Bateman,
F.R.S.) and mother dwelt. The house was rather a show
house, and more especially its grounds, which comprised flower
and formal gardens in the manner of many different countries,
Italian, Dutch, etc., beautifully laid out and kept. There was
even a quaint little Chinese garden among them, with a bridge
which might have come out of the willow-pattern plate, and
real China roses. I remember, too, in the house a long gallery,
on the walls of which were illustrated the geological sections of
the earth's crusts done in the actual materials, the carboniferous
seams let in in real coal, and so on — a thing not seen before.
The group of young painters I have mentioned, of whom
my friend Robert Bateman was a leading member, continued
to show their work at the Dudley Gallery, and were rather
chaffed by the critics, if not occasionally abused. One of them
by a creative effort even invented a phrase, and characterised
us as the " Poetry-without-Grammar School," whatever that
might mean.
Bateman was the most remarkable draughtsman of
flowers among moderns I have seen, after the best Japanese
work. He was always experimenting, too, in methods and
mediums, and produced slowly, though always with exquisite
finish.
His best-known picture is perhaps " The Witch of Endor,"
which was in the Royal Academy Exhibition. It is a very
weird and powerful conception of the scene of the Raising of
Samuel, and is worked out with extraordinary invention and
resource in symbolic and subsidiary detail. Besides painting,
however, he has worked in a variety of crafts with distinction,
and has lately perfected a modelling material of his own
invention, which he terms " plasma Bentellesca," after Benthall
Hall, in Shropshire — a beautiful sixteenth-century house which
was his home for many years, the beauty of which he
greatly added to by the gardens he laid out, as well as other
improvements.
Reading of Ormuzd and Ahrimanes in Max Muller's
Chips from a German Workshop gave me an idea for a
picture which I carried out in water colour, and which was
1862-70] EARLY WORK 99
well placed in the Dudley Gallery of the spring of 1868. It
represented two armed and crested warriors on horseback,
fighting upon the banks of a river, which wandered through a
vast plain in shining curves, catching the light of dawn ;
beyond were ranges of mountains, and, dimly seen, at each
bend of the river, monuments of past ages appeared in ruin —
a Celtic dolmen, an Egyptian gateway, a classical temple, a
Gothic abbey ; and the foreground was littered with skeletons,
crowns, and emblems of fallen or decaying powers.
This design marked the revolution which was taking place
in my mind as regards religion and the conception of life
and the course of history. I entertained an ardent idea to
embody in design and painting something which would
symbolise the new philosophy of evolution, which the researches
and discoveries of Darwin and the writings of Herbert Spencer
were building up. One felt that a new epoch of thought had
dawned upon the world, and longed to give it some artistic
expression.
The following spring I spent with my sister, who was out
of health, in Gloucestershire, at a cottage on the edge of
Amberley Down, near Stroud — a delightful and interesting
part of the country. Here it was a joy to watch the advance
of spring — the woods gradually changing from purple and red to
green and gold, and shot with the blue of hyacinths that
seemed to float almost like clouds between the beech stems.
Such sights as these meeting one's eyes day by day filled
one with the idea of a universal spring like a gracious presence
moving everywhere. I tried afterwards to embody my con-
ception in painting, and I even tried to express it in verse,
which I had the temerity to send to the Fortnightly Review,
then edited by Mr. John Morley. Most of the advanced
thinkers wrote for this review at that time, and to begin with,
it really appeared fortnightly. In my simplicity I offered my
poor tribute to those whom I then regarded as carrying the
torch of progress and enlightenment. The MS., however, was
promptly returned with an autograph line from the editor,
which ran, " I return your poem, which, however, I have not
read," — with something to the effect that there was no room
for poetry, — and signed " John Morley."
lOO AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1862-70
This had the result of making me very shy of offering
any more MS. to editors, though I continued to write, simply
as an outlet for one's thoughts and ideas.
I forget whether it was before or after this that certain
sonnets of D. G. Rossetti's appeared in the Fortnightly, but
I shall never forget the impression they created. I had
essayed the Shakespearean form of sonnet, but these at once
instigated me to try my hand at the Italian kind of construc-
tion. In my own feelings I found sufficient excuse, as about
this time (it was really the year before) I had met the lady
who afterwards became my wife (Miss Mary Frances Andrews,
the second daughter of the late Thomas Andrews, Esquire, of
Wynchlow Hall, Hempstead, Essex).
She spent the winter of 1868-69 with her family in
Tavistock Square, and for long a certain corner house became
a centre of the deepest interest, and Bloomsbury a realm of
romance. With her brother and sisters, however, she departed
on a travelling expedition, and we did not meet again till
1870. Under these circumstances I sought what solace I
could in inscribing sonnets to the absent beloved one, in the
intervals of my ordinary work.
The influence of the Gloucestershire scenery is seen in
some coloured designs I did afterwards for a little book
entitled The Merrie Heart, published by Messrs. Cassell —
then Messrs. Cassell, Fetter, & Galpin. It was a com-
pendium of nursery rhymes from all sorts of sources, and
had other illustrations in black and white by different artists,
among which was Frederick Barnard. About this time I had
had an introduction to Mr. John Hamer (author of The
Smoker's Text Book), who then acted as reader or printing
adviser and art director to the firm, and several sets of
illustrations was the result. Huan and Anthy ; or. The Magic
of Kindness, was one of the books, by the brothers Mayhew ;
and another was King Gab and his Story Bag. This was
written by a Mr. Marshall, whose acquaintance I made. He
was quite an unconventional person, and wore a sort of French
undress shako, instead of the usual tile. He gave one the
impression of being under the influence of suppressed excite-
ment, and was certainly permeated with the newer ideas of the
1862-70] EARLY WORK lOl
time. He seemed extremely restless, and shortly afterwards
departed for a voyage round the world, but before doing so
he gave a farewell dinner to his friends. This took place, I
remember, at the old Gaiety Restaurant. A large number of
men were present, mostly writers on the press. Among the
guests was Mr. Moncure D. Conway, whom I met for the first
time, but who in after years I saw more of, and for whose
independence of thought and high character I have always
entertained the highest regard.
The late summer of 1869 I spent in North Wales, joining
a cousin of mine at Bettws-y-Coed, a favourite haunt of
landscape painters. I lodged with my cousin, who lived there
with another painter and his wife — Mr. and Mrs. Harrison.
My cousin's name was Fred Suker, but as he had a father
and a brother who also painted, he took the name of " Clive
Newcome," by which he became generally known, and won
considerable local repute for his landscapes, which had much
dexterity and charm, both in oil and water colour. White
umbrellas were as plentiful as mushrooms, and it was a
common sight to see men walking along with a canvas
suspended before and behind, like a tabard or a sandwich-
man — literally attired in landscapes.
The painters at Bettws for the most part were not very
serious artists, but generally lived by doing " bits " and
" effects " for tourists and visitors, who used to pour through
the district at that time of year.
The scenery was extremely pretty, but the lines of the
mountains generally rather broken and cut up, and not so
fine and sweeping as my favourite Derbyshire hills. Snowdon,
however, was impressive, and in making the ascent, which I
did with my cousin from the Capel Curig side, one fully
realised its height. We reached the summit near sunset,
passing through a field of cloud, which when we emerged
looked like a great sea of rolling billows breaking at our feet,
the sun shining out across them before he sank.
The startling and tragic drama of the Franco-German
War absorbed public attention in 1870. From the time
when the rotten and pretentious Second Empire of France, in
order, as it was supposed, to draw off the attention from
I02 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1862-70
inconvenient home questions, planned the invasion of Germany
to satisfy the professional ambition and restlessness of the
army, to the sudden fall of Napoleon III. after Metz and
Sedan, and the collapse of the French after those events, when
the Germans turned the tables and laid siege to Paris, the
acts in this extraordinary drama followed one another in startling
rapidity, to culminate in an episode of still greater significance
and moment to the hopes of humanity, more especially of the
workers, than any that had preceded it — the establishment of
the Commune of Paris and its four months of exemplary civic
rule, from March 18, 1871, to June of the same year, when
it fell, not conquered by any foreign enemy, but before the
onslaughts of its own countrymen, and perished in blood and
fire — its members sacrificed in thousands to the savage
vindictiveness of the Government of Versailles, to its lasting
infamy in history.
But few spectators of this extraordinary drama, perhaps,
realised its full significance at the time. We were too near the
footlights. The Commune, its ideals and its acts, were entirely
misunderstood, or misrepresented in the English press, and it
is only recently, after the lapse of years, that its true aims, with
all its faults and almost superhuman difficulties, are beginning
to be apprehended as an attempt to establish a true civic
Commonwealth, on a basis of collective service and ownership.
The year 1870 also witnessed the downfall of the Papal
temporal power in Italy, and the political unity of the kingdom
under Victor Emmanuel.
For myself, I seemed to hear of these great events and
read of them in the newspapers as one in a dream. Though,
as I have indicated, by no means without political feeling and
sympathies, my real world was a dream-world, a cloister, or
quiet green garden, where one only heard afar and dimly the
echoes of the strife of the great world. In this mental retreat
one really lived and worked at that time, and more and more
so when one's whole being became coloured and fused with the
deepest and most vital of all human feelings — love.
In such a mood I first read Rossetti's sonnets and The
Earthly Paradise of William Morris, which was first published
in 1870, and found in both a most congenial atmosphere.
1862-70] EARLY WORK 103
To read the latter seemed like entering one of the delightful
houses or halls the poet himself helped to create and often
described, stone-pillared, open-timbered, and hung with arras
tapestries full of mythical histories and legends of races, and
glowing in gold and colour.
About the same time the decorative work of the firm in
Queen Square was getting known, especially among artists and
artistically-minded people. A reaction had begun against the
heavy and vulgar taste borrowed from the French Empire,
which had for twenty years or more dominated the Victorian
taste in English house decoration and furniture, and many
artists, even outside Queen Square, were making efforts under
new influences in more sincere and refined directions. The
increased study of Gothic architecture, the writings of John
Ruskin, the study of the Middle Ages, the study of Greek and
Italian art, and the influence of the collections at South
Kensington, must all be counted as factors in the new move-
ment, which reflected in individual hands many of these
different influences and sources of inspiration.
The success of the type of art associated with the name of
William Morris and his coadjutors was no doubt due — apart
from the effect of his own powerful personality and initiative
— to the practical nature of the experiment in the actual revival
of certain handicrafts, as well as the co-operative nature of the
enterprise, uniting, as it did, in the persons of the artists
concerned in it, architecture cabinet-work, decorative design
and painting, metal-work, pottery and tile-making, and
stained glass.
The first time I saw William Morris was from a window
in Queen Square. My friend H. Ellis Wooldridge had a
room he used as a studio a few doors below the house of
Morris & Company, on the east side of the square. Mr. Basil
Champneys, whom I met about this time, by the way, had his .
office at that time in the same house. We were leaning out
of the open window one summer's evening, chatting, and
watching the people passing to and fro across the quiet stone-
paved square (which always had a retired old-world and
rather Continental look at the south end), when we caught
sight of a sturdy figure clad in snuff-brown, striding along in
104 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1862-70
a determined manner, with an oak stick in his hand and a
soft felt hat on. He turned his head as he passed, hearing
us talking, and glanced up, and we met quick, penetrating eyes
set in a handsome face, and a fair beard, with grave and
abstracted look, and probably a little fagged after a day's toil
at the works.
I really met William Morris not long afterwards at the
house of Mr. George Howard (now Earl of Carlisle), at a
dinner at which were also present Mr. (Sir) E. J. Poynter (now
President of the Royal Academy), Mr. (afterwards Sir)
Edward Burne-Jones, Professor Sydney Colvin, and I think
Mr. William De Morgan, Mr. Hungerford Pollen, and Mr.
Philip Webb, the architect of No. i Palace Green, then a
new house, just finished for Mr. Howard.
Morris had recently returned from a visit to Iceland, which
had proved so exciting and delightful to him that he hardly
seemed to care to talk of anything else. I remember his
giving vivid descriptions of his long pony rides, and camping
out among the mountains in that wonderful and romantic
island. Curiously enough, I had not long before had a hand
in a book on Iceland (by A. J. Symington) as a sort of
improver of some rather vague sketches by the author which I
put on the wood, assisted by a reference to a large French folio
on the same country illustrated by lithographs, so that Morris
may have found me less ignorant of the beauties and wonders
of the island than many, as among ordinary English folk Ice-
land was but little known and visited.
Our host on this occasion was also a recent acquaintance,
and moreover a patron, who took the kindliest interest in my
early efforts. I was also indebted to him for my introduction
to Burne-Jones about this time. Mr. Howard took me with him
one day to The Grange, and there for the first time I met the
artist for whose work no one, I think, at that time entertained
a more enthusiastic and profound admiration.
The well-known portrait by G. F. Watts represents him
at this period of his life with extraordinary verity. One
certainly felt that Burne-Jones lived in a world of dreams.
He was then surrounded with a vast quantity of work, and
pictures and designs in every stage nearly were to be seen in
1862-70] EARLY WORK 105
his studio, the more finished work being hung in the ante-
rooms. I remembered the design of" Fortune " in monochrome,
several of the large subjects of the Perseus series, and " The
Sleeping Beauty," the unusual " Pan and Psyche," " The Feast of
Peleus," " Venus's Mirror," and " The Days of Creation," and a
fine series of pencil designs illustrating Virgil's ySneids, which
were, I believe, originally intended to accompany Morris's trans-
lation. The sight of so much interesting imaginative work was
very inspiring, and no doubt one fell much under its influence
for some time.
Burne-Jones's whimsical, humorous way of talking was well
known to his friends. As we were departing, and he with his
little daughter (now Mrs. J. W. Mackail) stood at the door of
the pleasant hall at The Grange, Mr. Howard lit a cigar, and
little Miss Margaret remarked, " Look, smoke is coming out of
his mouth ! " " Yes, my dear," said Burne-Jones, " he is a bad
man ; he is on fire within."
One of our friends and fellow-students about this time
set up a picture-gallery in Wigmore Street, and all our set
contributed to stock it. It became quite a repository for our
school, and even sales were not un frequently made.
I rather think that it was owing to Mr. George Howard
having seen some works of mine at this gallery, or " picture-
shop," as we called it, that I made his acquaintance. He
himself was an enthusiastic painter, and worked hard at both
oil and water colour, and took the keenest interest in the
work of other artists, more especially of the romantic poetic
school. His taste, however, was sufficiently catholic to
include work by Alphonse Legros, E. J. Poynter, and Giovanni
Costa, the lifelong friend of Lord Leighton.
I must have met M. Legros about this time at Palace
Green, and I was instrumental in obtaining for him a com-
mission to paint a full-length life-size portrait of my Cheshire
friend, Mr. Randle Wilbraham, as a presentation portrait from
his tenants. The fine draughtsmanship, grave, reserved, rather
Holbeinesque treatment of Legros' portraits and figure subjects
commanded my admiration ; and I think the very first work
I saw of his was a large picture, " skyed " at the Academy, of
a group of people kneeling at a wayside shrine. I always
io6 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1862-70
regretted that my deficiencies in the French tongue have
been obstacles in the progress of my acquaintance with this
distinguished artist, and prevented much intercommunication
between us.
Other distinguished foreign artists came to London after
the downfall of the brilliant short-lived Commune, and it is
noteworthy to recall that such artists as Courbet were associ-
ated with this great effort to establish a true collective civic
Government in the interest of the workers both of hands and
brains, rather than money lords.
Among others, M. Dalou, the gifted and original sculptor,
I remember meeting at Palace Green about this time, and he
set up a studio in Chelsea and worked for many years in
London. Another sculptor of considerable vogue, especially
for small portrait statuettes of ladies, was M. Amendola.
M. Gueraud, a remarkably tasteful and skilful mounter
of drawings, was a refugee of the Commune, and he has
remained ever since in London.
Another gentleman who became rather notorious in artistic
circles — totally unconnected with the Commune — was also
received at Palace Green. He played the part of art adviser
and dealer in " articles of vertu," but his own virtue proved
insufficiently substantial to stand wear and tear, and his place
soon knew him no more.
Among those who visited the Wigmore Street picture-shop
of our friend Prince, also a friend of the Howard family, was
the Rev. Stopford Brooke, famous for his Broad Church views
and eloquent sermons. He became one of my patrons, and
has quite a collection of my early landscapes, which were too
low in tone, I fancy, at that period for most people.
His brother-in-law, Mr. Somerset Beaumont, to whom he
gave me an introduction, proved a very liberal patron of my
work. He began by the purchase of several drawings from
the Dudley Gallery, among which was " The Red Cross Knight
in Search of Una," — the knight a small figure on horseback
wandering through a green landscape taken from one of the
Derbyshire " doughs." I recall going to see him in his
charming house in Park Street, with a pleasant window over-
looking Hyde Park. He was at that time most sympathetic
1862-70] EARLY WORK 107
and friendly, and was a valuable supporter for some years
afterwards.
Two of my landscape studies were bought by Mr. (after-
wards Lord) Frederick Leighton, to whom they were shown
by Mr. Howard, whose kindness and sympathy in these early
years I shall not easily forget, and I received a very kind and
encouraging letter from Leighton, expressing his appreciation,
and enclosing his cheque for " the very modest price " I asked
for the drawings — five guineas each, I think.
At the Dudley Gallery I continued to have considerable
success with my drawings, and one of peacocks on a terrace
with a landscape beyond, which was really taken from Rode
Hall, was not only purchased, but no less than two replicas
were asked for by different people.
I did not, however, cease my work as an illustrator, but
continued to do more work for Edmund Evans, and the demand
for new picture-books went on at the rate of two a year.
About 1869—70 they began to show something like a
distinct decorative treatment and style, as I endeavoured to
adapt them more both to the conceptions of children and to
the conditions of colour-printing. In this I found no little
helpful and suggestive stimulus in the study of certain
Japanese colour prints, which a lieutenant in the Navy
I met at Rode Hall, who had recently visited Japan in his
ship, presented me with. He did not seem to be aware of
their artistic qualities himself, but regarded them rather as
mere curiosities. Their treatment in definite black outline
and flat brilliant as well as delicate colours, vivid dramatic
and decorative feeling struck me at once, and I endeavoured
to apply these methods to the modern fanciful and humorous
subjects of children's toy-books and to the methods of wood-
engraving and machine-printing. The Fairy Ship, This Little
Pig went to Market, designed in i 869, and King Luckieboy s
Party (the verses and idea of which were supplied by me),
in 1870 made this new departure, and led on to their suc-
cessors, which shortly became numerous enough to be put
in a separate category and labelled with my name by Messrs.
Routledge.
Amid all this work, with improving prospects it was
io8
AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1862-70
natural that being " over head and ears in love " I should
be anxious to gain the consent of my still absent beloved to
marriage.
I was successful in this in the course of time. The lady
with her mother and sisters were in the spring of 1870 staying
at Carisbrooke, Isle of Wight, and my sister and myself were
asked down to stay, and the quiet garden of a delightful old-
fashioned house below
C , /,//nlh the old Castle saw
the consummation of
my hopes, and at
last I was actually
— engaged !
The year flew by
marked by delightful
and never-to-be-for-
gotten visits, first to
Oxford, in early sum-
mer, which seemed an
ideal dream-city such
as one might see
painted in a medi-
aeval missal, echoing
to the sound of
sweet - voiced choirs
in its solemn college
chapels, or the song
of birds in its tree-
shaded walks, and
green and golden
meadows bordered by
the silvery waters of the Thames or the Cherwell. With such
surroundings we spent days of golden joy that remain for ever
enshrined in the memory. Later in the summer I joined my
affianced at Ambleside, and spent three delightful weeks in
the Lake country in splendid weather, making excursions all
over that lovely district, which 1 now saw for the first time.
It was then less frequented, and the great stream of tourists
which now pour through in the summer season was not nearly
3>*ly as. '670
AT AMBLESIDE
1862-70] EARLY WORK 109
so much in evidence, and it was possible to enjoy seclusion,
even in the heart of Ambleside and Keswick, without any-
oppressive sense of the scenery being " run " by enterprising
commercialists for all it was worth. The spirit of Wordsworth
and the Lake poets still seemed to haunt the wild mountain
paths and rocky dells, and that country to me, indissolubly
bound up, as it ever will be, with some of my life's happiest
hours and associations, will always be a sort of earthly paradise.
The Rev. Stopford Brooke, who had taken a fancy to
my work, commissioned me to make him a water colour of
Wordsworth's Yews of Borrowdale, on which he wrote his
fine sonnet, and this I afterwards worked out from a study
made on the spot.
I was at Hazelford again in the autumn, and revisited my
old haunts, perhaps for the last time for many years. I stayed
and worked there into October, and from there paid another
visit to my Cheshire friends at Rode Hall, returning to winter
in the old quarters in London, finding my ladylove with her
mother and sisters had taken up their abode for the winter,
after many wanderings, at Surbiton, which necessitated frequent
journeys up and down from Waterloo for me on the winged
wheels of the South- Western.
CHAPTER V
MARRIAGE AND VISIT TO ITALY, 1871-73
THE extreme happiness of the first six months of our
engagement was sadly clouded in the winter of 1 870—7 i
by the illness of my lady, from the depressing effects of which
she did not recover for a long time.
In the summer of 1871 she was induced to visit her old
home at Hempstead, in Essex. Her eldest brother with his
wife then occupied the house and managed the farm. I went
down in due course on a visit, and was much charmed by the
delightful old-world feeling of the place, the fine old Essex
farmhouses which abounded in the neighbourhood, with their
Tudor chimney-stacks and wide fireplaces, and the old-fashioned
hospitality of their tenants.
Hempstead itself is historically interesting owing to the
fact of its association with Dr. William Harvey, the discoverer
of the circulation of the blood, in the seventeenth century. His
family seat, the old Wynchlow Hall, had been pulled down,
and only the moat remained, though a cottage marked the site
of the house. The Doctor's monument, however, was in the
village church, a marble bust on a bracket in front of a wall
tablet with a Latin inscription, placed by the Royal College
of Surgeons, the family arms and a seventeenth-century helmet
above.
Beneath the Harvey chapel annexed to the church was
the Harvey family vault — a large brick chamber to which one
descended by steps, and this was filled with leaden coffins of
an ancient type, shaped somewhat like terminal figures, each
bearing a face embossed in relief upon it at the head of the
coffin, and the name and date beneath.
no
1871-73I MARRIAGE AND VISIT TO ITALY ill
There were also several brasses in the church of fourteenth
and fifteenth century date.
Squire Andrews' farm, called Wynchlow Hall, had been
originally an old half-timbered house, with steep gables, and
plaster panels worked in patterns between the timber framing,
after the traditional local style ; but
the main part of the dwelling-house
had been modernised, and only one
wing remained of the old part, which
had probably been surrounded by a
moat, a relic of which formed a con-
siderable pond at the edge of the lawn,
gay that Jime-tide with yellow flags.
Near by was a charming old house
known as Church Farm, an ancient
half-timbered L-shaped house with fine
brick chimneys, and a few " Queen
Anne" additions in the way of a
pillared porch and a china cupboard.
There had been a wide ingle-nook,
which still retained the original iron
crane or ratchet for cooking over the
fire or roasting before it — a good piece
of blacksmith's work.
An interesting sight was the sheep-
shearing in the great barn. The big
doors were taken off their hinges and
laid flat, and on this improvised plat-
form the shearers did their work.
There were three of them, and it was
noteworthy to see the skill with which
they handled both the sheep and the
shears, getting the heavy fleeces ofl*
with the greatest neatness and despatch,
the sheep for the most part being very passive in their hands,
and certainly " before the shearers — dumb."
A little before my visit to Hempstead I had been com-
missioned by Mr. Somerset Beaumont to go down to
Northumberland to make for him two drawings, one of
MONUMENT TO DR. WIL-
LIAM HARVEY, HEMP-
STEAD CHURCH
112
AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1871-73
Bywell Castle, and another of two churches which are features
of the place. Both subjects were by the river Tyne, here
flowing past the ivy-covered keep of the old Castle in falls
over a rocky bed. The seat of the Beaumonts was near by.
The country was a fine one, and beautifully wooded. I
stayed at a little old-fashioned village inn, and worked at
my drawings all day. I was greatly struck with the character
and beauty of the Border country, and visited the fine old
town of Hexham, with its noble church ; and Mr. George
Howard was kind enough
to give me the oppor-
tunity of seeing the very
beautiful family Castle of
the Howards — Naworth,
although they were not
living there at the time.
So 1 travelled along the
Newcastle & Carlisle Rail-
way one day, and alighting
at the little station close
to the park gates, walked
to the Castle, famous as
the home of " Belted Will "
(Lord William Howard of
Border fame), whose tower
and library of books is still
shown to visitors. I also
had sight of Lanercost
Priory, a beautiful ruin
down in the valley by the
stream which flows around the Castle. At the Castle was
Mr. Ferguson, the architect of Carlisle, who at that time
had been called in for some restoration work at the Priory,
and who afterwards added a new wing to the Castle.
At that time the Earl of Carlisle was living in retirement,
and the next heir was his brother, the Hon. Charles Howard,
the father of Mr. George Howard, who had extended to me
so much friendliness, sympathy, and courtesy at that time.
Deeply as the beauty and romance of the Border country
THE OLD HOUSE AT HEMl'STEAD, ESSEX
1871-73] MARRIAGE AND VISIT TO ITALY 113
appealed to me, my heart was really elsewhere — in fact, at
Hastings, where a certain lady was staying, and where before
June was over I found myself. How the time went I hardly
know, so quickly fled those summer days by the sparkling
sea, and along the downs to Fairlight Glen, beloved of
lovers, and immortalised by Mr. Holman Hunt in one of his
most beautiful landscape studies of the early pre-Raphaelite
Brotherhood days. Our marriage was at last fixed for the
following September — the 6th, Mrs. Andrews and her
daughters taking up their abode some weeks before in
Chandos Street, as the destined temple was All Souls',
Langham Place — commonly known as the " extinguisher "
church, from its peculiar plain conical spire.
I had duly paid my visit to an old gentleman seated in
a dingy office in Doctors' Commons, to whose presence I
was conducted, feeling rather nervous, by one of the harmless
necessary ticket porters in a little white apron, as described
by Dickens. There I duly took a solemn oath, and secured
(for a trifling consideration) that priceless and momentous
document, a marriage license. There were wedding breakfasts
in those days, and even speeches, — but all was over at last,
and escaping from the friendly shower of shoes and rice, we
were soon rumbling through darkest London in a brougham
and tell-tale pair of greys to Liverpool Street Station. Some-
where in the wilds of the City one of our horses fell, and we
were soon surrounded by a grinning London crowd, some
members of which, however, lent willing hands to get the
horse up, and this at last accomplished, presented themselves
at the carriage window for tips.
We had planned an extensive tour to Italy by way of
the Rhine and the Brenner Pass, but the journey was to
be taken in easy stages. The little green books of tickets,
from Messrs. Cook's at that time modest office in Fleet
Street, allowed for plenty of stoppages on our honeymoon-
pilgrimage to Rome. We went by way of Harwich and
Antwerp, but rested at Harwich the first night or two, and
took the night boat on the 9th, and after a calm passage
experienced the feeling of delightful strangeness of being in
foreign parts on steaming up the Scheldt to Antwerp in
114
AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1871-73
1871-73] MARRIAGE AND VISIT TO ITALY 115
the morning, and leaning out of our hotel casement to gaze
across the Place de I'Europe to the Cathedral tower, rich with
the fantasy of the later Gothic time and instinct with the
feeling of Flemish art.
After exploring the Cathedral, the iron-work of Quentin
Matsys, and other wonders, duly noting the pictures in the
galleries, the great Rubens's and other masters, such as
Velasquez, Van Dyck, Raphael, De Hooghe, Teniers, Watteau
— though what seemed at that time to have charmed me
more than these renowned ones were some interesting primitive
pictures by Giov. (or Antonelli) Da Messina in the Museum
Gallery.
Our next stop was Cologne, by way of Malines, Louvaine,
Liege, Pepinster, Verniers, and Aix-la-Chapelle.
At Cologne we had a pleasant room overlooking the
Rhine at the Hotel de Hollande. My wife had travelled
on the Continent before with her people, and had stayed in
Germany, so that she was a more experienced traveller than
was I, besides having the advantage of being able to speak
excellent French, as well as a little German. We paid our
duty to the architectural wonder of the great Cathedral, and
visited many of the other churches and the various shrines
of art in the Museum, getting our first impressions of early
German art, and modern German life, thick and fast. We
only stayed at Cologne two or three nights, and passed
down the Rhine, by the railway, stopping at Bonn, seeing its
fine Minster church, and getting a nearer view of the seven
mountains and the Drachenfels, which loomed in the far
distance at Cologne, and wandering through the pleasant
chestnut avenues, noting Beethoven's birthplace in the
Rheingasse.
Then on again to Coblenz, passing Mehlem, Godesberg, with
its castled crag, Rolandseck, and Renagen, and through some
very lovely scenery — richly wooded hills, and green vine-clad
slopes.
At Coblenz our windows commanded the famous crags
and fortress of Ehreinbreitstein, to the top of which we
climbed for the view, where one sees the confluence of the
Mosel with the Rhine, and notes the difference of their
Ii6
AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1871-73
c
It
ii
X <
1871-73] MARRIAGE AND VISIT TO ITALY 1 17
respective colours — the waters of the Mosel being reddish
and the Rhine green.
I was delighted with a picturesque bit on the Mosel, some
old houses and a bridge, which I sketched, and we spent a
day or two wandering about over the Bridge of Boats and
in and out of churches, and then went on to Bingen, passing
some lovely Rhineland scenery, past Bofifart, St. Goar,
Goarhausen, Badcrach, Assmanhauseii and its castled crags,
the banks of the river becoming very steep, the rocky slopes
covered with terraced vines. From Bingen we had a view
of Rudesheim across the river, a quiet little town then, before
the great " Wacht am Rhein " monument on the heights
above made it a tourist centre. I remember we wandered
into a vineyard at Bingen and ate of the grapes.
Mainz was our next halt, where we duly paid our respects
to Gutenburg and Schiller, whose monuments are there, and
were struck with the Romanesque cathedral of red sandstone,
rich in monuments and heraldic tombs of the seventeenth
century, and a fine late Gothic doorway, but noting in our
journal that " the restorations — the roof and portions of the
wall painted in fresco and gilded, were heavy and tasteless, the
effect of the new painting against the old stone work decidedly
heavy" ; saw a fine collection of MSS. and choral books at the
Museum, and among the pictures a Botticelli (?), a Tintoretto,
a Titian, and " Adam and Eve," by Albert Durer ; and after
strolling about the town and public gardens, and in and out
of various churches, we took up our carriages for Aschaffen-
burg, now a great railway junction. The town then was
quite a characteristic old German one, which might have
come out of an Albert Durer background. We noted " two
churches situated on a hill — one dating from the tenth century,
with a later Gothic tower, a lovely old cloister with several
early frescoes (apparently recently discovered) on the walls,
and many rich sepulchral monuments. There was a fine old
bridge over the Maine, and a palace in red sandstone dated
1606. There were pretty terraced walks, and the town was
full of ancient houses and doorways."
i. We left on a wet morning for Munich, passing through
some beautiful forest and hill scenery — fir and beech woods
ii8
AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1871-73
1871-73] MARRIAGE AND VISIT TO ITALY 119
close to the line, and by many small old and quaint German
towns with steep roofs clustered together about their churches.
We reached Munich about ten at night, and went to an hotel
close to the Frauen Kirche, a fine early Gothic dark red brick
building, a comparatively plain interior, but containing the
monument of Maximilian in bronze with men-at-arms sup-
porters, and dated 1621. Then there were the Glyptothek
and the Pinacothek Galleries, which we duly essayed to see.
I was especially interested to see Holbein's fine folding altar
triptych of Ste. Sebastian, Sta. Elizabeth, and Sta. Barbara,
having known it in the photograph for long, also Albert
Diirer's Apostles, as well as fine works by Vandyck, Veronese,
- — -_ ^^^.^^^ K
SKETCH AT MUNICH (1871)
and Titian, and many other things of interest. We also duly
made our way to the Rhumeshalle and the colossal bronze
statue of Bavaria — which we ascended to the top floor or
head ! In my wife's journal, from which I have already quoted,
is the following : — " A walk in the Englische garten, a pretty
park-like place of considerable extent. Rapid streams flow
through it from the Isar, and at their junction there is a pretty
cascade. There was a little temple on a mound in the garden
from which we saw the towers of Munich."
We left Munich on the 25th of September for Innsbruck,
noting in our journal that "the scenery between Munich
and Rosenheim is mostly flat, varied occasionally by slightly
undulating green plains with fir woods. About Rosenheim
we saw the Tyrol mountains, dim and cloudlike in the far
I20 AN ARTISrS REMINISCENCES [1871-73
distance, but rapidly neared them, and the landscape became
alpine in character — the little chalets dotted on the mountain-
sides quite as they are in Switzerland and the churches with
green (copper) spires. From Kufste into Innsbruck " the
scenery is very fine, the mountains high, dotted with pines,
valleys opening out, showing higher ranges and peaks beyond
again, half veiled in clouds, through which traces of snow on
their summits could be seen. The railway follows nearly
the course of the river, crossing it once by a bridge at
Worgl."
We arrived at Innsbruck about six in the evening, and
next day we made our pilgrimage to the tomb of Maximilian
the First in the Franciscan church, with his colossal court of
kings and queens ; and the next day excurted to the castle of
Ambas, an hour from Innsbruck. " Passed a church with
two quaint colossal figures of knights on either side of the
doorway in niches. A pretty road past fir woods and water-
mills, and fields of maize. From a platform before the castle
there is a splendid view of the country, but the mountains were
enveloped in clouds, which lifted but slowly, though before we
returned the sun shone out, and the peaks showed out sharply
and clearly above the white masses of vapour. Returned
through large fields of maize, where, at intervals along the
roadside, were placed little shrines and crucifixes," — " saw the
moon rise over the mountains."
The next stage of our journey was from Innsbruck to
Verona by the Brenner Railway. Our journal says : " The line
by degrees ascending — the scenery most striking and beautiful
The Sill flows by the line as far as Brenner. The morning
was rainy when we left, but it cleared soon, and the clouds
rolled from the mountains, showing snow-covered peaks —
many tunnels, for the most part short ones. The Brenner-
See is a lovely little deep green lake, still as glass, reflecting
the pine woods on the mountain-side which rose steeply from
its edge. The air much cooler here. Glimpses of lovely
valleys, then Bozen, a picturesque old town with a Gothic
church, surrounded with vineyards." But the pine woods and
crags gradually gave way to softer features, and the train
soon descended into the vines and orchards of Italy. Verona
1871-73] MARRIAGE AND VISIT TO ITALY I2I
looked lovely in the moonlight when we arrived there, and
found pleasant quarters at the Hotel des deux Tours — an
old-fashioned hostelry with an open courtyard, the rooms
opening on to balconies surrounding it.
In the morning we saluted Mr. Ruskin's Gothic griffin at
the porch of S. Anastasia, and saw Titian's Assumption ; and
also visited the Roman amphitheatre and the Museo de Lepi-
daria ; the church of Sta. Maria Maggiore, and the Mantegnas ;
the famous tombs of the Scaligeri ; saw a festival in honour
of S. Anastasia, and admired Verona by moonlight. We were
strongly advised to hurry on to Venice to enjoy the scenic
effect by moonlight, and so, with regret, we cut our visit to
Verona rather short. Leaving Verona in the afternoon, we
got into Venice the same evening, and experienced our first
gondola, which took us from the station to a pension in the
old Giustiniani Palace, on the Grand Canal, kept by an ancient
gentleman, to whom we had been recommended. It was a
fine old Gothic palace, and our vast rooms lighted with candles
looked like a scene from some romantic play. From the
front windows, with balconies on the canal, we could see a
bit of the Rialto, and also the house in which Byron lived
at Venice.
Here we met two very agreeable English ladies — a Mrs.
Fulford and her sister — who joined us in many of our ex-
cursions about Venice, the artistic interest of which seemed
to me endless, and almost overpowering. We worked away
bravely, feeling, perhaps, that having but a short time in so
wonderful a place, we were in danger of taking in rather more
than was quite good for one, or at least more than one could
mentally assimilate or digest : but it was good to be there,
and the delightful impressions one did get are ineffaceable.
Here is an extract from the journal : " At night we went in
a gondola up the canal, under the Rialto, and round by many
canals, until passing under the Bridge of Sighs we came out
on the Grand Canal passing the front of the Ducal palace ;
here the moon showed over the buildings and shone on the
water, and the scene was very enchanting."
Certainly we quickly fell completely under the spell of
Venice. The wonders of St. Mark's, the treasures of the
122
AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [187 1-7:
Ducal palace, the richness of the churches, the glories of the
great Venetian painters in the Academia in their most splendid
achievements, and the more primitive but not less beautiful
jst.l m
VENICE — LORD BYRON S HOUSE
conceptions of Carpaccio, Giov. Bellini, and the early Venetian
school, tranquil and clear as the luminous air of the sweet
morning which precedes the ardours of noon and splendours
of sunset — such sights as these by day, and at night the city
1871-73] MARRIAGE AND VISIT TO ITALY 123
full of romance and mystery in her moonlit robe and jewelled
lights, flashing and dancing in the water everywhere.
A curtain of rain fell at last over this gorgeous dream,
SKETCH IN ST. MARK's, VENICE (1871)
and Venice, like Cinderella after the ball, hastened down
narrow wet alleys, and all her external glory temporarily
disappeared under umbrellas.
Of course we did not leave Venice without ascending the
124 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1871-73
famous Campanile, since, alas ! fallen. Not having seen Venice
since that catastrophe it is difficult to imagine the Piazza — nay,
the city, without so conspicuous a feature. The natives of the
Piazza — the blue rocks, and feeding them — came in for a share
of attention also.
Away we went again on our Romeward journey, our journal
continues — " passing Padua, where unfortunately we could not
manage to stop to see the Arena Chapel. The Friuli moun-
tains looked very lovely in the distance as we left Venice, with
clouds smouldering on their summits. After Padua the line lay
through a marshy plain with innumerable willows and aspens.
We crossed a broad river, and reached Bologna between two
and three. We fell in with our friends here, and went on
all together towards Florence. We had but a glimpse of
Bologna, which looked very picturesque, with its towers and
outlying houses on the hills.
The country soon changed very much in character, at first
barren and mountainous, but changing to chestnut forests, and
rocky streams flowing through the wooded valleys, which were
seen momentarily between the almost endless succession of
tunnels (forty-two !). The prospect grew wider as we neared
Florence, but at Pistoia it was already dark."
It was another exhilarating moment the first sight of that
memorable cluster of domes and towers, the Duomo, Giotto's
Tower, and the Palazzo Vecchio. Michael Angelo's David
was then standing in the historic Piazza della Signoria. Long
had the cast been familiar to one in the South Kensington
Museum. Leighton's brilliant illustrations to Roniola had
been so full of the character of the place, too, that Florence
had quite a familiar look, and there was a pleasing excitement
in discovering spots one had seen pictured or described — and,
indeed, there was plenty to see. First was the Duomo —
" solemn, and dimly lighted by small windows filled with
mosaic-like glass of deep colour." The Donatello statues and
an interesting picture of Dante at the gates of Florence, with
Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise in the background, by Dominico
di Michelino, 1465, claimed attention; and the sculpture by
Michael Angelo in the choir, and the reliefs of Luca della
Robbia over the doors of the sacristy. We noted " the old
1871-73] MARRIAGE AND VISIT TO ITALY 12$
priests sitting in the choir in crimson copes with white and
black robes underneath, chanting monotonously," and in the
Baptistery, Ghiberti's gates, long ago familiarised by the casts
at South Kensington. Then to the fascinating Uffizi and
Pitti galleries, with their gems of Florentine art. Botticelli
was not at that time in the honoured places, not having been
re-discovered by the critics, but more or less scattered, and
sometimes " skyed " in less important rooms, but I shall never
forget the charm of his beautiful " Spring " and the " Venus,"
The time was all too short to do justice to the wealth of
artistic beauty in these galleries, and so many other things
claimed attention. We visited Santa Maria Novello and Santa
Croce, and even ascended the Tower of the Signoria, — " more
than four hundred steps," — where we had " a magnificent
prospect of Florence and the country round Fiesole and the
great plain to the south-west with the mountains beyond,
and all the city with its tile roofs and church towers clustered
below bright in the midday sun." The journal adds, " In
the evening took a walk by the Arno in the light of a
gorgeous sunset."
On Thursday, October 12, we started on the last stage
of our journey to Rome, on a wet morning, " and though our
way lay through a most interesting and lovely country —
orchards, vineyards, and maize-covered land with mountains
beyond — the view was spoiled by a mosaic of raindrops on
the railway-carriage window." Arezzo, Perugia, Assisi were
passed, and the lake of Trasimeni ; a mountainous part
was entered soon after Foligno, and very fine landscape.
Nearing Rome, we crossed the great plain of the Campagna,
where we saw herds of cattle. " All roads lead to Rome,"
but we arrived in pouring rain when it was almost dark, and
nothing was to be seen from beneath the hood of the carrozze
which took us to our quarters in the Piazza di Spagna. Even
here from our window next morning we could only see a bit
of the " Collegium Urbanum de Propaganda fide " and the
top of the church of St. Andrea delle Frate.
Arrived in Rome, the next step was to find an apparte-
menty and we commenced our search the very next morning,
and, by the assistance of a compatriot, found one in the Via
126 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1871-73
San Nicolo Tolentino. An English sculptor (Mr. Charles
Summers), who hailed from Australia, had some unoccupied
rooms to let over his studio, and we decided to take them
for the winter.
My old friends the Wilbrahams, who had often visited
Rome in earlier days, gave me a sheaf of introductions to
residents, but until we were settled in our new quarters we
did not hurry to present them, but preferred to wander about
and get our own impressions unaided. The Forum had a
very different aspect in those days, the new excavations
not having extended much beyond the Basilica Julia, but a
portion of the Via Latina was uncovered, showing the ruts
worn in the paving-stones by the wheels of the ancient biga,
and probably the wine carts. An avenue of acacia trees led
up to the Arch of Titus, and the palace of the Caesars had
not lost its aspect of a Roman garden, with fountains and
orange trees, although excavations had been begun, and a
fine painted chamber had been unearthed with deep red walls
and hanging garlands. Some of the most beautiful views
(or, rather, a panorama) of the city I have always thought
were to be obtained from the high ground of the Palatine.
The Italian Government under King Victor Emmanuel had
only recently taken possession, and the Pope was posing as
a prisoner in the Vatican. Signor Rosa was appointed
Minister of Public Works, and looked after the antiquities,
and his first acts were to thoroughly weed the great ruins —
such as the Coliseum and the Baths of Caracalla. Those
who had known Rome in the old Papal neglected and
picturesque days deplored the new treatment, though others
admitted it certainly tended to the better preservation of
the ancient buildings. The Coliseum certainly looked bare,
and was extensively buttressed with new brickwork, and
the Baths of Caracalla did not suggest the overgrown
solitude where Shelley wrote his Prometheus Unbound.
Archaeology was getting the better of artistic interest — other
than architectural, perhaps, but still from either point of view
the material was abundant.
One of the first persons I met in Rome was Frederick
(afterwards Lord) Leighton. I turned in at Piale's Library
1871-73] MARRIAGE AND VISIT TO ITALY 127
one evening, and sat down to look at the English papers
in the empty reading-room, when who should come in with
the same purpose but the great man. I had not long before,
in London, been to his studio at one of his princely receptions
in Holland Park Road, and felt somewhat shy in so dis-
tinguished a presence. In spite of his grand manner,
however, Leighton was most kind-hearted, and one of the
things that will always be remembered by those who knew
him was the willingness and good-nature with which he
would take the trouble to look at and give friendly advice
about young and unknown artists' and students' work, and
he was an excellent critic, but a kindly and sympathetic one.
He at once gave me an introduction to W. W. Story,
the eminent American sculptor, then at the height of his
fame, who had made Rome his dwelling-place, and whose
interesting book, Roba di Roma, I had recently read. The
Storys then lived in a magnificent apartment in the Barberini
Palace, in the Via Quattro Fontana, and were in the habit
of giving receptions largely attended by the English and
American visitors to Rome of the prouder sort.
We paid Mr. Story a visit at his studio, also, I remember.
He had just finished a life-sized model in clay of Cleopatra,
and standing by it in a graceful attitude he explained his
intentions in the work, delicately touching or stroking it
here and there the while with a small modelling tool. He
was a brilliant conversationalist — a slight American delibera-
tion being noticeable in his speech.
Another introduction of Leighton's was to his old friend
Professor Giovanni Costa, the distinguished painter, whose
works are well known and so much admired in England, and
who had quite an English following in landscape, among
whom may be counted the Earl of Carlisle, the late M. R.
Corbett, A.R.A., and Mrs. Ridley Corbett. His studio was
then in the painter's street of studios under the Pincian
Hill — the Via Margutta. He showed us a wonderful number
of beautiful studies of landscape — mostly small oil studies
done on wood panels, but besides these he was at work on
two large pictures, one of a view near Via Reggio, Leghorn,
and the other of a nude nymph in a wood. Both of these
128
AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1871-73
were included in the recent exhibition of Giovanni Costa's
works at the Gallery of the Royal Society of Painters in
Water Colours.
He had taken active part in the Italian struggle for
political freedom and unity, and had experienced many
vicissitudes of fortune in his life, but there was little to
suggest revolutionary fire or fervour in his manner and
appearance, and still less in the poetic, pensive, and generally
tranquil or pastoral feeling in his landscapes. He became
a member of the municipality
of Rome, who at his death
organised a public funeral in
his honour, for which his
English friends sent a
memorial wreath. He was
full of artistic sympathy and
helpful criticism for one's
work.
With Mr. Summers (our
landlord) as a pupil at that
time was Mr. J, W. Swyn-
nerton, a rising young
sculptor, who has since won
a good position, and has ex-
ecuted many important works.
Inquiring at our door for this
gentleman came one day, soon
after our arrival at San Nicolo
Tolentino, Mr. Edgar Barclay, whose acquaintance I had
previously made in London. He had had a remarkable success
with a large picture at the Royal Academy showing the Ana
Capri steps with the peasants going up and down (before the
road was made this was the only highway to the upper town
on the high tableland, and the immense flight of stone steps,
with little shrines at the resting-places at intervals, dotted with
figures of the Capri girls in bright-coloured kerchiefs, and fisher-
men carrying jars of water, and fruit or other provender, was
extremely picturesque). Mr. Barclay came to stay that winter
in Rome, and painted many Italian subjects at that time.
WE TAKE STEPS TO SECURE APART-
MENTS (ROME, 1872)
1871-73] MARRIAGE AND VISIT TO ITALY 129
I soon found myself in quite a circle of artists, chiefly
English and American, who were then living in Rome. Chief
among the latter was Elihu Vedder, whose work was already
known in England, and who later distinguished himself by
a series of designs to the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. He
had painted the Fable of the old man and his son and the
ass, as a series of small pictures, and given it a new feeling
by introducing as backgrounds bits of old Italian towns.
At the time I saw him he seemed interested in costume
pictures of Carpaccio inspiration, but later showed considerable
imaginative feeling for classical and mythological subjects
treated from a more or less decorative point of view.
One striking work I remember was " The Lair of the Sea-
serpent," the glittering coils of which were half seen twisted
among sand dunes of a wild and solitary shore. Mr. Vedder
was not only a versatile artist but a very genial companion,
with a whimsical humour of his own.
A sort of sketching club was presently formed which met
at different studios, each member being host in turn. A
subject was given out by the host of the evening, and the
members then set to work to realise it in paint, clay, charcoal,
or other media. Then the sketches were shown, and the
evening finished in talk and smoke. Besides Mr, Vedder,
several other interesting and agreeable American artists joined
the circle. Among these was Charles Caryl Coleman, who
had the most gorgeous studio of bric-a-brac of any. He loved
splendour generally, but was a most kindly and genial host
and a brilliant painter with decorative feeling.
Another was Mr. Crowninshield, who did very effective
water-colour studies of old Italian towns with well-defined
masses of light and shade. I first saw him in a slender out-
rigger with a pair of sculls testing the strength of the Tiber
stream, while a large crowd looked on.
He recently published a volume of poetry at New
York, where in later years I again met him at the Centurv
Club.
Another genial man was Reinhardt, an American sculptor
— a universal favourite, whose early death was much
deplored.
I30 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1871-73
Mr. Eugene Benson was another American artist of
cultured tastes and much originality of conception, who had a
literary side as well. With him and Mrs. Benson and Miss
Fletcher (his stepdaughter) we became very friendly while in
Rome that winter. They afterwards went to Venice, where
they settled to live in a fine old palazzo on the Rio
Marin.
Miss Fletcher later in England became known to fame as
a novelist and playwright under the nom de plume of George
Fleming.
Other friends were Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Barrett, who were
close neighbours on the " Piano " above us in San Nicolo Street,
and with whom we often spent pleasant evenings. They
both painted, and were enthusiastic about a recent stay in the
island of Capri, where they had been with an English artistic
circle including Mr. Edward Blount Smith, Mr. Edgar Barclay,
Mr. Goodall, Mr. Maclaren, and other artists who lived on the
island. It was a favourite resort with artists of every nation-
ality, and the well-known Farraglione rocks and other char-
acteristic spots there appeared in many a studio, with studies
of the fascinating Capri girls.
From the Wilbrahams I had an introduction to one or two
of what might be considered quite old-time Roman artists :
Mr. Glennie, a member of the R.W.S. ; Mr. John Coleman,
famous for his buffaloes, for instance. Another was Mr. Penry
Williams, who had a considerable repute in the " forties " for
his water-colour pictures of groups of Campagna peasants, in
the smooth and somewhat sentimental and artificial operatic
taste of those days. He had a studio near the Spanish Steps,
upon which he could find his models at any hour of the day,
as there were always groups of these models turned Roman
peasants or Roman peasants turned models — one was never
quite sure which — haunting the steps, sitting in rows and
groups, in their picturesque festa costume, the brown faces and
black hair of the women telling strongly beneath the white of
their square linen head-dresses and shirts, and the bright reds,
greens, and dark indigo blues of their bodices, aprons, and
petticoats relieved against the warm greys of the stone steps.
One met their semblances again and again, posing with rather
1871-73] MARRIAGE AND VISIT TO ITALY 131
conscious art in countless pictures and studies in studios of the
Roman artists, and there was a considerable trade (shall we
say !) in pictures composed of such elements to answer the
Roman visitor's and tourist's demands.
I could not but be charmed with the picturesqueness and
fine colour of many of these Roman models. There was one
well-known figure, a fine-looking man who — from his dignified
bearing, I suppose — was called " the Count." He wore his
ragged blue cloak with the air of a Roman senator with his
toga. I made a study of him, and introduced him with a
peasant woman and a Bambino in swaddling clothes into the
foreground of a large water colour I did at this time of the
Arch of Titus which I sent home to the Dudley Gallery, where
it appeared, with another drawing of a Capuchin monk in his
brown habit and black scull-cap with the well-known church in
the Piazzetta Barberini as a background ; also a picture of
" The Grotto of Egeria " — a favourite spot with us on the
Campagna by the stream Almo, sung of by Horace, outside the
Porta San Sebastiano, near a lovely ilex " boschetto " known
as the Grove of Egeria.
I print here a kind letter I received later from Leighton
about these pictures, one of which he had seen on my easel
when he called on us in San Nicolo Tolentino.
"Athen/EUm Club, Pall Mall
Afarch i, 1872
" Dear Mr. Crane, — I reproach myself with not having
sooner acknowledged your letter of January 31st announcing
to me the despatch of your three drawings to the Dudley
Gallery, but you know what are the demands on a busy
man's time. I have seen your drawings all three — one was
an old friend ; of the other two, the Grotto of Egeria with
the ' sacrum nemus ' most attracted me through its refined and
sober harmony. The quality of your light is always particularly
agreeable to me, and not less than usual in these drawings.
Some day you will perhaps allow me some little criticism of
detail : — meanwhile, I am glad to hear that you have made
friends with my excellent Costa, who as an artist is one in
hundreds and as a man one in thousands. Pray remember
132
AN ARTISrS REMINISCENCES [1871-73
me most kindly to him, as also to Barclay and the Stones, and
believe me, in much haste, yours very truly,
" Fred Leighton
" Have you sketched in the * valley of Poussin '? It strikes
me that old castle would take you by storm."
Other interesting and valuable friends at this time were
Mr. and Mrs. Sotheby. Both had
unusually refined taste and feeling in
art, and finding many interests in
common we frequently exchanged
visits, and constantly accompanied
them in long drives to different places
of interest in Rome and sometimes
far away on the Campagna. Mrs.
Sotheby was an enthusiast for early
Italian art of all kinds, and was one
of the first to revive the art of
decorative needlework after Mrs.
Morris and Lady Burne-Jones. She
used to work with Roman coloured
cottons on linen. My wife and the
Misses Barclay, sisters of the painter,
all worked at different forms of
needlework at this time, and I sup-
plied some designs. Mr. Sotheby
used to find short Latin inscriptions
for his wife to work on scrolls in
her needlework pictures, somewhat
in the spirit of mediaeval tapestry, of which they were very
fond, and had acquired some to hang their appartement
with.
I had painted my wife in our room with some fanciful
decorative addition in this way as a background, and the
Sothebys were so taken with this treatment of a portrait that
I was commissiond to paint one of Mrs. Sotheby in a similar
manner. I did her in profile in a white dress of India muslin,
with a Venetian glass bowl in her hands with daffodils in it,
THE BREAKFAST BOY,
QUATTRO PIANO (ROME,
1872)
1871-73] MARRIAGE AND VISIT TO ITALY
133
against a background of old Italian silk, and a scroll above
with the motto, " Nel tempo dolci che Fiorisci e colli."
This portrait and the one of my wife I named " At Home :
a Portrait" were sent to the Royal Academy in 1872, but
only the latter was placed. This picture at the death of the
owner some years afterwards turned up at Christie's, and was
secured by my wife.
In January we changed our quarters, quitting S. Nicolo
Tolentino for the Via Gregoriana, where we had found a pretty
YO U T H
EVE-MlSfC /SOKIMING
AN ALLEGORY OF THE DINNER BOX (ROME, 1872)
little appartement with a balcony overgrown with Banksia
roses.
Curiously enough, our padrone was named Pistrucci, and
turned out to be the son of the Pistrucci who designed the
English coinage in the latter days of George III. and also
George iv., and I remember his showing us some specimens
of his father's work in that way.
Before we had moved, however, and just before Christmas
our friend Mr. George Howard surprised us with a call one
evening. He and his family were on their way to Naples,
and in passing through Rome, knowing we were there, in his
134 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1871-73
friendly way he came to look us up. Before leaving England
I had completed a picture for him. The subject was a pilgrim
in a traveller's cloak and petasus, carrying a staff and a lamp,
wandering on a plain intersected by a winding river, with
mountain ranges beyond and at intervals on the banks ruined
temples and relics of ancient faiths — rather a re-echo of the
motive previously embodied in the drawing before mentioned,
" Ormuzd and Ahrimanes." This picture, I heard long after-
wards, had been presented to Mr. Frederic Harrison, who had
admired it, and it had been re-christened " The Positivist
Pilgrim," in allusion to the philosophy of Auguste Comte,
of which Mr. Harrison was so distinguished and able an
exponent.
We continued to extend our acquaintanceship in Rome,
chiefly in the English and American colony. At the Hotel
Molaro, nearly opposite to us, lived Mr. Healy and his family.
He was an American portrait painter of considerable repute
in his own country. They used to give evening conversazioni,
and I remember on one occasion, in the spring of 1872,
General Sherman, who had been Commander-in-Chief of the
Northern forces in the American Civil War, was the principal
lion, a tall, thin, keen, but kindly-looking American. Most
of the American painters in Rome at that time, by the way,
had been in the war, if not all of them, " with Grant."
I was sketching one morning in the early spring at
a spot I had discovered outside the Porta del Popolo. A
gap in the hedge of a vineyard disclosed a view across the
bare ranks of canes put up for the vines to cling to, across
a level middle distance and some green slopes, to where
the dome of St. Peter's loomed largely on the horizon. The
rising ground on which I stood was Monte Prioli, and about
the highest point stood a villa. While I was at work,
a carriage came up the narrow road which led up to the
villa. It stopped, and presently a servant stood at my
elbow with a message from the two old ladies in the carriage
offering me free entry into their grounds. These ladies
were the Misses Haig (of Bemerside), who lived in the
villa just above, named after them the Villa Haig; a
charming house, surrounded with a terraced garden and
1871-73] MARRIAGE AND VISIT TO ITALY 135
vineyards, and commanding lovely views of Rome. The
ladies were very kind and hospitable, and I made several
drawings there, and, with my wife, exchanged visits. They
were rather frail and in indifferent health, and had been
seeking for an heir to their estates, and had at last found
one in a certain Captain Haig. They were very fond of
recalling the verse from one of Thomas the Rhymer's
prophecies, as given by Scott, I think, which runs —
* ' whate'er betide,
Haig shall be Haig of Bemerside,"
and adding, " There always has been a Haig of Bemerside
ever since ! "
The spectacular effects in Roman life, we were told by
the old residents, were not to be compared to those of the
old days. Nevertheless, the festivals seemed to be kept at
the great churches much as usual. We saw much ecclesiastical
ceremonial splendour at Sta. Maria Maggiore, and S. Giovanni
Laterano, and the curious epiphany celebration at the Ara Cceli
Church, where little children could be heard preaching, was
very quaint. Crowds pressed to see the group of the Adoration
of the Magi, realistically represented by life-size wax figures.
The Roman Church certainly seemed to be much more
really the church of the people than the churches are in
our cold Protestant country, and at some of these festivals
one had the feeling of long usage and old tradition passed
on from the old pagan days with but little difference
of spirit, and reflecting the character of an emotional and
imaginative race.
The Carnival was a curious and interesting episode in
Roman life, and very fresh to us. At that time they had
the race of riderless horses (Barbari) down the Corso from
the Piazza del Popolo, the starting-place. About half a dozen
or more horses were led out, and had to be held pretty hard
by the men, as they were excited by the crowd and seemed
only too eager to start. They had a light sort of harness on.
The signal was given, and away they galloped at full speed,
the people, who were all over the street, having only just time
to squeeze themselves on to the pavement each side the
136 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1871-73
long straight Corso. They were stopped at the other end,
where the Corso ran in to a narrow street, by a huge heavy
cloth hung right across and down to the ground. The horses
ran against this, and it stopped them at once. The street
was called "Via dei represi di Barbari."
All sorts of masques and every kind of costume or
disguise were worn, punchinello and pierette perhaps predom-
inating. The masqued women always spoke in the same
artificially high voice, and as different groups of masquers
met each other, there was often a sustained and lively
conversation at this high pitch. The spirit and go with
which the citizens and citoyennes thre^v themselves into the
play — for it was really like a play going on in the streets —
was amazing. In the Corso anyone was liable to get well
peppered with plaster confetti, People at the balconies had
troughs of it, and literally shovelled it down on the crowd.
I saw Prince Humbert (afterwards King of Italy) amusing
himself in this way.
Then a day was given to the battle of the flowers, when the
ammunition is changed, but the fusillade is carried on as briskly
as before between the occupants of carriages and those in
the balconies, and taken up by the foot passengers. Pro-
cessions of fantastic cars full of quaint masquers continually
passed up and down the Corso, I remember one filled with
people each having a different kind of beast's or bird's head
on ; another was a carriage full of storks, red-legged and
red-beaked, with proper black and white plumage, with a
basket of babies in their midst and a stork coachman and
footman on the box. A caricature of an English sporting
gentleman and lady in fox-hunting dress, on horseback,
but with enormous pantomime heads on, rode down the
Corso ; and, as a suggestion of ancient Rome, a biga full
of helmeted and crested warriors of the Empire period. The
last night of the Carnival was signalised by the " Moccoletti " —
a sudden burst of lighted tapers dancing about in the dark
crowd like fireflies in the twilight, and then everybody tries
to blow everybody else's taper out, in order to cry triumphantly,
" Senza Moccoli ! "
The artists of Rome, too, had a special festival of their
1871-73] MARRIAGE AND VISIT TO ITALY
137
own later on in April, which afforded another opportunity
for masquerading. The central feature of the one I remember
was a gorgeous domed Moorish divan on wheels, with an
Emperor of Morocco and his harem sitting inside ; behind and
before went a great company of artists of all nationalities
in all sorts of costumes — some as seventeenth-century Spanish
cavaliers on horseback, some as burlesque field-marshals
with enormous cocked hats, jackboots, and sabres riding on
donkeys. The caterer for the picnic (a well-known artists'
colourman) was attired as a sort of white wizard, with a tall
^t UVNCH AT CER.VA.TCO'72j
THE CERVARO FESTIVAL (ROME, 1872)
conical hat, and a long robe on which were painted lobsters,
salad, and other suggestions for luncheon.
Numerous carriages filled with spectators in ordinary
attire followed this strange procession a long way out over
the Campagna to the Cervaro Caves, the appointed spot for
the picnic, unfortunately on this occasion rather spoiled
by the rain coming on, which necessitated feeding under
the hoods of our carriages.
A favourite excursion with the leisured crowd of Roman
visitors and residents was to drive out to the meets of the
Roman foxhounds, which was always a picturesque spectacle :
riders dashing about on fine horses on the springy turf of
138 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1871-73
the undulating Campagna, the crowd of smart people in the
carriages looking on, amid a chorus of neighing from the
excited steeds.
The house of Savoy was a good deal in evidence, too,
in Rome in those days. The swarthy old King Victor
Emmanuel the First was frequently to be seen driving on
the Pincio and in the Borghese, and the popular and beautiful
Princess Margharita with Prince Humbert, who also was
fond of riding in the Borghese, and very fine horses, too.
W.E.R.D.I. was a frequent inscription scrawled in chalk
on walls and hoardings, its signification being, " Viva Victor
Emanuele Rey d'ltalia." The air, too, was full of the strains
of the Royal Hymn, mostly from the bugles of companies
of the Bersaglieri, who constantly marched through the streets
at a pace that was almost the double, with their broad-brimmed
round-crowned hats and plumes of cock's feathers fluttering
in the wind.
Italy had sustained a great loss in the death of her
renowned patriot and philosopher, Giuseppe Mazzini, and
the Roman Municipality arranged a funeral procession in
his honour.
The scene in the Piazza del Popolo on the morning of
March 17, 1S72 (Sunday), was very striking. A colossal
white figure of Italy appeared upon a car drawn by six
horses in black housings, the figure being in the attitude
of placing a wreath of bays upon the head of Mazzini, whose
bust was placed in front. On either side the car marched
a line of citizens bearing standards in the form of Roman
tablets upon staves, on one of which was inscribed the
words, " Gloria al martiri della Liberia," and others bore
the names of distinguished men who had written and fought
for Italian freedom and unity.
The beauty of the Italian spring was upon us, heralded by
a cloud of almond blossom upon hills and in the vineyards,
and the white-blossomed trees seemed to re-echo the touch of
distant snow on the Sabine mountains. I found a subject on
the Pincio, a view of Rome, with almond trees in front and
two figures gathering flowers on the sloping gardens, which I
sent to the Dudley. Also " A Herald of Spring " — a figure
<; CO <a
O - o
1871-73] MARRIAGE AND VISIT TO ITALY 139
in a pale green robe and pink scarf coming down a Roman
street in the early morning with a basket of daffodils on
her arm.
This picture also went to the Dudley and was sold to a
lady whom, about twenty years afterwards, we met in London,
and bought back the picture, for which my wife had a peculiar
affection, she too having been the model for the figure.
So our first winter in Rome passed away, in work, in
making many new friends and acquaintances, in study and
sight - seeing, and absorbing unforgetable influences and
suggestions, especially from such wonders as Michael Angelo's
frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, from the beauty both of art and
nature, of new and old in that wonderful city where the remote
past and the most modern present see each other reflected in
the glass of time.
On the 1 8th of May we quitted Rome and travelled to
Naples, intending, despite the heat, to spend our summer in
Southern Italy. It certainly was the strongest sunshine we
had ever experienced. I shall never forget my first sight of
the bay, the blue sea sparkling with the sun's diamonds, the
clear horizon, the deep blue vault rapidly melting into the
dazzling light of the lower sky. Shelley's lines recurred as
the truest description —
" The sun is warm, the sky is clear,
The waves are dancing fast and bright,
Blue isles and cities, mountains near
The purple noon's transparent light."
From our hotel on the Chiaia we looked out on a new world.
It was the festival of Monte Vergine, and the people were keep-
ing it with true Southern fervour. Large ramshackle landaus
with three horses abreast were driven rapidly up and down the
quay, filled with Neapolitan families out for their holiday, the
bright kerchiefs and gay frocks of the women giving spots of
colour to the scene. The noise, too, was incessant, begin-
ning with the goats' bells when the herds were driven in in
the early morning with their milk supply, followed by all sorts
of street vendors' cries in every key throughout the day, the
rumbling carts and the jingling of the mules' bells to the
I40
AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1871-73
accompaniment of the cracking of whips of the vetturini, who
nearly drove over us in their anxiety to secure a fare.
The quietude of the Museum, apart from the enormous
interest of its artistic treasures of antique sculpture and
bronzes, was grateful.
There had recently been an eruption of Vesuvius, but now
it only showed a sullen red glow in the evening, though there
was always a long pennon of smoke and cloud streaming from
its summit.
We were rather glad to move on along the coast to
Castellamare, from whence we had our first sight of Pompeii,
with its thrilling impressions and the irresistible suggestion of
its quite recently
'^X^ ^^5 suspended life.
Passing on to
Sorrento, we found
delightful quarters
at La Cucumela, an
hotel and pension
which had formerly
been a monastery ;
a spacious building,
with a large cortile
in the midst of
which was a re-
markable old well.
We had rooms opening on to a terrace with a vine pergola
over it, commanding a lovely view across the bay to Naples,
with Vesuvius a little to the eastwards, with the little white
towns dotted like jewels along its base, and to the right and
behind us the Piano of Sorrento, rich with orange and lemon
groves, and the ravine and its crags above and beyond en-
closing us in a sort of amphitheatre.
A little path led down to the sea by some steps cut in the
rather steep cliff of yellow volcanic tufa pierced with caves and
rising abruptly from the black sands, glistening like emery
powder, on which the fishermen spread out and mended their
nets. Lovely bathes were to be had there .in the early morn-
ing, the water being a clear translucent green to look into,
PESTS OF SOUTHERN ITALY (1872)
1871-73] MARRIAGE AND VISIT TO ITALY 141
and its surface, under the summer sky, blue as lapis lazuli
or pure cobalt. The days were warm, but there was always
a breeze from the sea in the evenings, and in the darkened
rooms with their tiled floors it was possible to keep cool even
at midday.
It was delightful to find great bushes of myrtle in full
flower among the limestone rocks of the ravine, and to come
upon orange lilies growing wild in the woods. The walks
were truly delightful at Sorrento, and I found plenty of
fascinating subjects for sketching and study.
In the Cathedral here we saw a striking procession on the
30th of May : a bishop and several cardinals in full canoni-
cals followed by what appeared to be certain guilds. There
were four companies of men, each under a different banner.
They wore a sort of mediaeval-looking white robe with a hood
over their ordinary dress, and each carried a candle. Over
the white robe was worn a short cape with an embroidered
badge on the right shoulder. The colour of this cape varied
with each company, one wearing purple capes, another blue,
and a third black and white.
In June we went back to Naples and took the boat to
Capri. In those days everything had to be carried up from
the Marina. Visitors rode up the steep rocky path to
the town on donkeys, and their luggage was generally
carried on the heads of bare-footed men and women and
boys, who clustered round the visitors as they landed and
seized their belongings to carry up to the hotel.
At Capri we met several artists, among them Mr. W.
Maclaren, who was a resident at that time and had a studio.
He was known for his graceful pictures of Capri life. Mr.
Binyon was another resident artist, who found his subjects
mostly by the sea ; and Mr. Talmage White was another, and
a very able draughtsman of landscape ; Mr. Howard Goodall,
a nephew of the late Academician, whose life was blighted
by a sad tragedy at Capri, where he had accidentally shot
his brother. There were some Danish and Swedish artists,
too, at the hotel, who were very pleasant. Studios and
artists abounded at Capri, and the inhabitants were well used
to being requisitioned as models. Capri was supposed to
142
AN ARTISrS REMINISCENCES [1871-73
have been colonised by the ancient Greeks, and certainly
some of the types among the Capri girls were very suggestive
of Greek origin.
Mr. Wreford, the Naples correspondent of the Times, at
that date had a small villa high up opposite the famous cliff
from where, a legend has it, the Emperor Tiberius used to
amuse himself by flinging Christians,
The first road in Capri was commenced while we were
there, but at that time not
a single wheeled vehicle
was to be seen in the
island, and for the very
sufficient reason that it
would have been useless.
At the opening of the
works I remember meeting
the two Miss Edenboroughs,
one of whom afterwards
became Mrs. Arthur Murch,
and after his death Mrs.
Ridley Corbett, herself a
charming artist of the
Costa school, besides being
a personality of wonderful
grace and charm.
Mr. Arthur Murch was
there too. He was a
singularly painstaking
artist, but did not produce
much. I recall, however,
a striking black-and-white design he contributed to Dalziel's
Bible, somewhat in the method of E. J. Poynter's drawings
in the same work.
A Mr. Norton was also of the company on that occasion,
who had a reputation for considerable eccentricity in the island.
I happened to hear a fragment of his conversation, which was
sufficiently weird. " Well, how are you, Norton ? " said a cheer-
ful, matter-of-fact sort of man, addressing him. Mr. Norton
slowly and solemnly, in a deep voice, replied, " I have
WATILR-SPOUTS (CAPRI, 1872)
1871-73] MARRIAGE AND VISIT TO ITALY 143
been trying to keep the worlds of passion and reason distinct
from any influence of this sublunary sphere " (!). Even this did
not bowl the cheerful friend over — who might, however, have
been accustomed to such remarks — for he gaily assented,
saying, " Yes, that's the main point."
While in Capri we experienced what the heat of a South
Italian summer could be. We had, however, much stormy
weather with thunder, and on one occasion beheld no less than
two water-spouts just off the island, which fortunately dispersed
in the sea, instead of sweeping over the island — and there were
records of such happenings.
In September we brought our stay in the picturesque and
pictorial island to a close, and took boat for Amalfi. It was
a small fishing-boat with lateen sail and four men to row. It
was so calm that they practically rowed the whole way, sup-
leaving CAPRI (1872
porting themselves on figs and bread. We numbered three
passengers with baggage, for my wife had induced a Capri
girl (named Serafina) to accompany us as her maid. She
was a very cheerful, merry creature, and could turn her hand to
most things ; but I do not think she had ever left the island
before, so that the mainland was as strange to her as a foreign
country. Leaving Capri about two o'clock in the afternoon,
we reached Amalfi about eight in the evening, when it was
almost dark, but illuminated by the wonderful phosphorescence
breaking from each stroke of the oars, or outlining the edges
of the sea lapping against the rocky coast. We passed the
islands of the Sirens, but were not beguiled to the barren
rocks, though in the beauty of the glowing rose and opal of
the September sunset such legends might well seem reason-
able on such a romantic coast.
We landed on the beach at Amalfi, looking mysterious in
144 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1871-73
the twilight, with twinkling lights in windows here and there,
and took up our quarters at the Albergo Cappucini, on the
quay. There seemed to be a more distinctly Southern and
even Eastern feeling about Amalfi and the neighbouring
towns, such as Atrani and Minori, on that side of the promon-
tory than their distance from Naples seemed to account for.
Perhaps this may be owing to the evidences of Saracenic
influence and occupation in the architecture and general
character and life of the district.
At the hotel we met Mr. Harry Clarke Jervoise, who we
understood was connected with the British Embassy at Rome,
and as we talked of visiting Paestum, he advised us not to do
so, as he considered at that time there was considerable risk of
being stopped by brigands, who were by no means unknown
in that neighbourhood. In the face of this we thought best
to forego our sight of the temples, though they were almost
within view across the gulf.
We made an excursion, with Mr. Jervoise, to Ravello, on the
rocky heights above Amalfi, a steep climb by rocky paths am
flights of steps, but most rewarding and full of interest, Th*
Cathedral possessed a very fine pulpit of the thirteenth century
of the columned Pisan type supported on carved lions. The
columns and the marble sides of the pulpit, however, were
richly inlaid with mosaic. The bronze doors, too, of the twelfth
century were very notable. There was a fine Saracenic tower,
and many relics of the former importance of the place, and
here, amid its romantic ruin, an Englishman had made hi,
home, in an ideally situated villa, with a lovely garden.
The Cathedral of Amalfi, too, was full of interest, with its
classical sarcophagi carved with the story of Proserpina and
the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, relics of paganism sheltered
under a Catholic roof, though it might be said paganism and
Christianity were wonderfully blended in Southern Italy.
There was a great church festival while we were at
Amalfi, and we saw an imposing procession, accompanying the
image of the Madonna and Bambino, borne under a canopy,
preceded by a bishop and other church dignitaries in their robes,
attended by long lines of candle-bearers and a band of music.
This procession — a stream of crimson and gold — relieved
FREEDOM
WALIER CKANE, ig
1871-73] MARRIAGE AND VISIT TO ITALY 145
against the yellow and white houses along the quay, with the
sparkling blue sea in front, made a striking spectacle. In the
evening a great troop of people wound their way along a steep
cliff-path to a high point to the westward, where the occasion
was emphasised in a somewhat deafening manner by means
of rows of old gun-barrels fixed to the ground charged with
powder and let off in volleys at intervals, and in further eleva-
tion of spirit huge fire-balloons were sent off the cliff, one in
the shape of a huge fish and another in the form of a man,
and the delight of the people in watching these quaint figures
hover over the sea was extreme ; gradually they dipped and
disappeared into it — the human-shaped one first most coyly
dipping his toes and rising again two or three times in a most
realistic way.
With the other attractions of Amalfi must be named the
Cappucini, then a recently dismantled convent of the order,
with a delightful old garden and lovely vine pergola overlook-
ing the sea, a calvary under the overhanging cave-like cliff,
and a cloister with interlaced Saracenic arches. An hotel has
since been established here, and I think I have seen the per-
gola on a postcard ! We found a delightful walk up through
the Valle dei Molini, or Valley of the Mills. A mountain
stream found its way through the town to the sea, turning
in its rapid course the wheels of many paper mills. Many
of these were medieval buildings built on arches over the
stream. A coarse kind of grey and brown wrapping-paper
was made at these mills, and figures of men would be met
moving up and down by the stream balancing huge bundles of
rags upon their shoulders, and steadying themselves by long
staves — their appearance suggestive of Christian in the
PilgriifUs Progress \ but presumably they got rid of their
burdens only to bear others like unto them.
One of the quaint sights at Amalfi was the washing of
pigs in the sea. The pigs were led down to the shore by their
owners and washed in the sea, and they seemed to take to the
operation quite kindly.
A bold speculator had put up a small bathing house of
wood, hearing perhaps there were English people at the hotel.
The sun was too scorching in the morning, but about five
146
AN ARTISrS REMINISCENCES [1871-73
ni^er fAMiuY en tm» y^ tuooc ,
o'clock in the afternoon, when it had passed behind the cliffs, a
bathe was very enjoyable, and the little house was very useful ;
but alas for the frailty of human
things, and bathing huts in par-
ticular ! — a storm arose one night,
and no trace of it remained the
next morning.
From Amalfi we journeyed (in
one of those huge ramshackle
barouche-landaus drawn by three
horses abreast which was then
the usual method of travelling
by road in South Italy) along
the coast to Cava dei Terreni, a
delightful spot among hills and
chestnut woods, a little inland
from the sea, command-
ing a view of the Gulf of
Salerno and the town of
Vietri. Here, in a delightful
old mansion, a brother and
two aged sisters kept a
sort of quiet pension for
visitors. There was a
charming old formal garden
behind with box hedges
and pomegranate trees and
hydrangeas, and in front a
vineyard where, as one
walked, the pendent bunches
" into our hands themselves
would reach."
In our rambles about
this delightful country we
used to find the wild cu-
cumber, a yellow thistle,
and quantities of pink
cyclamen.
A QUIET APARTMENT (ROME, 1873) Not far off WaS E
BCTW.EEM-PeCkVOVO.lNC^NAfnoN-OB.-tMCWEPeOPLt AC*
1871-73] MARRIAGE AND VISIT TO ITALY 147
famous monastery, SS. Trinita della Cava, close to the old
town of Corpo di Cava, surrounded with ancient overgrown
turreted walls, set amidst green wooded hills — like a town
in a mediaeval tapestry.
The monastery was famous for its library, and its archives
alone were said to consist of no less than forty thousand parch-
ment rolls, and the library to contain upwards of sixty thousand
MSS. on paper. The monks showed us some curious papal
bulls and other documents, with their ponderous seals attached,
dating from the ninth to the eleventh century, also a curious
map of Europe showing the branches of the Roman Church.
There were some fine illuminated MSS. as well as some early
printed books — I noted a Petrarch of 1492 with woodcuts of
the Triumphs.
There were two fine carved doors in the church. There
was also a picture-gallery containing works by Andrea da
Salerno — the principal old master of the district.
Within our view at Cava dei Terreni was a green hill —
S. Liberatore — and on its shoulder the quail-catchers spread
their nets. These were suspended between poles and hung ver-
tically to catch the flights of quails as they flew over the hills
in the autumn. The birds flew straight against the fine nets,
stretched at some tension, and fell and were captured, poor
things ! The slopes of this hill were covered with thickets
of arbutus trees.
So in pleasant rambles about this delightful region the
days sped away, and the time came when we must make our
way back to Rome.
Heavy rains, thunder and lightning, were the accompani-
ments of our journey. After a night at Naples we went on.
Between Anagni and Segni a swollen stream had broken
the railway bridge, and we had to get out of our train and
make our way across temporary planks to another train in
waiting on the other side — in the rain, too !
However, Rome was duly reached on the evening of
October 10, 1872.
After much getting up and down flights of stone steps in
search of apartments we found one in the Via San Giuseppe
(a little street running into Capo le Case from the Babuino,
148
AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1871-73
opposite the church of the same name). Here we settled
ourselves quite comfortably for the winter, and I was able
to carry on my work in the sitting-room, the windows of
which looked towards the north. Several of the early series
of children's picture-books were designed here — Mother
Hubbard, for instance, whose famous dog I took the liberty
of depicting as a poodle, that type flourishing at that time in
Rome. The drawings were made on card in black and white
and sent to London through the post to Mr. Evans, who had
them photographed on to the wood and engraved, returning
there's no place like home (ROME, 187I-3)
me the proofs to colour. This method of working now
beginning to supersede the old practice of drawing direct on
the block for the engraver. It certainly had its advantages,
not the least among which was that of being able to retain
the original drawings.
Drawing for publishers was varied by making water-colour
studies out of doors, or finished drawings to send home to
London exhibitions.
We looked up our friends, too, and made new ones. My
wife set up " At Home " days, and we soon had quite a
circle about us. Among the numerous people we met during
the winter may be named Frederick Leighton (whom I
o <
1871-73] MARRIAGE AND VISIT TO ITALY 149
met at the palace of the Caesars one afternoon) and his
friend Signer Costa, whose acquaintance we renewed, who was
always most genial and sympathetic, also Alphonse Legros,
who with his wife and son spent a few weeks in Rome. I
remember he induced me to make a copy of a part of one of
Raphael's frescoes in the Stanzi of the Vatican — the group of
the four bearers of the Papal chair in the corner of the lunette
of the Miracle of Bolsena, Legros himself at first intending also
to work there ; but when I had obtained permission from the
authorities and the use of a staging, I found that M. Legros
had decided upon copying a part of another Raphael — a
fresco in the church of Sta. Maria della Pace, where he had to
perch himself over a door, so that I did not have his com-
panionship in (it must be confessed) my not very congenial
task in the Stanzi, one I should never have attempted had
it not been for his emphatic advice, for I always hated copying ;
so in the end we both worked away in solitude — not that, as
far as I was concerned, intercommunication could have been
very fluent or complete, owing to the fact of French being
the only medium, and I was no good at tongues.
I recall a curious little sketch which Legros made on a
scrap of paper to explain his position in copying the fresco,
a very cramped one over the church door and in the dark,
the most conspicuous object in his sketch being " mon
chapeau," a tall hat carefully placed by his side and put in
in solid black.
My early patron, Mr. Somerset Beaumont, also came to
Rome, and I visited many of the galleries in his company.
He found me at work upon a design, conceived some
time before, suggested by Shelley's lines on " The Death of
the Year," a procession of the Months following the bier of
the Year, preceded by a winged figure swinging incense, and
a priest-like one in a cope reading from a book and passing
into a pillared porch of a temple — the House of Time. This
work had been seen and purchased by Miss Monk, who called
on us, having previously bought in London a water-colour
picture of mine (an Annunciation). Curiously enough, the
work was discovered by her at a saddler's in Mayfair, who
said that he had taken it for a debt. On inquiry I found that
150 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1871-73
our friend Prince, who had set up the picture-shop in Wigmore
Street, had with his partner made a failure of it. A number
of my drawings left at his gallery disappeared. The place
was closed, and no satisfaction could be obtained, since the
proprietors both decamped.
Mr. Stopford Brooke some time afterwards showed me
quite a number of my early landscapes (more lost sheep from
Wigmore Street !) he had found at Attenborough's shop in
the same neighbourhood and bought for his collection. This
kind of thing (however gratifying) was not calculated to in-
crease one's material prosperity !
However, Mr. Beaumont, taking a liking to this pro-
cessional picture, and finding it already bought, commissioned
me to paint him a similar subject, which I afterwards carried
out in oil on returning to England, and entitled " The Advent
of Spring."
I also, during this winter, completed a drawing of a vine-
yard for the Hon. Lyulph Stanley, who wanted one inspired
by the Virgilian line of " How to train on elms the gadding
vine," Mr. Stanley and his bride (Miss Bell, daughter of Sir
I. Lowthian Bell), whom I afterwards painted, being among
our visitors in San Giuseppe.
Others were Lady Elizabeth Butler, Edward Clifford the
artist, the Hon. Mrs. Walpole, the Hon. Mrs. Brownlow de
Grey, Mrs. Foljambe, and other Roman residents. So our
time passed, constantly varied by visits to the inexhaustible
treasures of Rome, villas, palaces, churches, galleries, ruins,
archaeological discoveries, walks and drives. A favourite
ramble of ours was in the grounds of the Villa Pamfili Doria,
where in February, on a certain grassy knoll, quantities of
lovely anemones might be gathered, ranging in colour from
pure white through delicate lavenders and pinks to full deep
red. These flowers were all single, and such as are grown
in our gardens, but there wild.
We saw about this time a curious performance of
marionettes at the Teatro Valletta. The piece was called
" Cassiere e Mephistophili." The queer little puppets were
worked by strings by women from a staging above, con-
cealed by the curtain, and the parts recited by them, so
'z '^
X H
1871-73I MARRIAGE AND VISIT TO ITALY 151
that each puppet appeared to have an individual voice ; and
the illusion was fairly complete, save perhaps when one of
the characters came on the stage with rather too impetuous
a rush, and losing its centre of gravity had to be pulled up
by the suspending string. At the end of the performance
the curtain was drawn right up, and one could see the ladies
who managed the puppets apparently attired in long canvas
trousers arranging the strings of the marionettes and making
them comfortable for the night, or perhaps ready for the next
performance.
It was just past the middle of February, while the Carnival
was in full swing, that an important event happened in our
little household — the arrival of our firstborn.
I remember being well peppered with confetti in crossing
the Corso to get to the post-office in the Piazza Colonna
to send a telegram to England announcing the news to our
circle.
The event necessitated a visit to the British Legation
also, for registration purposes, as well as to the Roman
authorities ; " L'Ufficiale Sanitario " afterwards paying us a
visit to verify the fact and to see that no deception had been
practised upon S.P.Q.R.
It was a somewhat anxious time, and though in the end
all went well, and the kindness and solicitude of our friends was
most gratifying, I do not know that I should be prepared
to recommend anyone to be born in Rome !
Our thoughts naturally turned homewards, and though we
did not actually leave Rome till as late as the 1 4th of May,
we began to make plans for returning to England.
Our excellent Serafina from Capri, who was to have
accompanied us home, seemed to droop rather, and already
felt home-sickness, and owing to this, or being urged by
private affairs, her heart failed her, and she decided to return
to Capri, so a substitute had to be found.
I had, too, some little commissions to finish. Among these
was a drawing of Keats' grave at the Protestant Cemetery,
which I had undertaken for Mr, George Howard, for whom
the previous spring I had done a drawing of Shelley's tomb.
Working in that restful garden, beneath the murmur of
152 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1871-73
the cypresses, one might almost feel the spirits of the
poets still haunted the place, and could understand the feel-
ing expressed by Shelley that " it might make one almost
in love with death to think that one should be buried in
so sweet a spot."
As an ardent admirer of both poets I was proud to offer
my small tribute to their genius and memory.
While drawing at Shelley's grave my thoughts shaped
themselves in the following sonnet : —
Cor Cordium
Tread softly, here the heart of Shelley lies :
His grave a garden, 'neath the cypress wood
Stirred with the tongues his spirit understood,
And spake in deathless song that vivifies
Men's souls made heavy with the world's sad cries,
Still when the darkness hides the dragon brood
Of evil, and while yet innocent blood
Is shed, and Truth and Falsehood change their dyes.
Thy voice is heard above this silent tomb,
And shall be heard until the end of days
While Freedom lives, and whatsoever things
Are good and lovely — still thy spirit sings ;
And by thy grave to-day fresh violets bloom,
But on thy head imperishable bays.
As connected with the memory of Shelley one may
mention that among the English visitors wintering in Rome
whom we met were Mrs. and Miss Trelawney, the wife and
daughter of Captain Trelawney, the friend of the poet, who
wrote the " Memorials." I have some recollection, too, of
seeing somewhere Captain Trelawney himself, whose striking
face was immortalised by Millais in his picture, " The North-
West Passage."
We met also a remarkable Shelley enthusiast in the person
of Captain Silsbee, an American, who was deeply read in
Shelley's poetry and the Shelley literature, his intense interest
in both being only divided by an almost equally intense
admiration for Japanese art, not then by any means common.
At last the day of our departure came, and, after a fare-
well glimpse of the Coliseum by moonlight, we said good-bye to
1871-73] MARRIAGE AND VISIT TO ITALY 153
Rome, and started on our way back to England, breaking the
journey first at Florence, where one renewed one's acquaintance
with some of the art treasures, also at Turin (returning by the
Mont Cenis tunnel), at Macon, and at Paris, as with a nurse
and a baby it had to be taken rather easily. However, in due
time we reached Charing Cross, and were put up for the first
few weeks at my mother's house at Hammersmith, until we
could find a home for ourselves. She was then living at
Sussex House, on the Upper Mall, a .charming old eighteenth-
century brick house, originally built for a Duke of Sussex, and
since divided into two houses. It had a long, old-fashioned
garden in the rear, and a small forecourt with a flagged way to
the front door ; the staircase was interesting, with rich and
varied balusters and carved treads. This house, later, became
associated with William Morris (who lived at Kelmscott House,
a few doors farther on the Mall) and the Kelmscott Press, he
having used it for the work of the Press, and since his death
it has been used by Mr. Emery Walker, for his work in
connection with the preparation of process plates and printing.
Opposite was " The Doves," famous as marking a critical point
on the river in Oxford and Cambridge boat-races, and now
giving its name to " The Doves Bindery " and " The Doves
Press " of Mr. Cobden Sanderson and Mr. Emery Walker,
his partner in the latter enterprise.
At Sussex House we spent some pleasant summer days —
" when the bean was in flower " — tempered by the anxiety
of house-hunting, but at last we discovered a suitable sort of
nest in Wood Lane, Shepherd's Bush, then a country lane
leading from the Green to Wormwood Scrubbs, crossed by the
viaduct of the Metropolitan Railway, here carried at a high
level on a long line of brick arches, which might, in imaginative
moods, form a poor substitute for the Claudian aqueduct to
eyes still haunted by reminiscences of the Roman Campagna
and anxious to mitigate the descent into a London suburb.
CHAPTER VI
LIFE IN THE "BUSH," 1873-1879
WOOD LANE, Shepherd's Bush, where we had decided to
make our home, at that time only had an irregular line
of old-fashioned detached houses along a part of its east side.
These houses mostly dated from the early years of the nine-
teenth century, and they all possessed gardens of various and
some of considerable extent, with the further advantage of
orchards and meadow-land, bounded by a fine belt of trees
which effectually shut out " the hideous town," and made a
pleasant oasis in the midst of brick fields.
The house we pitched upon was named " Florence," which
had an agreeable suggestion of Italy about it, and there was
a pleasant lawn with old apple trees upon it, no doubt
originally part of the orchard which still existed beyond the
boundary wall. An attractive feature was a large square
living-room with French windows opening on to the garden,
while a drawing-room of the same size above served me for a
studio. Here, then, after twenty months' wandering, we set
up housekeeping.
Our neighbours, only a few doors off, at Beaumont Lodge, at
that time were Mr. (now Sir) Edward J. Poynter and his wife,
who became very friendly, and frequent visits were exchanged
between the two houses. Mrs. E. J. Poynter was an
accomplished pianist, and after dinner frequently gave us some
charming music, accompanied on the 'cello by Mr. Mackenzie.
Our acquaintance with the Poynters led to again meeting the
Burne-Jones's, who were not so far away at the Grange. I
think it was there that I first met Mr. Spencer Stanhope, for
whose work I had long entertained a great admiration. It
was kindred in sentiment and treatment to the early work of
1 873 79] LIFE IN THE "BUSH" 155
Burne-Jones, but quite distinct and individual. I recall a
beautiful picture, called " The Mill," of a girl in a boat, reading, in
a black dress, with a background of picturesque mill buildings
reflected in a still pool beneath a wan sky, the tone
and poetic and decorative feeling of the whole being
delightful ; also a powerful decorative design of a woman in
golden-orange against the dark boughs of a cedar tree,
Miriam watching the bodies of her sons I think the subject
was, and the picture was in the Academy, Mr. Stanhope may
be said to have drawn his inspiration from much the same
sources as Burne-Jones, and, like him, showed in his early
works the influence of D. G. Rossetti, though, later, more
strongly that of the Florentine Quattro-Centi painters, whose
method of painting in tempera Mr. Stanhope was, I think, the
first among living English artists to revive.
His health not permitting him to live much in England,
he afterwards took up his residence permanently in Florence,
where his delightful villa at Bellosguardo is well remembered
by his friends.
I soon settled down to work, and commenced the pro-
cessional picture commissioned by Mr. Somerset Beaumont
in Rome, which I entitled " The Advent of Spring." Spring
appeared robed and crowned, her train held up by amorini,
and she walked under a canopy supported by four maidens ;
before her were piping shepherds and nymphs dancing,
and others trooped behind. At the end of the procession,
which emerged'!' from a wood, a figure cloaked in grey was
shown seizing one of the nymphs and snatching flowers
from her apron, suggesting a last assault of wintry weather.
The green hilly landscape, interspersed with buildings and
blossoming trees, was more or less founded on, or reminiscent
of, some of my Roman studies.
Work for the publishers, too, was resumed, and the series
of coloured picture-books for children which, in association
with Mr. Edmund Evans as the engraver and printer, had
been commenced in 1865 for the house of Routledge, and
a new and larger series started, which included Aladdin, The
Yellow Dzvarf, Beauty and the Beast, Princess Belle - etoile.
Goody Two Shoes, and The Hind in the Wood.
156 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1873-79
While I was away in Italy, the publishers, who at first
were by no means converted to the efforts we were making to
get more artistic colour and treatment in these books, per-
ceiving a growing demand for them, issued a set of my
sixpenny books bound together, and called it Walter Cranes
Picture Book, but without my knowledge. This volume,
though far from being what I should have approved in its
general format, certainly served as a poster for me, and was,
I believe, a commercial success, but as I had no rights in it,
it was of no benefit to me in that respect.
My drawings for these books were done for a very modest
sum and sold outright to the publishers. The engraving and
printing was costly, and very large editions had to be sold
in order to make them pay — as many as 50,000 of a single
book, I was told, being necessary. However, if they did not
bring in much money, I had my fun out of them, as in design-
ing I was in the habit of putting in all sorts of subsidiary
detail that interested me, and often made them the vehicle
for my ideas in furniture and decoration.
This element, indeed, in the books soon began to be
discovered by architects and others interested in or directly
connected with house decoration, and this brought me some
occasional commissions for actual work in that way in the
form of friezes or frieze panels. Mr. E. J. Tarver, an architect
(long since deceased), got me to design and paint a frieze in
panels of animals and birds for a house in Palace Gardens
(Mr. De Murrietta's), and through him I also, later, did a
series of frieze panels (the subjects being from Aisop^s Fables)
in raised gesso for the house of Mr. Lee of Worcester, of the
well-known firm of Lee & Perrins. This must have been my
earliest work in this material. E. J. Tarver was a friend of
Mr. R. Phene Spiers, who was one of my old colleagues, on the
Committee of " The Quibblers." They, with a small group of
architects, formed a sketching club which met at each other's
houses, when a subject was given by the host of the evening,
and sketches were made by the guests. This society was
called " The Picts," if I remember rightly.
About this time, also, I painted a triptych on panels for
an old oak chimneypiece (at Boarzell) in the country house
1873-79] LIFE IN THE "BUSH" 157
of Mr. Gregory, formerly M.P. for East Sussex. The subjects
were from Winter's Tale. Perdita giving flowers to the
guests at the sheep-shearing in the centre, the shepherd
finding Perdita as an infant in the first panel, and Hermione
discovering herself to the king in the third.
In 1 874 was commenced the well-known series of children's
story-books by Mrs. Molesworth, issued by the house of
Macmillan. The first was Tell me a Story. I remember
being introduced to Mrs. Molesworth in the late Mr. G. L.
Craik's office. Mr. Craik then acted as reader to the firm,
and he arranged with me to supply the illustrations to these
very pretty stories, which I continued to do for many years.
In the summer of this year we paid a visit to the house at
Hythe, near Southampton, of Mr. and Mrs. Roland, friends
we had met in Rome, who had settled there in a pleasant
country house commanding a view of Southampton Water and
the Solent. Here we were introduced to an early form of lawn
tennis, called " sferistiki " (or something like that, which sounded
like " very sticky "), probably derived from the Italian game of
Sferisterio, or Pallone, we had seen played in Rome.
Mr. Roland had accompanied Layard on his Eastern travels,
and had been also with the traveller Urquhart, whose book on
the Lebanon he presented me with.
From the Rolands we went on to Swanage, with our little
Beatrice. Swanage was then unconnected with the main line by
railway as now, and a drive by coach of some eleven miles was
necessary. It was then a very charming primitive little village.
In the autumn of 1874 I experienced one of the saddest
losses in life — the death of my mother. She had struggled
with remarkable fortitude against ill-health and adverse circum-
stances for years, suffering from a distressing cough, but her
energy, spirit, and self-sacrifice were wonderful. She began to
fail towards the end of the summer, and after a few weeks
passed away at Sussex House in September of that year, the
house being afterwards given up. Pleasant neighbours had
been found by my sister and brother at Hammersmith in
the Gibson family, who occupied Bridge House, on the
Mall, and one of the sons being at Oxford and another
at Cambridge, their house was naturally distinctly interested
158 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1873-79
in the annual inter-university race on the Thames, and was
full on such occasions, as hospitable riverside houses are
apt to be. Several of the daughters were studying art, and
this formed another sympathetic link ; they were also among
the early revivers of taste in furniture and decoration, two
of the ladies even opening a shop for artistic furniture stuffs
and bric-a-brac. In this they were assisted by Mr. Chambery
Townsend, an architect of much refinement of taste (who
afterwards married one of the Misses Gibson). One of the
wallpaper patterns issued by Morris & Company was said to
have been discovered by this gentleman on the wall of an
ancient house and offered to the firm.
Speaking of wallpapers reminds me that it was in 1875
that I designed my first. Mr, Metford Warner, of the famous
firm of Jeffrey & Co. (the same who printed all William
Morris's papers), called upon me and commissioned me to
design a nursery wallpaper — no doubt in consequence of seeing
my children's books. The design was in three columns divided
by a narrow border, each column containing a group illustrative
of a nursery rhyme, — Bo Peep and Boy Blue and the Queen
of Hearts figured in it, — and it was for machine-printing,
which necessitated the outlines of the faces being formed of
brass wire (which was not particularly favourable to subtlety
of expression), but one relied more upon the decorative effect
of the general distribution and colour.
It seemed to be successful, and was even imitated in its
main motive in a paper brought out by a rival firm — a
compliment of very doubtful advantage. With this design,
however (the forerunner of many), a connection was established
with the firm of Jeffrey & Co., which has continued up to
the present time, a period of thirty years. Another design
in which " Little Queen Anne " appeared, which was of a
distinctly vertical character, was presently imitated as a
floorcloth by another firm, whose enterprise was more to their
credit than their taste or honesty ; but the copyright of a
design only protected its use in the same material in those days.
In 1875, too, appeared Mrs. Mundi at Home, an
attempt in quite a different mode and with quite a different
aim from those of the children's books. It was playful,
1873-79] LIFE IN THE «BUSH'^ 159
fantastic, and allegorical, a medley of all sorts of characters
and subjects, astronomical, political, social, with satirical or
humorous allusions to current events and notabilities of the
time.
These mixed elements I endeavoured to combine in a
series of designs in outline, and accompanied them with
descriptive verses — the second title of the book being " Lines
and Outlines."
On the appearance of Mrs. Mundi I had a very friendly
letter from Mr. Linley Sambourne (the famous Punch artist),
whom I did not then know personally, expressing his interest
in the work and the wish to make my acquaintance, as he
thought we should have " many ideas in common." But, as
one of my reviewers said (who I suspect was my friend Wise),
in concluding a notice of the book, " Sic transit gloria (Mrs.)
Mundi" (!).
The book was published by the then existing firm of
Marcus Ward & Co., for whom I had already designed
other things, including a set of Christmas cards and a set of
valentines. The latter designs were afterwards re-published
by them in a book, together with some early designs by Kate
Greenaway of figures in mediaeval costume, but I had nothing
to do with the scheme or arrangement of the book, and I
never considered the reproductions of the valentine designs at
all satisfactory, as they were copied on to the stone and much
of the character lost in the process, under which they had
caught — not the measles — but a certain lithographic-mealiness
which is very objectionable.
This was before my elder brother (Thomas) was appointed
Art Director to the firm, a post he occupied for many years —
in fact until the firm dissolved. He had always shown taste
in drawing, and developed considerable facility in floral design,
for which he found much scope in the many publications of
the firm in the direction of decorative Christmas cards,
calendars, and books printed in colours, and much of his work
appeared in such forms (though among other things he designed
the facade for the new business premises of the firm in
Farringdon Street), as well as, later, in coloured picture-books,
for which he designed the purely ornamental pages, while
i6o AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1873-79
the figure designs were produced by a very talented cousin
of ours, Mrs. Houghton inie Bolton), a daughter of my father's
sister, who lived at Warrington. This lady studied at the same
local school of art as Mr. Luke Fildes and Mr. Henry Woods
before they came to London, and early showed remarkable
artistic feeling and decorative taste, which found expression in
a variety of ways, besides in the publications above mentioned.
I continued to paint in oil, and to offer at least one
picture each year to the Royal Academy, but had met
with nothing but rejection since 1872. The same fate
(or shall we say distinctionT) attended a picture produced
this year, entitled " Amor Vincit Omnia " — a fanciful allegory
rather in what might be called a Spenserian vein, showing
an Amazonian city surrendering to General Love and his
forces, with reminiscences of Rome and Florence in the back-
ground. This picture was many years afterwards bought
by Sir Francis Gore.
The Dudley Gallery, however, enabled me to show my
water-colour work, and I continued to send there, eventually
serving on the Committee, where my colleagues were Ernest
Waterlow (now Sir, and President of the R.W.S.) ; G. D. Leslie,
R.A. ; H. S. Marks, R.A. ; Frank Walton, R.I. (now President
of the Royal Institute). Exhibitions of works in oil were also
organised in the winter months under the same Committee,
which gave one further opportunities of exhibiting.
About 1876 Sir Coutts Lindsay projected his scheme for
the Grosvenor Gallery in Bond Street. He felt that many
most distinguished artists were either very inadequately repre-
sented at the exhibitions of the Royal Academy, being either
entirely ignored or indifferently treated by them, while there
were others who never submitted their work to that body at all.
Among these were painters of such distinction as Edward
Burne-Jones, Alphonse Legros, J. McNeill Whistler, R. Spencer
Stanhope, Cecil Lawson, W. Holman Hunt, and many less
known younger artists.
Except at the Dudley Gallery, I do not think Burne-
Jones had publicly exhibited at all since the affair at the
Old Water Colour Society, and the wonderful work he had
been doing since those days was entirely unknown to the
1873-79] LIFE IN THE "BUSH" 161
general public, though it had long been the object of en-
thusiastic admiration by an inner circle of devoted admirers.
In inviting the artists named and others to contribute to
his exhibition, Sir Coutts no doubt relied largely upon the
support of Burne-Jones and the interest his work would create.
He, however, was very catholic, and included several amateurs
(of whom he himself was the most distinguished) in his first
exhibition.
He also very kindly extended his invitation to me, and I
remember his calling at our house one Sunday afternoon, with
Lady Lindsay, to speak of his scheme, and to ask me to send
to the exhibition, which was to open in the spring of 1877.
I had brought back a considerable number of water-colour
studies and sketches from Italy, and these had interested the
few who had seen them. Among others, Burne-Jones, who
was good enough to bring Mr. William Graham, his then
almost exclusive patron, who was acquiring a wonderful
collection of the painter's works (which I afterwards saw at
his house), and who I remember saying on this occasion, that
in regard to the possession of works by Burne-Jones, " were
it not for one or two rivals about the town, he should have
been quite happy."
I had a picture on the easel at that time which had won
much sympathy from Burne-Jones, who wrote about it as
follows : —
"The Grange
" My dear Crane, — Will you kindly tell me the ransom
of that beautiful * Domus Temporis ' ? I know a lady very
anxious to possess one of your works, and if I could say
distinctly that I remember one for sale at such a sum it might
hasten matters.
" The bearer of this is an admirer of yours (who happens
also to be my son). If at any time he may see your studio, it
would be a great treat to him, and he has more comprehension
of pictures than his years would promise — but never when you
are busy.
" To-morrow week, if you and Mrs, Crane would like to
come to my studio, I shall be very glad. — Ever yours truly,
" E. B.-J."
1 62 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1873-79
He afterwards brought Mr. Graham to see this picture, with
the idea he might like to buy it. I had entitled the picture
" Winter and Spring." It showed a ruined house of a Roman
or Renascence character. The figure of Spring in a light green
robe was hanging a garland over the broken doorway, while
crouched on the steps below sat another figure (Winter)
wrapped in a grey mantle. Through the door in the atrium
was seen a bronze figure of Time on a pedestal, with a sickle
and an hour-glass, and through the ruined archway beyond
the dark horizon of the sea.
Mr. Graham, however, seemed much more interested in
my Roman and Italian studies in the folios, and in turning
these over, selected several and put them aside, wishing to
purchase them ; but I did not wish to offer them for sale, so
that no business was done. I remember his advising me to
stick to landscape, on the ground that there were so few in
England who were interested in imaginative art. He
reminded me that there was only one Burne-Jones, and
apparently the country could not support more of that way
of thinking. I listened respectfully, but I remained uncon-
vinced, though from the commercial point of view, at least,
he may have been right.
Mr. Graham went so far, however, as to request me to
send " Winter and Spring " to his house, saying he thought
" a friend " might like it. He sent it back to me again in a cab
in a day or two, so I suppose it did not suit. This picture
afterwards was exhibited at the Dudley, and was purchased
by Mr. Eustace Balfour.
I should mention that in the summer of 1875 ^ had quite
unexpectedly met my old friend J. R. Wise again. My wife
and I had taken our little one to Whitby for a few weeks, and
were much charmed by the old red-roofed fishing town below
the green slopes, with the ruined Abbey and church on the hill
above.
One day, walking towards Sandsend, I saw the well-known
and rather unusual-looking figure of my old friend on the
road some way in front. I soon overtook him ; but he hardly
recognised me at first. I found he had been living in retire-
ment at a remote farmhouse near Sandsend, carrying on his
1873-79] LIFE IN THE "BUSH" 163
literary work. He did a good deal of reviewing for the
Westminster Review, the Saturday, and other journals, and
his room was full of books.
A work that had recently made a profound impression
upon me was the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, translated by
Edward Fitzgerald (which I was glad to introduce to my
friend's notice). It was then only known to comparatively
few, but since has become " familiar in men's mouths as
household words," and has appeared in endless editions.
I first saw it at The Grange, in the beautiful illuminated
MS. form, belonging to Lady Burne-Jones, in which the
Rubaiyat had been enshrined by William Morris, who wrote
the script with his own hand, and in the illuminated borders
and pictures his collaborators were Burne-Jones and Fairfax
Murray. Shortly afterwards meeting Mr. Frederic Harrison,
he showed me a copy — one of the original little square ones
published by Quaritch — which belonged to Mr. John Morley,
who had lent it him, and who now allowed him to lend it to
me. These copies were then very scarce, though I remember
Mr. Quaritch at a dinner of the " Odd Volumes " in later years
telling the story of their publication and the difficulties he
experienced in getting rid of them at any price, though they
finally were put outside the shop, I think he said at a penny
apiece ! Another edition was, however, published, and I, later,
acquired a copy for myself.
The vivid and significant imagery, the oriental richness
and colour, the pathetic or satiric philosophy, its extra-
ordinarily modern touches, and the general aptness of its
reflections on life, together with the fascinating music of the
quatrains, so completely enchanted one that it awoke a sort
of echo in one's mind, which gradually took shape in a series
of verses of similar construction but very different sentiment
and ultimate aim, and which, with accompanying illustrations,
I afterwards wrote in a script of my own, and they were
eventually published under the title of " The Sirens Three," in
the English Illustrated Magazine in its early days, when under
the editorship of Mr. Comyns Carr, and afterwards issued as a
volume by Messrs. Macmillan & Co. in 1885. The blocks
were facsimiled from my drawings, and the designs contained
1 64 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1873-79
many nude figures, and this circumstance brought* the wrath of
many fierce puritanical correspondents down upon the editor's
head, so he afterwards told me !
While at Florence House I completed a portrait of Mrs.
Frederic Harrison — a small full-length in oil, the lady seated
in her own drawing-room, with the Morris daisy paper on the
wall, and Eastern rugs, Chinese vases, and other accessaries
carefully represented around her.
Another portrait on much the same scale I did about the
same time, but in water colour, was that of Mrs. Lyulph
Stanley, who had a dress specially designed and made for the
occasion. Here again I made a faithful record of the actual
background and accessaries, a principal feature of which was
a marble Queen Anne mantelpiece by which the lady was
standing. This portrait was afterwards exhibited at the
Dudley Gallery.
About this time the Royal School of Art Needlework was
established in Exhibition Road, South Kensington, by the
exertions of Lady Marian Alford, Mrs. Percy Wyndham (who
was especially keen), and other grand dames, headed by H.R.H.
Princess Christian, who was President. Miss Wade was manager,
and a sort of Advisory Committee was formed, of which William
Morris, George Aitcheson (afterwards R.A.), Fairfax Wade,
and myself were members, and Miss Burden (sister of Mrs.
William Morris) was appointed chief instructress in the School.
At the Philadelphia Exhibition the School had a show, and I
designed hangings for their room, besides many other designs
from time to time for screens, panels, and other things, in which
I introduced figures, birds (notably peacocks), and animals, and
many of them are still worked, I believe.
Among our visitors at Florence House may be mentioned
Mr. Luke Fildes and his wife, Mr. Thomas Armstrong (who
became godfather to our elder son, Lionel), Mr. and Mrs. (now
Sir and Lady) Alma Tadema, and Mr. and Mrs. George
Simonds, Miss Greatorex (the late Madame de Gorloff),
and Madame Bodichon (a pioneer in the modern woman's
movement), Mrs. Eustace Smith, and Sir Charles Dilke, Mr.
and Mrs. Frederic Harrison, Mr. and Mrs. Lyulph Stanley,
Mr. and Mrs. William Allingham, Mr. and Mrs. Comyns Carr,
t873-79] LIFE IN THE "BUSH" 165
Mrs. Russell Barrington (who frequently wrote most sym-
pathetically about my work, and was always especially
interested in the Italian studies I brought home).
In addition to these we made the acquaintance of the Rev.
H. R. Haweis and Mrs. Haweis, who then lived in Wimpole
Street, and were in the habit of giving large evening receptions.
At one of these I remember meeting Gustave Dore, whose
work as an illustrator of Don Quixote and of the Bible was
then very much in evidence in England, and I think his
Picture Gallery in Bond Street was also started, and attracted
the British public in considerable numbers.
In appearance Dor^ was unmistakably French, but
exceedingly quiet in manner and uncommunicative. He
looked prosperous and inclined to be stout. He spoke in
English, though I do not recall much more than monosyllables,
and his smooth face and small moustache did not suggest the
romantic and grotesque imagination which many of his
designs, notably the earlier work, such as those to the Contes
drolatiques undoubtedly possess.
Another house we frequented was that of Mr. J. P.
Heseltine, who had had a delightful one built for himself in
Queen's Gate by Mr. Norman Shaw in his earlier rather
Flemish manner. It was the first to break the monotony of
the grey stucco. Here I met the architect himself, also
Charles Keene and other artists.
Mr. Heseltine (now one of the Trustees of the National
Gallery) had an interesting collection of pictures, and even
acquired one of mine from the Dudley, " The Earth and
Spring," a water colour for which I had also written a
sonnet.
I remember seeing Mr. Fildes' famous picture of " The
Casuals" on his easel at King Henry's Road — the picture
which (in its early form in black and white in the Graphic
had attracted the attention of Charles Dickens) had made
the artist's reputation. He was recently knighted.
In May 1876 we had an addition to our family, our son
Lionel arriving. Overleaf is a sketch of him at two years old.
About this time, too, we were in treaty with the Poynters for
the transference of the lease of the house (Beaumont Lodge)
1 66
AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1873-79
L.r.c.
to us. Mr. Poynter, at that time head of the Slade School at
University College, relinquished this post for the appointment
as head of the National Art Training School at South
Kensington, which he had just been offered. Wishing to be
nearer to his work there, and being provided with a studio, he no
longer required the one he had in his garden (which, on his
taking Beaumont Lodge, had been converted into a spacious
studio out of the stables by Mr, Philip Webb). I was in want
of a studio, the lighting not being sufficiently good in the
room I used at Florence House, and although we liked our
house, it came about that
5LP. '7187a the combined advantages
of the studio and the large
garden at Beaumont Lodge
carried the day, and we
decided on making the
move, though it involved
heavier responsibilities in
the matter of rent and taxes.
I had, however, already
worked in Poynter's studio,
as he had kindly lent it to
me in order to work out
a frieze I had been com-
missioned to paint for Mrs.
Eustace Smith's boudoir in
the house at Prince's Gate.
This consisted of a design
of white cockatoos with lemon and orange crests on a gold
ground, connected by fanciful scroll-work in bronze green and
red. This frieze brought me the acquaintance of Mr. George
Aitcheson, for whom I afterwards did other designs. About
the same time Sir Charles Dilke, to whom I was introduced
by Mrs. Eustace Smith, wished me to make a water-colour
drawing for him of Medmenham Abbey, showing John
Wilkes's famous inscription over the doorway, " Fait ce que
voudras" and I went down in the autumn of 1875, I think, to
do this, staying at the inn there, which is in the Abbey
grounds, close to the Thames side. Many of the meadows
SKETCH OF LIONEL FRANCIS CRANE
AT TWO YEARS OLD
1873-79] LIFE IN THE "BUSH" 167
were flooded, and rich-toned autumn woods reflected in the
silver streaks had a beautiful effect, and induced me to make
an extra drawing, which was promptly bought by Mrs. Eustace
Smith. At Medmenham I remember meeting Mr. Keeley
Halswelle, who lived and worked then mostly on the
Thames, and had recently renewed his reputation by pictures
of the river in which showery skies played an important
part.
The flitting (though it was not a long flight) was not
made under very favourable auspices, as my wife had not re-
covered her health, and to save her the discomfort and worry
involved in changing houses the Hon. Mrs. George Howard
(now Lady Carlisle) most kindly proposed her, with the baby,
staying a week or two at Palace Green, their new and beautiful
house, Which had been designed and built for them by Mr.
Philip Webb. This was gladly accepted. Nothing, indeed,
could exceed the friendliness of Mr. and Mrs. Howard to us
at that time. Mr. Howard offered me an important piece of
work, too. This was to carry to completion a frieze which
had been designed and commenced by Burne-Jones for the
decoration of the dining-room at the Palace Green house.
The subject was the story of Cupid and Psyche, arranged as
a series of panels of different lengths, but all, of course, of
the same depth, to fit together as the structural necessities
of the room allowed. The designs themselves were more or
less adapted from a series of woodcuts which had been
designed by Burne-Jones and cut on wood by William Morris,
and were part of a series of designs which had been projected
by them for an illustrated edition of The Earthly Paradise,
but which were never completed. The frieze was to be
painted in flat oil colour on canvas enriched with raised
details gilded somewhat after the manner of Pinturrichio.
The canvases — in various stages, some blank, some just
commenced, some, in parts, considerably advanced — were all
sent to my new studio at Beaumont Lodge, and I started on
the work, having the prints from the woodcuts above
mentioned to go by. One or two of the subjects, such as
" Zephyrus and Psyche," " Cupid finding Psyche asleep," and
" Cupid recovering Psyche from the effects of the Opened
1 68 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1873-79
Casket," had been treated by Burne-Jones in water colour as
completed pictures, but in the frieze these formed groups,
and became parts of larger compositions containing several
incidents in the story. One subject, " Psyche received by
the Gods and Goddesses," where the figures were on a
THE GODS RECEIVING CUPID AND PSYCHE (l)
Early design hy Sir E. Burne-Jones. Engraved on wood by William Morris
{Adapted as a panel at Palace Green)
smaller scale, filled an alcove at one end of the room on
the eye-line.
In the treatment I allowed myself considerable freedom,
especially in the subjects not already commenced or carried
1873-79]
LIFE IN THE "BUSH''
169
far, though I endeavoured to preserve the spirit and feeling
of the original designs. One of the canvases, representing
the procession conducting Psyche to be sacrificed to the
demands of the unknown monster, had been considerably-
advanced before it reached me, and this one Burne-Jones
THE GODS RECEIVING CUPID AND PSYCHE (2)
Early design by Sir E. Burne-Jones. Cut by William Morris
desired to reserve for himself to finish as a separate picture,
which he afterwards did, and I started the subject afresh on a
new canvas for the frieze. When I had carried the painting
of the frieze as far as I could in the studio, the canvases
went back to Palace Green, and were put up in position on
170 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1873-79
the wall. Burne-Jones then joined me, and we both worked
on the frieze, in situ, from trestles.
The whimsical humour of the artist, which was his usual
mood in everyday life, would never have been suspected by
those who only knew him in his romantic, pensive, and poetic
designs. He was always playing. I remember, while at
work on this frieze with me, he pretended to assume the
manner and language of the ordinary British workman " on
the job," with a touch of caricature, of course, and when
Mr. Howard came in to see the progress of the work, he,
Burne-Jones, would by remarks to me, in sotto voce, insinuate
the broadest hints about prospective cigars and drinks we
were to enjoy at our host's expense.
The work was finished at last, and there was a Christmas
party at Palace Green to celebrate the event, a family gathering
of the Howards and the Stanleys and Ogilvies (I think the
Dowager Lady Stanley of Alderley, whom we used to meet
at this time at Palace Green, and the Countess of Airlie
were present on this occasion, and the young Lord Ogilvie,
who since succeeded his father in the earldom, and lost his
life in the South African War), with a few artists and their
wives added — to wit, the Burne-Jones's, the Poynters, and
ourselves, and we had a merry evening, diversified with "dumb
crambo " and country dances.
At Palace Green I remember, too, meeting Mr. James
Bryce, who was my opponent in a game at lawn tennis, Lord
Carlisle and he playing against Mr. Stafford Howard and
myself. The green where we played is now being built
over.
It was Lord Carlisle (then Mr. George Howard) who I
remember brought Mr. Henry James to see us at Beaumont
Lodge. He made some remark in admiration of the artistic
treatment of the house and of English houses generally, when
Mr. Howard said that he must not suppose that they were all
like ours, or that artistic feeling was by any means the rule
in English interiors.
My old friend Wise having occasion to leave his hermitage
at Sandsend and come up to London, paid us a visit, and we
afterwards joined him in the course of the summer or early
1873-79] LIFE IN THE "BUSH'' 171
autumn in the Forest of Dean, where he had taken up pleasant
quarters at Speech House, an old-fashioned hotel in the midst
of the woods, where formerly forest courts were held. It was
an interesting district, and we took the opportunity to see
Tintern Abbey and the Wye.
Mr. Poynter had recently completed his picture of
" Atalanta's Race " for the billiard - room of the Earl of
Wharncliffe at Wortley Hall, and he proposed to complete
the decoration of the room by some scheme of ornamental
design. Mr. Poynter having his hands full, was kind enough
to recommend me for the work, and I was invited down to
Wortley Hall in November, in order that I might see the
room and devise a scheme of decoration for it.
Both Lord and Lady Wharncliffe were very kind and
hospitable, and pressed me to stay a week. Among the
house party were Colonel Thynne, the Hon. Gerald Lascelles
and his wife, Colonel Stanley (afterwards Lord Derby), and
Archibald Stuart-Wortley, the painter. Shooting was the
main pursuit, and was organised at Wortley on a considerable
scale. One of the days there was a great drive through the
woods, and an army of beaters was engaged, who seemed to
do their horrid work very thoroughly, and as the line of guns
advanced, steadily tramping through the underwood, they
were kept busy by the cries of the keepers, " Rabbit back ! "
or " Hare forward ! " as the poor frightened creatures sprang
out of cover in desperate attempts to escape, but the sportsmen
being good shots, gave them very little chance. There are
few sounds more heart-rending than the scream of a wounded
hare : then the rows of slain laid out in the stable-yard at
the end of the day did not make one exactly in love with
modern " sport." (I had previously seen something of the
old-fashioned sort with dog and gun on the Derbyshire
moors.) The bags made were certainly very large, and
numbers seemed rather the object. I remember Archie Stuart-
Wortley, who was a very keen sportsman (and who painted
pictures at that time chiefly for sportsmen), carefully counting
the number of brace, separating them with the butt end of his
gun, as he went along the lines of fur or feathers as they lay
in long rows on the flagstones of the courtyard.
172
AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1873-79
A brake and pair generally drove the shooting party to the
scene of operations, and I remember on driving through the
park we passed the American bison which his lordship had
imported. This strange-looking beast was reported to be
savage, but I wanted to make a sketch of him, so I got off the
brake, while the party went on, and managed to get a note
from a respectful distance, Stuart- Wortley afterwards jocularly
remarking, when I rejoined the shooting party, that he fully
expected to hear the shout raised, " Crane ! mark down ! " in
anticipation of the bison's reception of me — but he could not
have been as black as he was painted. A picnic luncheon
• • ";• >•?♦;' c •;
PHEASANT-SHOOTING AT WORTLEY (1876)
"Col. Thynis expectans — rocketans est phasis in alto
Keeper cum canibus, rapidus dum defluit amnls."
varied the proceedings in the middle of the day, the ladies
sometimes joining the party to witness the shooting in the
afternoon, though none of them handled a gun themselves.
One of the days was devoted to pheasant-shooting. The
guns were stationed at intervals along the grassy bank of a
stream, which formed a stretch of greensward in front of the
woods, each sportsman having his attendant ready with a
second gun loaded. The birds were driven out of the woods
by the beaters, and flying across the open were shot.
To a little pencil sketch I made of this scene, while the
sportsmen were waiting for the pheasants to appear, Lord
Wharnclifife appended a Latin verse of his own composing.
Game-cards on the dinner-table in the evening gave the
1873-79] LIFE IN THE "BUSH'' 173
names of the parts of the estate shot over during the day, and
the number of brace killed.
In the evening Lady Wharncliffe sometimes took up her
embroidery frame, and the company would amuse them.selves
by singing "nigger" songs, or in other light and gamesome ways,
till the ladies retired, and the men adjourned to the smoking-
room, not turning in generally till about two in the morning.
I did not find this sort of life very favourable to designing,
and so did not make much progress with my scheme for the
decoration of the billiard-room while there, beyond taking the
measurements, and though afterwards, on returning home, I
made a coloured sketch for the ceiling and frieze, the work
was destined never to come off.
Somehow the Earl seemed to change his plans — at
least, he wrote requesting me to defer the work for the
time being, and if I had other " irons in the fire," as he ex-
pressed it, he hoped I would be able to attend to them first.
I had intended a rather elaborate scheme, including a painted
ceiling with Night and Day and the Hours, and a frieze in
relief, and I fancy my estimate came to rather more than his
lordship intended to spend on the work, and I presume the
two large pictures by the present President of the Royal
Academy painted for the same room must have cost him a
considerable sum. One of these, as I have mentioned, was
" Atalanta's Race," but the first illustrated the old ballad
commonly known as " The Dragon of Wantley," properly
" Wortley," and showed the heroic " More of More Hall "
engaged in his famous fight with the scaly monster while
the captive lady waited to be rescued. The background
commemorated the lovely scenery of the Wortley estate, with
its richly wooded hills and shining river flowing between.
Both these works were seen in the Academy Exhibition at the
time they were painted.
Eventually the decoration of the billiard-room at Wortley
was undertaken by Sir E. J. Poynter himself, which after all,
since he had already furnished the central features in these
pictures, was perhaps the most fitting solution ; but it was
friendly of him to suggest a comparatively unknown artist,
as I then was, for the work.
174 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1873-79
However, my hands were full enough. I had projected
an important picture for the forthcoming first Grosvenor
Gallery Exhibition in response to Sir Coutts Lindsay's in-
vitation, which I hoped to finish in the intervals of my book-
work. This was " The Renascence of Venus." My friend
Wise had seen the coloured sketch for this picture, and
seemed so struck with it that he made what he termed a
" sporting " proposal in regard to the picture. This was
that he would, to secure me against loss, and to enable me
to complete it on the large scale I had projected, advance
me a part of the price, on the understanding that if a pur-
chaser came forward on its being exhibited the money was
to be returned to him. I thought this extremely good of
him, and the help was very timely. I was able to finish
the picture, and in due course it went to the Grosvenor
Gallery, where it occupied a fairly good place in the neigh-
bourhood of the fine group of Burne-Jones's pictures in the
large west gallery.^
^ The picture was well received by the critics, for a wonder. Some of their com-
ments were curious. The World said : ' ' Mr. Burne-Jones's mysteries and miracle
pictures find support in such contributions as Mr. Walter Crane's ' Renaissance of
Venus.' " The Daily Telegraph remarked that though "an artist inexpressibly dear to
all the patrons of children's picture-books, shows that he can be occasionally on
grave labours bent in (70) the delicately drawn and more delicately coloured
'Renaissance of Venus.'" TYie Examiner viz.% patronising but encouraging : "Mr.
Crane has still much to learn in the matter of expressive draughtsmanship, as the nude
figure of Venus testifies ; but the design of his work as a whole exhibits a very
remarkable feeling for ornamental beauty, and the execution of certain parts of it —
of clear sea water, distant landscape, and the almond tree delicately traced against
the sky — is a marvel of pure colour and sound workmanship. Of all the younger
essays in imaginative painting to be found in the Gallery, this is, indeed, to our
thinking, the most original and the most hopeful."
Mr. William Rossetti was good enough to write in the Academy that "Mr.
Crane's chief contribution is rather high up ; however, it can be adequately estimated.
It is named ' The Renaissance of Venus,' a title which one has to think over a little
before one hits upon any genuine meaning for it ; but we suppose it to signify sub-
stantially ' The Re-birth of Beauty ' ; Venus, as the symbol of beauty, re-bom at the
period of art and culture. At any rate, Mr. Crane has painted a charming and
delicious picture, full of gracious purity — one which holds its own well even against
such formidable competition as that of Mr. Burne-Jones. We see a liquid bay and
sands, the ruins of a classic temple, three women bathing, an almond tree in bloom,
white doves darting and hovering about, and in the left foreground the queenly
apparition of Venus. As in Mr. Armstrong's picture, blue is here the predominant
colour, but in a lighter way ; a sweet, clear, brilliant blue, not chilly, but softly
limpid."
1873-79] LIFE IN THE "BUSH" 175
This gallery had a deep coved frieze immediately below
the top lights, and this frieze was decorated from the designs
of Mr. Whistler, and consisted of the phases of the moon
with stars on a subdued blue ground, the moon and stars
being brought out in silver, the frieze being divided into
panels by the supports of the glass roof. The " phases "
were sufficiently separated from each other. The walls were
hung with crimson silk damask of an Italian eighteenth-
century pattern divided by white and gold pilasters. I never
thought this silk suited either the pictures or the cooler
scheme of the cove. It was, however, a notable exhibition
and a notable event in the artistic world.
The group of works of Burne-Jones occupied the whole
of one end of the gallery, and extended part way down on
each side. It included many of the artist's important works
which have since become so well known by reproductions,
such as the " The Days of Creation," " Venus's Mirror,"
" Merlin and Mimue." There were also fine works by
Alphonse Legros and J. McNeill Whistler (it was, I think,
in this exhibition that Whistler had his picture of fireworks
at Cremorne, which so offended Ruskin that it caused him
to write in his notes published on certain pictures of the year
the famous passage which became the subject of libel action
brought by the painter against the critic, resulting, after a
long trial in which various well-known artists gave evidence,
in a verdict for the plaintiff" — damages one farthing), W. B.
Richmond, Albert Moore, Holman Hunt, R. Spencer Stanhope,
besides a few Royal Academicians, such as J. E. Millais and
G. F. Watts and Leighton, and I think also Alma Tadema.
This first Grosvenor Gallery Exhibition was a mixed but dis-
tinguished show. Though Sir Coutts did not take any decisive
line in opposition to the Academy, his object was to show the
works of painters who had been rather ignored by that body
for the most part, so that though he might be said at first to
have, like King David, gathered unto him all those who were
discontented and distressed, and more or less in revolt against
Academic tradition, he seemed quite ready to accept the sup-
port of certain members of that body as well as that of some
amateurs. The position at once taken by the Grosvenor
176 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1873-79
Gallery, however, made it at once one of the most formidable
rival shows the Academy have ever had, and no doubt the
soirees held there and Lady Lindsay's Sunday afternoon
receptions, which were attended by Royalty, the aristocracy,
and the fashionable world, as well as the artists and the
intellectuals, helped to increase the prestige of the Gallery
from the worldly point of view.
Messrs. Comyns Carr and C. E. Halle were appointed by
Sir Coutts to help him in the direction and management of
the Gallery, and he latterly left much in their hands, although
at one time one had the impression that he (Sir Coutts)
desired to fill the part of a sort of modern Lorenzo Magnifico
and befriend, if not to champion, the cause of art and artists
generally. He called a meeting of artists to confer on the
copyright question (at the Gallery), I remember, which was then
certainly in a very unsatisfactory state. The meeting was a
very representative one, and certain resolutions were passed for
the better protection of artists — painters, at all events. William
Morris, who was present, thought the interests of decorative
artists had been rather overlooked, as indeed they were.
In the summer of 1877 we went to Bamborough with
our two young children — I think on the recommendation of
Mr. Howard, who had shown me some admirable studies
he had made there. It proved a long journey and difficult,
with children and nurses ; but we were charmed with the place
when we did eventually get there — the unusual aspect of
the Northumbrian village (the home of Grace Darling and
the scene of her heroism), with a thick grove of trees covering
its green, and the noble keep of the great castle rising into
view at the end of the straggling street which led down to
the sand dunes and the sea. There was a lovely stretch of
sand, and an entire absence of the common objects of an
ordinary seaside resort, and nothing to spoil or vulgarise the
romantic interest of the country, framed inland by the Cheviot
Hills. I found plenty of subjects, and among others
Spindleston Heugh gave me in its curious legend of " The
Laidley Worm," associated with the spot, materials for a
romantic picture which I afterwards carried out and exhibited
at the Grosvenor.
C S
O if
1873-79] LIFE IN THE "BUSH" 177
From Bamborough we paid a visit to Naworth Castle, the
beautiful country home of the Howards, near the Cumberland
border, before returning to London,
I think it was in the autumn of 1877 that we had what
we called our " house-warming," and gathered all our friends
together, holding open house and studio. The company in-
cluded most of those already mentioned, I think. The Countess
of Lovelace (then Miss Stuart- Wortley) was also present.
Previously to this, but the same year, we had met for the
first time Mr. William Blake Richmond (now Sir and K.C.B.) at
the house of the late J. C. Moore, the eldest brother of the
three distinguished artists of that name (the other two being,
respectively, Albert Moore, the decorative figure painter, and
Henry Moore (afterwards R.A.), the famous sea painter). Mr.
J. C. Moore then lived in Kensington Square, No. 8, a charm-
ing eighteenth-century house, since unfortunately pulled down
to make way for the commonplace buildings which have
invaded the old square on the eastern side and quite put it
out of countenance.
J. C. Moore's work was less known than that of his
brothers', though he was the elder, but his landscape studies
in water colour of Rome and the Campagna had a singular
refinement and charm, as also, latterly, his portraits of children,
which had a considerable vogue.
I was glad to meet Richmond the younger (his father, Mr.
George Richmond, the Academician, was then alive), as I had
often admired his work, and we found as we exchanged ideas
we had many sympathies in common, and frequently paid
visits to each other's studios. In those days there was gene-
rally a lawn-tennis party on Saturdays at Beavor Lodge, in
the charming garden of the old house. Both Richmond and
myself were fond of the game, and with his brothers and
other young men who met there, among whom was Mr. Erat
Harrison, the artist (who worked as a pupil in Richmond's
studio at the time), a good set was generally to be had, and
the guests frequently stayed on to an informal dinner or
supper, and pleasant evenings were spent afterwards in the
studio, which was always full of interesting work in painting,
modelling, and decoration.
178 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1873-79
In the midst of more ambitious work, however, I kept
my book-work going. The series of children's picture-books
issued by Messrs, Routledge & Co., which had been added
to year by year, had now come to an end with The Sleeping
Beauty in the Wood. I had offered to continue them if
granted a small royalty, but as the firm took the line rather
of the provincial trader who said, " We lose on every article
we sell, it is only the quantity that makes it pay," there
was nothing further to be hoped for in that direction, so I
struck. Taking counsel with my friend the printer, Mr.
Edmund Evans, we planned a book of another order, and
The Baby's Opera was the result.
I remember my wife and I went to stay at Mr, Evans's
charming house at Witley, in Surrey, and it was there that
the general idea and the size and bulk of the book were
settled upon, Mr. Evans's experience as a printer being
most valuable in the practical details of cost and make up,
and he supplied me with a dummy book, so that I was
enabled to design the volume complete, with the pages in
relation to each other and in strict accordance with the exi-
gencies of the press and the cost of production.
Mr. Evans's house was pleasantly situated on the brow of a
hill commanding a view of Blackdown and the sunny Weald,
associated with the home of Tennyson. His immediate neigh-
bour was Birket Foster, who had built himself a half-timbered
Elizabethan-looking mansion, surrounded by gardens, close by,
so that one could walk from the grounds of one house to the
other. Mrs. Evans was related to Birket Foster, and I was
introduced to him on the occasion of this visit. He was a
large, burly man with a keen look, and proud of his house
and possessions. I think he said he considered his greatest
treasure a little drawing by Frederick Walker, I had always
admired this artist greatly, and in common with many lamented
his untimely death, which had then happened quite recently ;
but what interested me most at that time in Birket Foster's
house was a room — the dining-room, I think — decorated with
a complete series of pictures by Burne-Jones, a fine series of
designs illustrating the history of St. George, and belonging
to the painter's earlier middle period. Another extremely
1873-79] LIFE IN THE "BUSH" 179
interesting work was the original cartoon of Burne-Jones for a
stained-glass window at Oxford (I think for Exeter College
Chapel), in which the history of S. Frideswide was depicted.
The design showed the influence of D. G. Rossetti, and was
crowded with figures and detail on a small scale, and deep and
rich in colour.
The Baby's Opera turned out a great success, although at
first " the Trade " shook its head, as the sight of a five-shilling
book not decently bound in cloth and without any gold on it
was an unheard-of thing, and weighing it in their hands and
finding it wanting in mere avoirdupois weight, some said,
" This will never do ! " — but it did. The first edition of
10,000 copies was soon exhausted, and another was called for,
and another, and another. It has long passed its fortieth
thousand, and, like " Charley's Aunt," is still running.
No doubt the combination of favourite nursery rhymes with
pictures, as well as the music of the old airs, made it attractive,
and commended it to mothers as well as children.
I was indebted to my sister for the arrangement of the
tunes, which she collected with considerable care and research ;
but she was a pianist of much taste and skill, and possessed a
considerable knowledge of music, both ancient and modern,
and the task was a congenial one, I feel sure.
I received many gratifying letters about the book, and
perhaps I may quote one from Professor von Herkomer, which I
thought as coming from an artist of his distinction a particularly
spontaneous and generous tribute.
"Dyreham, Bushey, Herts
December 8, 1876
" Dear Sir, — I have not the pleasure of knowing you
personally, but I hope you will allow me to express my great
admiration for your last book, Baby's Opera. The sweet
humour, the dainty design, and the good drawing of the
pictures make it a delight for every person of taste, no matter
what age he or she may be.
" Wishing you may enrich the world with many such
books yet, I am, dear Sir, yours very truly,
" Hubert Herkomer
"W, Crane, Esq."
i8o AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1873-79
The success of Babys Opera made the publishers " ask for
more," and I had a visit from Mr. Edmund Routledge (whose
daughters I had painted, by the way, in the spring of that
year (1877), a water-colour picture of the two young girls full
length sitting upon a settee) to ascertain whether I would do
another at once, as he said people were already asking " what
was to be Walter Crane's next book."
Having my hands full of other work, and not wishing to
produce a less spontaneous book simply to meet commercial
demands, I was not prepared to accede to his wishes. He
had suggested a Birthday Book, too, an idea which I did not
care for, so that I did not follow up this success immediately.
This unbusiness-like laxity on my part at least gave
others their opportunity, and if I had opened the door with
a new class of books, others soon pressed in.
Among Messrs. Routledge's Christmas announcements (in
the AthencBum) for that year I was rather startled to observe
" Companion Volume to The Baby's Opera " (!), Miss Kate
Greenaway's first children's book, Under the Window, being
thus introduced to the world by the publishers. This I
thought quite misleading, and wrote to protest, and the
announcement was withdrawn. Miss Greenaway, in collabora-
tion with Mr. Edmund Evans as the colour-printer, had pro-
duced a pretty book of nursery rhymes, with illustrations,
treated, as far as the outline and flat tint method went, in a
similar way to mine, but less formal, without the decorative
borders, without the music, and of quite a different size. Her
success from the appearance of this book was assured. She
followed it up quickly, too, so I imagine she made more hay
while the sun shone than I did, which, for the time at least,
shone brightly enough for her, even if it did not shine so
long.
1 did not meet Miss Greenaway till some time afterwards,
and only once. The occasion was an amateur dramatic per-
formance in which Mr. Lionel Tennyson (second son of the
poet) and Miss Eleanor Locker, the daughter of Frederick
Locker (afterwards Locker- Lampson), took part. I do not
recall the name of the play, but it was given in some hall in
or near Argyll Street, Oxford Circus. I forget how we first
1873-79] LIFE IN THE "BUSH" 181
became acquainted with Frederick Locker. He was very
friendly and agreeable, and we exchanged many visits both
before and after his second marriage. He was a great admirer
of Stothard and Chowdowiechi, and had a considerable collec-
tion of the small graceful book illustrations on steel of both
artists arranged in a large folio book. He was an early
collector of book plates, and had one of his own designed by
H. S. Marks, and commissioned me to design him another,
its main feature being a quasi-classical lady, or muse, seated.
In acknowledging the design, his letter ran as follows: —
" 25 Chesham Street, S.W.
1st June [1876]
" My dear Crane, — I am very glad to hear about Mrs.
Crane. We had not heard the good news. I trust she will
go on well and make a good recovery. I congratulate you on
your son.
" The design is delightful, just what I wanted. Perhaps
the expression of the Muse is a sight too elevated, but in that
you flatter me !
" Tell me what I am in your debt. Write soon, and I
will send you a P.O. order. Do not postpone this, as the
workman is worthy of his hire, at least I feel so when I dis-
pose of my fine art (verse). — Yours ever, F. L."
In reply to this, I pointed out that the lady was at
least seated on a modern drawing-room chair, and could
not be considered inappropriate to the author of Vei^s de
Societe.
The characteristic sketch by Du Maurier of Frederick
Locker gave a very excellent idea of him.
The connection of the name of Locker with that of Tenny-
son being close — the daughter of the former having married
the second son of the latter — this seems a not inappropriate
place to recall a meeting with the great poet himself, which
must have been somewhere about this time, though I do not
remember the exact date. My wife and I had been invited to
dinner at the Rev. Stopford Brooke's house in Manchester
Square to meet the great man, and in due course we were
1 82 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1873-79
introduced. He was accompanied, as was usually the case in
his later days, by his eldest son, Hallam Tennyson (who has
since succeeded him in the title). He was evidently devoted
to his father. The poet himself was brusque and almost
rough in his manner, and had a strong burr in his speech, and
spoke in a deep voice, which occasionally became rather like a
growl, especially when he objected to some dish that was
served at the dinner. He was rather taciturn at first, but
melted by degrees, and even told stories (after the ladies had
retired) ; and after dinner in the drawing-room we had the
unusual pleasure of hearing him read a poem of his own.
This was the " Ballad of the Fleet." The poet read in his
deep, impressive voice in a way which reminded one of his
own description in the " Morte d'Arthur " of how the poet
Everard Hall (which may have been himself)
" Read, mouthing out his hollow o's and a's.
Deep-chested music "
Before he began he solemnly enjoined the whole company
— almost swearing everyone — to the strictest secrecy as to the
poem, or his having read it ; and when the reading was finished,
and when the applause and gratitude of the small audience
(which consisted of Mr. Stopford Brooke, his sister, and his
daughters, my wife and self, and Mr. Frederick Wedmore)
had subsided, the Laureate growled out, " Yes, and to think
that those wretched fellows of the Nineteenth Century only
gave me three hundred pounds for it ! "
As the poem shortly afterwards appeared in that
magazine, I presume the injunction to secrecy referred to
the fact of the poet's giving the reading, as if generally
known he might have been pestered with invitations to
repeat it.
One might really have supposed Tennyson to have been
one of the ancient bards, his appearance (Watts's portraits
represent him admirably) quite bearing out the idea, and his
sympathies being entirely with warriors and their deeds, and
his hero, the dogged Sir Richard, who said " Fight on " to the
last. I remember his making some disparaging remark re-
ferring to modern living statesmen as compared with these
1873-79] J-IFE IN THE "BUSH" 183
old Elizabethan admirals, and saying, in regard to their
fighting qualities, " That's rather better than your Gladstones
and Brights," and he turned rather savagely on me when I
ventured to suggest that there might be peaceful ways of
serving one's country also. One was not altogether without'
some suspicion that his ruggedness was partly assumed as a
sort of cloak sometimes.
I remember William Morris describing Tennyson's way of
approaching a picture to show that he had, or affected to have,
but little appreciation of painting. Staring fixedly at the
canvas he would growl (according to Morris), " What's that ? "
The answer perhaps was " A man," but this information only
led to a further question, " What's he doing ? " which was not
very hopeful for the painter 1 This seems curious when one
considers how rich in pictorial suggestion Tennyson's poems
are, and how great his powers as a word-painter.
It was some time in 1877, I think, that our friend Mr.
Thomas Armstrong brought Randolph Caldecott to our house.
He never looked strong, and his quiet manner, low voice, and
gentle but rather serious and earnest way of speaking did not
suggest the extraordinary vivacity and humour of his drawings,
though an occasional humorous remark may have betrayed
a glimpse of such qualities. He consulted me as to his
plans and dealings with publishers in regard to the picture-
books he was then preparing (Edmund Evans again being the
printer), the series which afterwards became so popular, and
I think he may have benefited a little by my experience in
the same sort of work — I mean as regards publishing arrange-
ments — as his books were brought out at a shilling, and he was
able to secure a royalty on them, which I could never get on
my sixpenny toy-books.
His first was The House that Jack Builty which appeared
in I 878, so that Caldecott's work and Miss Greenaway's books
for children became known to the public about the same time.
Before these, however, Caldecott had done his charming illustra-
tions in black and white for Washington Irving's Old Christmas
and Bracebridge Hall, issued by the house of Macmillan. His
picture-books became immensely successful, and I think
perhaps he caught the more popular English taste to some
1 84 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1873-79
extent by his introduction of the sporting element. His
Three Jovial Huntsmen will not easily be forgotten.
Caldecott used to ride himself, and event hunt, and on
some occasions rode down to Beaumont Lodge on horseback.
I remember, on one of his visits, that, to please our little
daughter, he decked a stuffed peahen we had with chaplets
and flowers arranged with quite a decorator's taste.
Punch had a rhyme running —
" The Christmas voUimes well deserve their gains
Of Caldecott, Kate Greenaway, and Crane's,"
which was illustrated by the inventive pencil of Mr. Linley
Sambourne, who introduced our portraits into his cartoon. I
had appeared too, in the same journal, on a former occasion —
with a bird's body and wings — drawn by the same hand.
The success of Baby's Opera even attracted the attention
of the Editor of Pmich, then Mr. (now Sir) F. C. Burnand,
who despatched a brief note to me, of which the following is a
copy : —
"Garrick Club, W.C.
" Dear Sir, — Would you be open to a Christmas book
with me? — Yours truly, F. C. BuRNAND
" I have the notion."
I did not, however, feel at liberty then to take it up,
having my hands full, and so there was another might-have-
been to be recorded.
Still another might-have-been must be mentioned. " Lewis
Carroll " (Mr. C. L. Dodgson of Christ Church, Oxford) wrote
to me early in 1878, saying he had been looking out for a
new illustrator for a forthcoming work of his, as after
Alice in Wonderland and Alice through the Looking-Glass,
Tenniel would do " no more." This Mr. Dodgson evidently
greatly deplored, and naturally felt that it would be most
difficult to find a substitute. His letters gave one the im-
pression of a most particular person, and it is quite possible
that he may have led Tenniel anything but a quiet life during
the time he was engaged upon his inimitable illustrations to
1 873-791 LIFE IN THE "BUSH'' 185
the immortal Alice. The letter from Mr. Dodgson given here
must have been his second letter : it is quite characteristically
theoretic and ingenious.
" Christ Church, Oxford
Jan. 22, 1878
" My dear Sir, — I have read and re-read, with much
interest, your letter dated Dec. 30, and will now make some
remarks on it.
" As to terms, I quite see that it is fair to charge for two
or three drawings at a higher rate than for a large number.
But you did not at all misunderstand me : I am not contem-
plating a book with fifty pictures now. No such book is at
present in existence. I was merely pointing out what it would
come to if I were to write such a book and pay for the
pictures at that rate. However, it is satisfactory to know that
the rate in such a case would be lower — and your suggestion
of ' sharing profits ' is well worth considering
" You are probably more learned on the subject of ancient
art than I am : but my theory is that among savages there is
a much earlier stage than outline drawing — viz. mere repro-
duction (in clay, etc.) of the solid form. I imagine that you
would find idols and other representations in solid form among
nations where any kind of drawing is unknown. The next
step I should expect to be alto-relievo (arising from the discovery
that you can only see one side of an image at once) : and this
would gradually flatten down. Then the effect (with a side
light) would be of a flat surface with strong black lines of
shadow marking the outline of the form represented. And
the next step would be to paint lines representing these
shadows: and such lines would be broad at first, and would
narrow on discovering that their breadth was not an
essential feature. However, this is all rather theory than
actual knowledge.
" I have now made up my mind to get you to do Bruno's
Revenge at anyrate. But instead of making them all full-page
pictures, suppose you give me £60 worth of work, in any
sizes and shapes you think proper, keeping the Alice page as
your outside limit. You can take your own time for it (up to
a year, let us say), and can either draw on the wood at once,
1 86 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1873-79
or on paper and transfer to wood (at your own expense),
keeping the drawings yourself. I shall be glad to hear
whether this proposal is satisfactory to you. — Believe me
very truly yours, C. L. DODGSON "
I believe I agreed to meet his views if possible, but my
hands were so full of all sorts of other work that I fear the
year went by without my being able to take the matter up.
The story, too, of which . he sent me a portion, was of a very
different character to Alice — a story with a religious and
moral purpose, with only an occasional touch of the ingenuity
and humour of Alice, so that it was not nearly so inspiring or
amusing. It afterwards appeared, I think, with illustrations
by Mr. Harry Furniss.
The argument in Mr. Dodgson's letter about outline was
drawn forth, I think, by his rather objecting to my use of a
rather thick woodcut sort of line in my illustrations to Mr.
Molesworth's stories, which appeared to have sent him to me
in the first instance, and by my defence. I can well under-
stand that after Tenniel's hair-like pencilling, mine probably
looked rough and coarse to him.
I think it was through our mutual friend Mr. Armstrong
that we first met the Du Mauriers, and I remember my wife
and I rode over to see them while they were living at the
house on the top of Hampstead Hill at the period when bits
of old Hampstead frequently appeared in the backgrounds
of the artist's Punch drawings, and I think also the big
St. Bernard was then alive.
Later I was a collaborateur with Du Maurier in a work
of a rather unusual sort — at least for him. A gentleman
(introduced by Caldecott, by the way) wanted a silver cup, or
centrepiece, on a large scale, and wished a rather elaborate
scheme of design carried out in it, beginning with primitive
man and apparently ending with a modern fashionable garden-
party. The earlier periods of civilisation were to occupy the
massive stand of the cup, and these I was to design ; but Du
Maurier was wanted for modern society upon the outside of
the bowl of the cup. My designs were to be in relief, but Du
Maurier's were to be engraved on the surface of the silver,
1873-79]
LIFE IN THE "BUSH"
187
I believe. He was rather puzzled with the commission, I re-
member, and came to see me about it. Eventually he did a
sort of extended frieze of Punch drawings representing modern
society amusing itself according to the seasons, and introducing
his favourite types — elegant ladies, bishops, swells, and children.
My designs were modelled in wax for casting in silver by
Messrs. Hunt & Roskill's artists at their works, where I went
to see them in progress, and the cup was made to a section
I had furnished.
At an evening at some friend's house, I remember hearing
Du Maurier sing an amusing song in German broken English,
playing the accompaniment himself in quite an accomplished
drawing-room entertainer's manner. This was long before
Peter Ibbetson and Trilby^ and before the world had any
ALLEGORICAL SKETCH FOR BASE OF SILVER CUP
idea of his resources as a novelist. His fellow-students in
Paris, upon whose experiences and manner of life many of
the incidents in Trilby were founded, discovered themselves and
their friends also under thin disguises as characters in the book,
and were wont to smile knowingly, as if they were aware of
exactly how much dressing and make-up they and the incidents
had received at the hands of the versatile artist-novelist.
I recall his telling me about his first interview with the
telephone at some inaugural trial when it was first introduced.
Du Maurier, as the representative of Punchy was requested to
send a message, but he couldn't think of anything to say at the
moment ; but there being no escape, he tried Mr. Punch's time-
honoured war-cry — or whatever it is — and shouted " Roo-ti-
too-it " down the receiver, but felt rather " stumped " when the
humour of it failed to impress the man at the other end, who
merely said, " I beg your pardon ? "
1 88 AN ARTISrS REMINISCENCES [1873-79
In 1878 I completed a large picture for the Grosvenor
Gallery Summer Exhibition. This was " The Fate of Per-
sephone." Pluto and his black horses and gilded biga are
supposed to have suddenly emerged from a volcanic fissure in
the earth in Enna, and surprised the goddess as she stooped
to pluck the fateful narcissus. Her figure, in white with a
yellow mantle, is relieved against the black horses rearing up
behind her, as Pluto, in Roman armour and fanciful helmet,
lays his hand upon her. Her three frightened maiden
attendants, like the fates, witness the scene, divided from
Persephone by the crack in the earth. The foreground is
covered with flowers, chiefly narcissus and anemones ; a
mountainous country sloping to the dark horizon of the sea
with blossoming orchards and the walls and towers of a city with
a peak in eruption beyond form the landscape background.
A pomegranate tree in blossom in front suggests the legend of
Persephone and the promise of her return to earth, while a
tiny figure on the mountain was meant to indicate the sorrow
of Demeter.
This picture is now in the public gallery at Karlsruhe,
having been purchased while on exhibition in Germany for
that collection.
Mr. George Howard at that time in a letter written from
Venice says —
" I have not seen many newspaper criticisms of the
Grosvenor, so I do not know what our instructors say about
your work this time, but I heard from Ned Jones [E. Burne-
Jones], whose opinion we value a little more, who was really
greatly pleased with your ' Proserpine.' " He adds, " I am very
glad to hear that you are doing another Baby-book. It can't
be as good as the last, but if it is at all like it, it will do. I
am also glad to hear that ' Psyche ' is getting on. I shall be
very anxious to see her when I get home. I suppose that I
shall stay in London this next winter, and her presence will
tend to cheer me in the absence of Italian sun.
" Here there is little contemporary art going on, so far as I
know.
"One Bunney, a friend of Ruskin's, does wonderfully accurate
1873-79] LIFE IN THE "BUSH" 189
topographical drawings, chiefly of architecture. There is also
a young landscape painter — Williams — who does pretty things,
but not in a very good style."
The " Baby-book " my friend speaks of was The Baby's
Bouquet, which I was then scheming as a companion to The
Babys Opera, and it was published for the Christmas season
of '78-79. It was a book of the same size, and my sister
again selected and arranged the musical accompaniment. The
rhymes and songs included one or two French and German
ones. This book, like Baby's Opera, however, is still before
the public, and though it never quite reached the same numbers
as its predecessor, it was quite successful, and keeps fairly up
with it in popular favour.
There was an " Exposition Universe! " at Paris in this
year 1898 (and my "Venus" was invited to appear in the
British Fine Art section), and my wife and I went over for a
little visit in the course of the summer, and saw the wonders of
the fair. Bartoldi's colossal statue of Liberty, destined for New
York harbour, was shown there, I think in the model stage,
and there was a central " Street of Nations " which was very
picturesque and amusing. Entering by way of the Trocadero,
then quite new, on a sunny morning, with the fountains playing
and the buzz of a very cosmopolitan crowd, it was a gay scene
enough. There were miles of pictures and sculpture as well
as of machinery, an enormous captive balloon that looked,
when tethered below the buildings, as if some fairy had blown
a huge dome, like a bubble, over some fantastic palace.
There were all the usual attractions — and repulsions — of such
shows, which usually suggest the vast departments of a gigantic
Universal Provider, relieved by some genuine and interesting
art, and, in spite of blatant commercialism, a certain stimulating
feeling of the oneness of the world, and the wonderful results
of human invention and co-operative human labour — and the
thought of what they might yet accomplish in a true
commonwealth ! It was fine summer weather, and we had a
pleasant time altogether.
After the " Psyche " frieze was finished, I was asked by Dr.
William Spottiswoode (the eminent printer and scientist, to
I90 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1873-79
whom I was introduced by Sir E. J. Poynter) to undertake a
rather extensive work — the interior decoration of the large
saloon at Combe Bank, near Sevenoaks, his country home.
The ceiling was flat, divided into panels by existing mouldings,
and he wished me to furnish a design for the whole in relief.
There was also the chimney breast to be treated and the doors.
I prepared plans and drawings for this work, which
naturally occupied a considerable time in completion, and I
needed assistance.
As it happened, about this time a man who worked as a
sculptor's assistant or " studio ghost " called to see me with, I
think, a recommendation from Richmond. He bore in his
hands a cast of a bull's head from nature, which he offered for
sale. The man was in very low water and in need of work,
so I bought the bull's head and started him modelling
something from a drawing, and he succeeded so well that I was
able to keep him going on preparatory and subsidiary work,
in which he was a most useful assistant — although rather
uncertain sometimes. His name was Osmund Weeks.
I had devised a scheme for this ceiling embodying the sun
and the seasons and signs of the Zodiac in the centre in a
circular panel, supported from two sides by large winged
figures. The side panels had borders of small figures of
the Hours with hour-glasses intertwined with the snake of
time, and four small square panels represented Morn, Noon,
Eve, and Night respectively. Four large panels at each angle
of the ceiling were filled by figures of the planets — Venus,
Mars, Neptune, and Uranus — and in circular panels at the
centres of each side and ends were Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury,
and the Moon.
The figures were all modelled direct in gesso composed of
fine Italian plaster of Paris mixed with thin glue, or size, and
worked with cotton-wool soaked in the gesso on fibrous plaster
panels which were made for me by Messrs. Jackson of Rath-
bone Place ; the repeating borders and mouldings being cast
in plaster.
The whole ceiling was coloured by bronze and white metal.
The design is reproduced in Millar's work on Plastering^
Plain and Decorated.
i( y '"\
h,:'' 0>
1873-79] LIFE IN THE "BUSH" 191
The chimney breast I designed was a semi - classical
s+^ructure in wood, with pilasters at each side, and semicircular
recesses over a high mantelshelf, below which, in a semicircular
tympanum, I designed a relief of the Fates, working in a web,
the net of which radiated outwards from the centre to the edge
— shell-wise. Every detail was specially designed, including
the cheeks of the fireplace, in brass repousse, the basket grate
and the fireirons and standards and the fender.
The walls were hung with a stamped and gilded Renascence
design I had made for Messrs. Jeffrey & Co., and there was
a frieze composed of certain late Venetian paintings (previously
acquired by Dr. Spottiswoode) of Amorini in procession or
playing, carrying fruits and emblems, etc. The intervals
between these canvases I filled by similar figures in metallic
colours. The doors and shutter panels I also decorated by
figure designs painted on canvas and affixed, treated as to colour
in the same metallic way, so that the prevailing tone of the
room was bronze and silver.
Dr. Spottiswoode was a most appreciative as well as a
most considerate client and kind host. He would constantly
spontaneously send me what lawyers would call " refreshers,"
as the work necessarily took a long time to complete (I
think about two years), and was expensive.
The following letters are characteristic : —
" Dear Mr. Crane, — Many thanks for your note. We
are very glad that my suggestion recommends itself to your
mind. We have full confidence in your skill in making your
work harmonise with the old paintings. Although I do not mean
to undervalue the difficulty of the task, I am sure that you
will do your best towards this, as the paintings were the
fons et origo of the whole business, and we set store by them.
The silk for the walls is also ancient, from some Italian
church or palace.
" One more thing. Could not you and Mrs. Crane come
down on the Saturday, August 16, instead of the Monday?
We expect John Collier and his bride, and perhaps one or
two other friends. — Believe me yours very sincerely,
" W. Spottiswoode " -
192 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1873-79
The above was a type-written letter, a method Dr.
Spottiswoode was one of the earliest to use, I think. He
was in the habit of using the typewriter for his scientific
work, and so got into the way of adopting it for private corre-
spondence. The silk for the walls was not finally used, as my
stamped design suited the general scheme best.
Dr. Spottiswoode was also the first, I think, to use the
electric light for domestic purposes. He used, when in
residence at Combe Bank, to have a light going like a beacon
on the top of the house.
The following was in autograph, and shows how gracefully
he could send one money : —
" Her Majesty's Printing Office, East Harding Street
Fetter Lane, E.G., Feb. 13, 1880
" Dear Mr. Crane, — Perhaps the enclosed may be a not
unwelcome ' Valentine,' although I hope it may reach you
overnight.
" This makes £'JOO, I think. — Yours very sincerely,
"W. Spottiswoode"
Dr. and Mrs. Wm. Spottiswoode entertained at that time
very largely, and frequently invited very large afternoon parties
in the summer down to Combe Bank. Special trains conveyed
the guests from Charing Cross to Sevenoaks, and at the station
brakes and carriages of different kinds were waiting to drive
them to Combe Bank, a distance of three or four miles.
At these receptions many well-known and distinguished
people were present, especially eminent men of science, the
Royal Society being strongly represented.
It was at Combe Bank that we first met Professor Huxley
(whose daughter, a talented artist, was the " bride " of the
Hon. John Collier mentioned in Dr. Spottiswoode's letter
given above). I remember he said that watching the different
methods in which his daughter and his son-in-law (John Collier)
worked (I think when they were both drawing the Professor's
portrait), he said he had come to the conclusion that the first
might be called " a creatist," and the second " an evolutionist,"
as in the first instance the likeness was at once visible in the
'873-79]
LIFE IN THE "BUSH"
193
sketch, and it did not advance much farther ; while in the
second the likeness was not recognisable at first, and only by
degrees was made apparent and got more and more like as
it was completed. This was a characteristic and interesting
application of scientific observation to the artistic temperament.
A little caricature I made at the time we were staying
at Combe Bank, our little daughter Beatrice being with us,
shows her among the Lions — the Lions being Dr. Wm.
Spottiswoode, Sir Fredk. Pollock, Professor Huxley, and the
Hon. G. C. Brodrick, who were of the house party at
the time.
â– TKlHoh.
ii^,.U. br\ij'nSf>mu/oi>h Sir r Pol/ocic Pfof.H^Tdey
Hi,
BEATRICE AMONG THE LIONS AT COMBE BANK (1881)
The great evolutionist philosopher, Herbert Spencer, was
also a guest at Combe Bank. I remember seeing him at one
of the afternoon receptions in deep converse with another
savant, in a frock-coat of antique cut and ample cravat in
the style of the early " fifties." He was a very distinct figure
in a fashionable crowd of the early " eighties."
Professor and Mrs. Tyndall were generally seen at these
gatherings, and on one occasion we were guests in the house
at the same time. The Professor was extremely genial, and
always full of interesting talk — at that I think it mostly
turned on his Alpine experiences. Among the Spottiswoodes'
13
194 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1873-79
guests were individualities as diverse as Moncure D. Conway,
Matthew Arnold, and Oscar Wilde.
Of Matthew Arnold I recall our host telling us that he had
been trying for years to induce him to lecture at the Royal
Institution, and that he had at last consented, but on one
condition — that his wife should not be present ! Whether
this was an indication of extreme shyness or nervousness I
do not know, but there was no appearance of either on the
occasion I heard Matthew Arnold lecture at the Royal Insti-
tution. He wore a single eyeglass, which always seems to
give an air of deliberation, if not of superiority. He spoke
very calmly and distinctly, and his subject was " Equality " —
an essay afterwards published. I remember his delivery of the
famous sentence —
" Inequality materialises the upper classes, vulgarises the
middle classes, and brutalises the lower classes."
Of Moncure Conway I have already spoken. He was
always very friendly, as also Mrs. Conway and his son and
daughter. Mrs. Conway was a sister of R. H. Dana, who
wrote Two Years Before the Mast, a book which had a con-
siderable vogue, and gave a very vivid idea of what a sailor's
life is really like.
The ill-fated Oscar Wilde was a notable figure in Society
at that time. He had come up from Oxford, the winner of
the Newdegate prize (for poetry), full of brilliant promise,
singularly gifted and sympathetic with all refined forms of art,
and, despite some occasional affectations, inspired by a really
genuine love of beauty. He led the so-called " .Esthetic "
movement of the early " eighties," and was constantly cari-
catured in Punch, which was particularly satirical on the
subject. Some thought, indeed, that Du Maurier, who was
answerable for the creation of Postlethwaite and Maudle,
was rather unduly bitter against the sources of some of his
own inspiration, seeing that he was at one time certainly
influenced as a designer by the pre-Raphaelite, or rather the
modern primitive-romantic school of D. G. Rossetti, then called
intense.
Oscar Wilde was certainly the petted favourite of Society
at one time ; no private view or first night was complete without
1K#
PAGE FROM THE GLADSTONE GOLDEN WEDDING ALBUM
DESIGNED l!Y WALTER CKANE, i88q
1873-79] LIFE IN THE "BUSH" 195
him. If he ever fooled people he was also befooled. He
squandered the most brilliant talents on trifles, but showed even
in his brilliant trifling gleams of real power and imagination.
He would have been happy in pagan times, but could not
adjust himself to modern British suburban ideals or morals.
He fought the Philistines with delicate weapons, and at last,
defying them, and overstepping ordinary bounds in the pursuit
of pleasure — though perhaps not more guilty of perverted
excesses than some others — he committed the fatal crime of
being found out, was instantly dropped by Society, and so
fell, and was crushed by the heavy foot of the Law. In
De Profundis he seems to give an analysis of his own nature
as well as of his feelings.
I never saw much of him and latterly quite lost sight of
him, but in his earlier days used to meet him here and there
in the world, and he came to our house several times with
his wife, and we exchanged visits. He got me to do some
illustrations to a book of stories he published under the title
of The Happy Prince, and Other Stories, and at one time he
edited Little Folks, a magazine for children published by
Messrs. Cassell. Our daughter in her childhood showed
considerable taste for writing verse, and he, being shown a
little poem of hers (" Blush Roses "), wanted it for the magazine,
where it duly appeared, accompanied with a design of my
own.^ The following note refers to this : —
"16 TiTE Street, Chelsea, S.W.
" My dear Crane, — Many thanks for the charming design
and for Beatrice's pretty little poem. I will have it reproduced
at once. — Very truly yours, OscAR Wilde
" (A horrid pen.) "
It was at Oscar Wilde's house in Tite Street that I met
on one occasion Sir Richard Burton, the famous Eastern
traveller, Arabic scholar, and translator of the Arabian Nights.
^ A series of verses written by her on "The Months," and illustrated by me,
appeared in Little Folks afterwards, and these were also issued by Messrs. Cassell in
a separate form. She also contributed some short stories'for children to the same
journal.
196 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1873-79
It was in his later days, when he seemed somewhat bowed by
age and infirmity. The rest of the company were mostly stand-
ing up and talking, as is usual at afternoon " At Homes," but
Burton remained seated in an arm-chair, like a monarch, and
people were brought up by the host to be presented to him.
One had the impression of a massive personality, and one
with whom it would not be pleasant to quarrel. I always
thought Leighton's portrait of him extremely fine, though
perhaps a little less rugged than the reality ; but of course
Burton was much older and greyer than the date of that
portrait when I saw him.
In 1878 Mr. Sidney Colvin introduced to me Mr. Robert
Louis Stevenson, who was just about to publish, through
Messrs. Kegan Paul & Co., his first book, and they wanted
a frontispiece for it. He writes characteristically to me about
it, and with all a young author's impatience, and is amusing,
but a little " cheeky " perhaps.
"BuRFORD Bridge Inn, Box Hill
Dorking, Surrey
" Mr. Crane,
" Dear Sir, — I hope that is the orthodox beginning.
Mr. Kegan Paul has asked me to call on you ; and I have
tried to do so. Owing to time and tide, that could not be, so
I take the other liberty of writing,
" You have written to him promising a frontispiece for a
fortnight hence for a little book of mine — An Inland Voyage —
shortly to appear. Mr. Paul is in dismay. It appears that
there is a tide in the afiairs of publishers which has the
narrowest moment of flood conceivable : a week here, a week
there, and a book is made or lost ; and now, as I write to
you, is the very nick of time, the publisher's high noon.
" I should deceive you if I were to pretend I had no more
than a generous interest in this appeal. For, should the
public prove gullible to a proper degree, and one thousand
copies net, counting thirteen to the dozen, disappear into
its capacious circulating libraries, I should begin to perceive
a royalty which visibly affects me as I write.
" I fear you will think me rude, and I do mean to be
1873-79] LIFE IN THE "BUSH" 197
importunate. The sooner you can get the frontispiece for
us, the better the book will swim, if swim it does. — Believe
me yours very hopefully,
" Robert Louis Stevenson
" My mother (a good judge) says this is obscure and
affected. What I mean is, couldn't you get that frontispiece
sooner ? R. L. S.
" My mother says the last is impolite : couldn't you as
a favoui^ get the frontispiece sooner ? R. L. S."
The frontispiece was duly designed and engraved on
wood. It shows Fan among the reeds by a riverside, with
his pipes, resting after the classical river-god manner on a
hydria from the mouth of which the water flows. R. L. S.
and his friend are seen paddling their canoes beyond the
reeds, and on the crest of a hill in the distance a ploughman
appears against the rays of a setting sun.
The subject is framed by an architectural border in which
the two canoes Aretkusa and Cicarette figure, and a medallion
of a centaur bearing off a nymph, all of which details are
allusive to passages in the book, which was very charmingly
written. So that I may be said to have helped to launch
Stevenson's first (canoe) book, which was to be the forerunner
of such a remarkable literary career. The following year
Stevenson brought out, through the same house, another book,
Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes, and again I was called
upon to furnish a frontispiece, in which I introduced various
incidents in the travels in what one reviewer described as a
" Bunyanesque " way. We had an amusing correspondence
over this one too, but I have unfortunately mislaid Stevenson's
letters. I wanted his portrait for it, I remember, and he sent
me several — one in a velvet jacket and grey felt hat was
labelled " The Baronet."
I met Stevenson once or twice about this period at the
Savile Club, in its old quarters in Savile Row. He used to
stand on the hearthrug in the smoking-room, the centre of
an admiring circle, and discourse, very much in the same style
as that in which he wrote. It gave one the impression of
198 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1873-79
artificiality rather — I mean his manner of speaking and choice
of words, as if carefully selected and cultivated. If a remark
was offered by one of the company he would perhaps accept
it, and turn it about, much as a conjurer does when he borrows
a handkerchief or a hat from someone in his audience ; or
perhaps he would work it into his next sentence, returning
it to his interlocutor improved — wrapped in silver paper,
metaphorically speaking.
His personal appearance was quite as unusual as his
speech. A long, pale thin face and lank hair, quick and
penetrating eyes, and a rather sardonic smile. The world
in general, especially in clubland, wore white shirts and collars
as a rule, but Stevenson sported black ones.
I never saw him afterwards, nor was I called upon again
to illustrate anything of his.
The two books I speak of were both, I believe, extremely
successful. I have a copy of each in the original cloth as
first published.
Another member of the Savile at this time who sought
my co-operation in a book was Professor J. M. D. Meiklejohn
of St. Andrews University. He had a scheme for a primer
embodying a method of teaching to read by associating words
with the objects they signify, and without forcing a child to
learn the series of misleading and cumbrous sounds which
represent the letters of the alphabet.
He planned a book called The Golden Primer, to be issued
as a Christmas book full of pictures in colour, which I supplied
to his text, and I believe it had considerable success. He
intended to follow it with others, covering the whole field of
an educational course, but did not live to carry out his schemes.
Professor Meiklejohn was a very hard worker, and such books
as these were only done in the intervals of heavy educational
works — courses of lectures, and so on. He was most enthusiastic
as to what might be done to improve the methods of teaching
to read, and most pleasant and sympathetic to work with.
The direction in which he was labouring as a pioneer has since
been pursued by others, and the children of the present age
must be having a better time of it than their fathers and
mothers in acquiring the art of deciphering the English language.
1873-79] LIFE IN THE "BUSH" 199
I did a large number of drawings for him for The Golden
Primer, and drew them on a large scale, so that the Professor
could use these illustrations when he lectured on the subject,
and they were reduced for the book.
Professor Meiklejohn died at Ashford, April 16, 1902.
One of our visitors about this time at Beaumont Lodge was
Mr. William Russell, a connection of the Duke of Bedford, a
very complete picture of an old gentleman of a past age, both
as to manners and dress. He was a friend of Mr. Louis Huth,
and was himself a collector, and among other things collected
my picture-books, which were the prime cause of his friendly
interest in us. He got me a commission from the Duke to
draw out on a large scale the ducal arms, to form the centre
of a portiere to be embroidered, I think, at the School of
Needlework for the Duke's house. I remember Mr. Russell
taking me to see the Duke and Duchess in their London house
to talk about the work. We lunched with them, but the
Duke's own lunch appeared to consist simply of a cup of
cocoa. He was a small man, and in appearance resembled
the later portraits of Lord John Russell in the days when he
grew a beard.
Mr. Leyland of Prince's Gate I also met about this time.
He was a notable patron of art and very wealthy, but became
still more celebrated as the owner of the famous peacock room
decorated by Whistler.
I recall a dinner in that room he gave to a company of
artists, most of them exhibitors at the Grosvenor, I think, as
well as some R.A.'s. Burne-Jones was there, and Val. Prinsep,
G. H. Boughton, E. J. Poynter, T. Armstrong, Spencer
Stanhope (I think), Comyns Carr, and others. I sat next to
Burne-Jones, and the conversation happened to turn on
Whistler's work, and I expressed my appreciation of its artistic
quality. I was rather surprised to find, however, that Burne-
Jones could not, or would not, see his merits as an artist, or
recognise the difference of his aims. He seemed to think
there was only one right way of painting, and after a little
discussion, he said, with some emphasis, '* This is the only
time we ever had a difference and — it shall be the last ! " I
forgot, or did not realise, that the libel case of Whistler v.
200 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1873-79
Ruskin was about to come on, in which Burne- Jones was an
important witness for the defendant, and, in fact, though much
against the grain, and only under the strongest pressure from
Ruskin, he undertook to appear in court for him. Under the
circumstances he could hardly afford to allow any credit to
Whistler.
Mr. Leyland had a fine collection of D. G. Rossetti's
pictures, chiefly of the later period. He was also the owner
of Burne-Jones's "Venus's Mirror." I remember his saying
something kind about my " Venus," but he did not offer to
purchase it.
On another occasion he and his daughters gave a fancy
dress ball, which was largely attended by artists and their
wives and daughters. There were many good costumes, and the
sight was a pretty one, in the handsome house adorned with so
many fine pictures, and affording so decorative a background
as the peacock room, which was used for the supper.
Another notable artists' fancy ball about this period which
my wife and I attended was given by Mr. and Mrs. G. H.
Boughton, as a kind of house-warming on the occasion of
entering their new house (from a design by Mr. Norman
Shaw, I believe) on the summit of Campden Hill. Each guest
on entering wrote his or her name in a large book with the
character each represented opposite. There were a very large
number of guests, and they included, I think, most of the
artistic celebrities of London. The stream of many-coloured
costumes on the picturesque staircase, where there was a
tremendous crush, formed a curious sight. Amid the dresses
of all periods appeared a grey-haired, amiable-looking gentleman
in his shirt and dress trousers only. This was puzzling to
most people, until he explained that he was one of the
" Corsican brothers," — I suppose the ghost of one, rather, as a
red silk handkerchief on his left side was supposed to indicate
the result of the duel.
Among the guests was the great Whistler disguised as a
Spanish cavalier in black, with a big sombrero. I was all in
white, as Cimabue, so we presented a complete contrast both
of style and colour, which may have been quite symbolic ! I
had met him previously at one of his own private views, and
1873-79] LIFE IN THE «BUSH'' 201
said to him by way of greeting that I thought I had had the
pleasure of meeting him before ; but he was not at all inclined
to be friendly, and only said drily, " Very likely," — and we
didn't get any further.
I imagine he always had the idea that I belonged to a
necessarily hostile camp ; for on another occasion, much later,
I met him coming into the Grosvenor Gallery, on a varnishing
day, I think, arm-in-arm with Mr. Theodore Rousell, a close
friend of his at that time. Mr. Rousell, whom I knew, dropped
his arm and came forward in a very cordial way to greet me,
and was eager to introduce me to Whistler, — whom he had
previously told me had actually admired a drawing of mine ! —
but as we had met before it was unnecessary. Whistler's
manner, however, was just as cold as before, so — " we
measured swords and parted."
About this time, I think, I had a visit from Mr. Alfred
Waterhouse, the eminent architect, at that period engaged upon
the Manchester Town Hall. He was anxious to persuade the
City Councillors to adopt a good scheme of decoration for
the rooms, and his idea was to secure the co-operation of
certain artists with mural and decorative feeling for the
proposed work, on the supposition that different rooms might
be allotted to different artists. He had invited W. B.
Richmond and myself to suggest subjects and give estimates
for painting them, which we did. In fact, I think it was
Richmond who suggested to Mr. Waterhouse he should call
on me. However, nothing came of it, as the Manchester
authorities preferred to have portraits of Manchester worthies
on the walls of the rooms instead of any decoration — apart,
of course, from the large hall where Madox Brown was finally
commissioned to paint his famous series of frescoes and mural
pictures dealing with the history of Manchester.
It was not until some years later that I made the
acquaintance of Madox Brown himself, when our mutual friend,
Charles Rowley of Manchester, brought him one day to see us
at Beaumont Lodge.
My friend J. R. Wise now had a great scheme in which
he wanted to engage my services as illustrator.
He had had an accession of fortune through the death of
202 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1873-79
his uncle, Hurrell Froude (who had himself written a curious
book of verse, with the title Stones from a Quarry^ under
the nom de plume of " Henry Brown "), and was now apparently
in much easier circumstances than of old, I was glad to find.
He had written The First of May, a Fairy Masque^ and
proposed to publish it as an illustrated gift-book. He was
lodging in the village of Edwinstowe, in Sherwood Forest, a
district of which as an old Forest lover he was exceedingly
fond, and in the spring of 1878 he asked me down to stay with
him, and then read his poem to me, and I began to make
some preliminary designs for it, and together we made out a
scheme of arrangement and list of illustrations for the whole
book.
During the summer I paid him another visit, and on that
occasion we were both invited to stay at Newstead Abbey, then
occupied by a family of the name of Webb, with whom
Wise had become acquainted. It was very interesting to
see the ancient home of Lord Byron, and the Webbs were
most hospitable, and showed us all the treasures of the
house.
We also made an excursion together to see Wingfield
Manor House, a very fine example of a fortifiable stone house
of the fifteenth century, partly ruinous and partly occupied as
a farmhouse, but retaining its fine gateway and flanking
towers. We afterwards went on to Helmsley, in Yorkshire, with
the object of seeing Rievaulx Abbey, staying at the inn in the
village, where I remember we met Mr. Inchbold, the landscape
painter, who was in his day associated with pre-Raphaelite
methods and who had a considerable repute.
I did some water colours of the fine ruined Abbey church
and refectory, surrounded by the rich woodlands of that
beautiful valley and encircled by the running stream. I was
sketching one evening, on the north terrace of Duncombe
Park, one of the Roman temples which stand in contrast to
the Gothic abbey below, when Lord Faversham and his
shooting party came along ; old Lord Winchilsea was of the
party, an old-world-looking sportsman in brown. The house
is a characteristic example of Vanbrugh's design.
After leaving Wise, I paid a visit to Naworth Castle, and
THE ROLL OF FATE
WAr.TER CKANE, 1882
(Somerset Jie.iiiiiiont Colt.)
1873-79] LIFE IN THE "BUSH" 203
made a drawing of the garden and gate-house, with the repre-
sentatives of three generations on the terrace, as Mrs. Howard
said at the time, including the Hon. Charles Howard, his son
George Howard, and his son's son — also Charles (now Lord
Morpeth).
This drawing was afterwards sold at the Grosvenor Gallery,
where it was exhibited the next year.
Mr. Philip Webb was staying at the Castle at this time.
He had been designing some interior oak fittings, and had
made a delightful panelled room for Lady Carlisle in one of
the towers. The family now wanted to build a new wing, but
Webb as a staunch member of the Society for the Preservation
of Ancient Buildings would have nothing to do with it. " No,"
he said ; " you must pay me off now. I can't do any more."
From Naworth I joined my wife and little ones at Deal,
where they were enjoying the sea air, the ships in the
Downs, and the sight of Walmer Castle, and we had some
rides about the country, and visited the old town of
Sandwich.
I joined my friend Wise again in the spring of 1879, to
carry on the work of illustrating his book. It was an unusually
cold and inclement spring, and the trees were very slow in
getting their greenery on, even in May, when the country
in these parts hardly looked more advanced than it often is in
March. North-easters prevailed generally. The Forest, how-
ever, about Edwinstowe and Ollerton was very beautiful, and I
returned there in the summer, with wife and children, to enjoy
it better and see it in its full panoply of leaves and bracken, also
to carry on the work of the designs to The First of May, which
took some time, as there were many pages, and each page had a
decorative border and figure design upon it, while the whole of
the text I inscribed to be in harmony with the designs. The
drawings were made in pencil, and were afterwards reproduced
by photogravure by Messrs. Goupil & Co., the plates being done
in Paris. The reproductions on a slightly reduced scale were
very well done, and gave the silvery delicate effect of the pencil
drawings very successfully. A letter from J, R. Wise I give
here shows his state of feeling about the work at the outset,
and his extreme thoughtfulness. '
204 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1873-79
" DuNSLEY, Whitby
July 5, 1878
" My dear Crane, — Just the shortest of notes to know
whether your plans will admit of your reaching Yorkshire this
summer.
" Please, however, do not put yourself out on my account.
I have great misgivings about the success of The First of
May, even should it appear under your auspices, and feel
unwilling that you should risk your reputation over such a
hazardous enterprise.
" I have had the enjoyment of writing it, and that is after
all sufficient for me.
" I venture to speak thus plainly, so that you may fairly
understand the situation,
" Let me, however, have a line from you, so that I may be
able to arrange my plans.
" I trust that both you and Mrs. Crane have enjoyed the
Paris Exhibition, and with kindest regards to you both, very
sincerely yours, John R. Wise
" P.S. — Remember I think nothing about my play. It can
well afford to wait ten years before it is published, as it has
waited so many. Let this be your last concern,"
I varied my work by making some water-colour studies of
the delightful Forest scenery. Edwinstowe was not far from
Thoresby Park, the seat of Earl Manvers, a large mansion of
mid-nineteenth-century design (by Salvin), and near to some of
the finest woods, though the house stood divested of trees.
Rufford Abbey was also in the immediate neighbourhood, and
the " Dukeries " not far off. We made a driving tour to
Roche Abbey (a striking ruin by the waterside), and passed
through the whole district, my wife, who was always an expert
driver, driving Wise and myself on a dog-cart the whole
distance and back.
In the autumn I joined my friend Wise again, alone, at
Edwinstowe, to work at our Fairy Masque, and made
considerable progress with the designs, with which he was
highly delighted. To make a diversion, we made a little
[873-79]
LIFE IN THE "BUSH
205
walking tour, visiting Hardwicke Hall and Bolsover Castle.
The tapestries, the plaster decorations in coloured relief, the
pictures and old furniture of the first named, that fine old
Elizabethan mansion of which the Duke of Devonshire is the
fortunate owner, interested me vastly, and its striking situation
on the top of a steep green hill gives it a unique character, the
towers rising above the fine trees of the park as one ascended
the hill.
We had walked from Mansfield in the morning — thirteen
OLD INN WINDOW AT BOLSOVER, WITH SKETCH OF J. R. WISE
miles, I think. The day was hot, and after a hearty lunch and
rest at the inn at Hardwicke we started up the hill to see the
Hall. I began to sketch, but suddenly turned so faint I had to
give it up and sit down on the grass in the shade, leaning against
a tree, to the great alarm of my friend, as I afterwards learned,
who thought I was going " off the hooks " there and then !
Probably the long walk, the heat of the weather, the lunch and
taking the hill too soon after it would be sufificient to account
for my sudden faintness, which never, however, returned.
206 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1873-79
As to other work that year, I had exhibited in the
Grosvenor a picture entitled " The Sirens," showing three
lightly-clad ladies dancing on a seashore, their draperies
floating and fluttering as they moved, their eyes turned
towards the ship of Ulysses, which is seen drifting slowly past
in a diaphanous haze, through which a full moon rises over an
opal-coloured sea.
This picture was ultimately purchased by Mr. Graham
Robertson, who in his early days entertained a warm apprecia-
tion of my work.
My official connection with South Kensington and the
Science and Art Department dates, I believe, from this year
(1879). (Sir) E. J. Poynter was, as I have already men-
tioned, the Art Director, and the following letter refers to
my appointment as one of the examiners of the works sent
up from the art schools of the country for the national
competition : —
"Science and Art Department
South Kensington
Monday, March 31, 1879
*' My dear Crane, — Make the attendance convenient to
yourself: we shall be sorry not to have your assistance all
through, but it will be better that you should come in later
than not at all. I do not think there will be any need to
make up the days that you are not here, as we shall arrange
that the last two days of every week will be given to awarding
the prizes ; and the result will be that the first two weeks we
shall have to do without your help. — Very truly yours,
"Edward J. Poynter"
Among my first colleagues at that time, I remember, were
William Bell Scott, the painter, and Solomon Hart, R.A. Mr.
F. Barwell was also with us, and Mr. Eyre Crowe, A.R.A.
I remember Solomon Hart offering to put my name down as
a candidate for membership of the Athenaeum Club, but as he
said it would be about twenty years or so before there would
be a chance of election I did not feel particularly keen.
William Bell Scott (the brother of David Scott) I was
particularly interested to meet, as I had been struck some
» 873-79]
LIFE IN THE "BUSH''
207
2o8 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1873-79
years before by a series of pictures of the history of the
Scottish or English border he had painted for the house of
Trevelyan, which were exhibited for a short time in London —
also as the friend of W. J. Linton, and of the Rossettis and
their circle. Among the numerous rhymes in which D. G.
Rossetti was in the habit of libelling (and labelling) his friends,
Scott is immortalised.
I never, however, met D. G. Rossetti, though if I had been
persevering I might have got introductions, no doubt, knowing
so many of his friends. I understood, though, that he did not
desire to extend his acquaintance, and so I did not like to
intrude.
The same with regard to Thomas Carlyle, whom I might
have approached, but I heard such unfavourable accounts of
the way in which he, in his later days, was as likely as not
to receive strangers that I did not venture to thrust myself
on the privacy of the Sage of Chelsea.
CHAPTER VII
RECORD OF WORK— ITALY REVISITED, 1880-84
IT was not until the spring of 1880, I think, that I finished
the set of drawings for The First of May. The work
was pubHshed by Messrs. Sotheran & Co. the following year.
Owing to the generosity of the author, I was enabled
to present a few copies to my friends of this rather costly
work, which was issued in two forms, one at ten guineas, and
the other at six guineas, all limited in number, and I remember
having to convert myself into a signature-writing machine
at the publishers', as each copy had to be signed by me and
numbered before being issued.
Among the letters received, the two following are
especially interesting as coming from such distinguished
artists, and on this account I may perhaps be pardoned for
producing them, in spite of their flattering terms about
my work.
"The Grange
" My dear Crane, — What a gift ! Only kings send
such presents to other kings — is it possible that we are
after all in that category? But it is a splendid book, and
will be a great treasure to me, and one of my chief possessions,
and how can I thank you enough ? I hope the whole country
will be as grateful as it ought to be. — Yours very truly,
"E. BURNE-JONES"
The following is from (Sir) W. B. Richmond : —
" My DEAR Crane, — To express in terms that would
not appear extreme, alone could I acknowledge and thank you
for the most valuable and lovely gift. From page to page,
14
2IO AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1880-84
fancy is led on, the design is the more beautiful than the
previous one, more precious in sentiment and more lovely
in execution.
" While such poetic work is being done as yours always is,
and especially this your latest publication, we cannot say that
the more imaginative side of our delightful art has no vitality.
" Recognition you will and must have in a marked
degree by all who know, and alone from those is it pleasant
to an artist in reality.
" I quite hoped to have been to see you on Friday, but
now that Oxford work has begun, the whole of each Friday
is spent there trying in some shape or form to knock into
people's heads something good concerning art.^
" Thank you, my dear brother painter, for your gift, and
accept my very sincere congratulations on the exquisite
results of your labour. — Ever yours sincerely,
" W. B. Richmond "
This year we changed our quarters from Edwinstowe
to Cromer, then a quiet little place consisting of a cluster
of houses huddling around a tall square pinnacled tower,
a landmark for the country round. It had not then been
" boomed " as a seaside resort, and villadom had not arrived
to take up *' desirable building sites." Our lodgings were
on an old-fashioned little parade of modest houses on the
top of a green bank facing the sea.
Sherringham, which we visited in our walks while at
Cromer, was then a most primitive little fishing village,
innocent of asphalted esplanades, grand hotels, and detached
villas, and with no railway nearer than Cromer. We also
had a glimpse of the Norfolk Broads about Wrexham.
I liked Cromer and its neighbourhood so much on this
visit that I induced my wife to spend our summer holiday
with the children there. We now had three, our second son
(Lancelot) having been born in January of this year — in
extremely cold wintry weather, I remember. I give a little
sketch of him done in the following summer (1881).
1 This is an allusion to his work as Slade professor at Oxford, where Richmond
had recently been appointed to the chair vacated by Ruskin.
1880-84] RECORD OF WORK— ITALY REVISITED 211
In due course we found ourselves at Cromer, having
taken the same rooms when I had stayed with Wise in the
previous May. It was the custom for visitors to pitch their
Httle bathing tents on the shore, many preferring them to
the cumbrous bathing machine. We also had a tribal tent
of this sort, but one morning my wife while making her
toilette after bathing was startled by a heavy tread outside
and a rough voice demanding that the tent should be struck,
as Lord Suffield's foreshore rights were being infringed —
or words to that effect.
I immediately wrote to his lordship protesting against
this conduct on the part
of his Cromer agent, and
presently received a polite
note that our tent should
not be interfered with in
any way during our stay
at Cromer. I do not
know how the foreshore
question was ultimately
settled.
The Duchess of St.
Albans was staying at
the hotel, and a friend
of Wise's whom I had
met in the spring, an
architect of Nottingham, Mr. Hine (who was staying at
Cromer with his daughter), took me to call on the Duchess,
she having expressed a wish to make my acquaintance. She
was a very charming lady, simply dressed in the seaside
fashion of those days, which consisted chiefly of a tight
jersey and skirt, and being in black the effect of the severe
simplicity of such a costume was increased.
At Cromer at that time were staying Mr. F. G. Stephens
(the well-known art critic of the Athen(2um for many
years), with Mrs, Stephens and their son Holly (now a
successful engineer), then quite a young boy. We had not
at that time become personally acquainted, but I knew
them by sight, and I knew of Mr. Stephens's interesting
SKETCH OF LANCELOT CRANE AT THE AGE
OF ONE YEAR AND SEVEN MONTHS
212 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1880-84
connection with the pre-Raphaelite movement in its early
days, and that he sat to Millais for his picture of " Ferdinand
and Ariel," and also for the lover of Isabella in the banquet
scene by the same painter.
We happened to see the Stephens's one day. He was
busily engaged in rubbing a fine brass in an interesting
church near Cromer, famous for its brasses.
He was one of the earliest of my critics to appreciate
my work, and his remarks in the Athenceum^ though
variable, had been in the main favourable, and he had
emphatically and cordially welcomed my children's books,
and was one of the first, if not the first, to recognise
their aim.
He afterwards wrote an account of my work in
the Portfolio — a journal of art published by Messrs.
Seeley & Co. His death occurred in the present year.
Mr. Cyril Flower (now Lord Battersea) was also staying
at Cromer, where he afterwards built a house, and we made
his acquaintance. I remember his driving over to East
Runton — to which place we had moved on from Cromer —
in, a pony-chaise with some of the Duchess's children. He
was always very genial and good-natured, and seemed to
take a kindly interest in us and our little family at that
time. I think it was through him that we received a very
kind invitation from the Marchioness of Lothian — the then
mistress of Blickling Hall, which we had expressed a wish
to see — to come over with our babies and make a short
stay, which we did.
A tragic event happened during our sojourn at East
Runton. One of the village boys was bathing with others
in the shallow water which covered a slightly raised plateau
of sand (over which there was a strong undertow when the
tide ebbed) on the shore at East Runton. The beach was
full of visitors and children, some bathing, and all happy
and basking in the sunshine of a beautiful summer morning.
The boy was a good swimmer, and seemed to be diving,
but no one noticed him particularly, until a cry was raised,
and his head disappeared beneath a wave. A man who
had just left the water plunged in again to where the boy's
1880-84] RECORD OF WORK— ITALY REVISITED 213
head appeared for the last time, but in vain. Boats were
got out and eager search was made, but it was only when
the tide turned that his body was recovered, and a sorrowful
little procession passed our house to the village. We
went to pay a visit of condolence to the poor mother
afterwards.
We left East Runton for our visit to Blickling, driving in a
closed carriage with our children, it being a very wet day.
We arrived about five in the evening in the pouring rain, and
just as the carriage had drawn up, past the long walls of
clipped yew which made so fine an approach to the front, the
figure of a rather attenuated lady in a waterproof, shining in
the wet, without an umbrella, came up to welcome us. This
was our hostess, Lady Lothian, and very hospitable she was to
us, and greatly we enjoyed the charm of her beautiful Jacobean
mansion — one of the most complete, I suppose, of the date in
England. I made a drawing of the gateway (dated 161 9)
from the court, and one of the house from the garden, which
I presented to our hostess. The colour of the house was
delightful in low-toned red brick and warm grey stone quoins
and dressings. The famous Library was the great feature
inside the house, with its wonderful emblematic ceiling in
plaster relief.
A great sorrow had fallen on the house in the death of
the young Marquis. Watts had painted a portrait of him in
life, and had since designed a monument, which was then in
the church near the gates. This consisted of a recumbent
effigy of the Marquis, with kneeling guardian angels, one at
the head and one at the feet. These were carved in marble.
Lady Lothian's fancy was to have none but white birds and
animals on her estate, and so we saw white cattle, white doves,
white fowls and peacocks everywhere, and the effect of these
creatures moving or flying about among the old buildings, or
relieved against the dark yew hedges, was exceedingly pretty.
Among the circle we met at The Grange were Mr.
William De Morgan and his sister. Miss Mary De Morgan,
and Mr. Fairfax Murray. Miss De Morgan had recently
published a charming book of fairy tales {On a Pincushion)
which her brother had illustrated. She had since written some
2 14 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1880 84
more, and had asked me, through Burne-Jones, whether I would
illustrate them. William De Morgan was too busy with his
pottery to be able to do the pictures. He was then working
in Chelsea at the Orange House Pottery, and Mrs. De Morgan
was then alive (the widow of the distinguished Professor De
Morgan), and she lived in one of the charming old houses
in Great Cheyne Row, with her son and daughter.
Miss De Morgan's book was entitled The Necklace of
Princess Fiorimonde. It was published by Macmillan & Co.,
and appeared in 1880.
Another work I had undertaken for the same firm about
this time was an illustrated edition of the Haus Mdrchen of
the brothers Grimm, the translation of which had already been
undertaken by my sister, at the suggestion of Mr. G. L, Craik.
(Mr. Craik had married Miss Mulock, some of whose work I had
illustrated for Macmillan, and my sister often stayed with
them at their house at Shortlands, in Kent.)
This work was some time in preparation, as there were
a large number of designs in the form of head-pieces, tail-
pieces, and full pages in black and white, and all were engraved
on wood by Messrs. Swain.
While I was at work on some of these designs in my
studio at Beaumont Lodge I had a visit from William Morris,
who was just experimenting in the weaving of arras tapestry,
and had set up a loom at his house at Hammersmith and
woven the first piece (of a scroll-work design) with his own
hands. He now desired to introduce figures, and asked me
to do him a design with plenty of trees in the background,
which, he said, were always good to work in tapestry. Seeing
the " Goose-girl " design, which I had just completed for the
Grimm book, as a decorative full page with a border, he said
he should like me to work it out large for a tapestry. This I
accordingly did, making the cartoon 8 feet by 6 feet, and
colouring it. This cartoon was worked out in arras tapestry
at Merton, it was exhibited at the winter exhibition of design
at the Grosvenor in 1881, afterwards at many other places,
both here and on the Continent, and it was finally purchased
by the South Kensington (Victoria and Albert) Museum,
where it now hangs. It was, I believe, the first figure piece
1880-84] RECORD OF WORK— ITALY REVISITED 215
done at Morris's works, but many of Burne-Jones's designs
were done afterwards.
My wife having written to Morris to ask him whether she
could get some flannel dyed the beautiful blue of his famous
shirts, she received this letter from him : —
"Kelmscott, Lechlade
August 23 [? 1 8-]
" Dear Mrs. Crane, — The stuff my shirts are made of
is cotton : I daresay we could get it for you, if you wanted it.
" On the other hand, if you want flannel dyed to that shade,
or as near to it as wool would be to cotton, we can do that for
you at Merton, if you will send us the stuff; only sometimes we
cannot do things as quick as they are wanted : but I would
do my best in the matter with great pleasure. — I am, yours
very truly, WiLLIAM MORRIS "
About this time Leighton was planning his Arab Hall, as
an addition to his house in Holland Park Road. Mr. George
Aitcheson was his architect, and he asked me to undertake the
designs for the mosaic frieze which surrounds the hall. I had
some correspondence with Leighton over the designs, which
were submitted to him in the form of small scale sketches.
The following is one of the letters he wrote at the time : —
"AtheN/EUM Club, Pall Mall
" Dear Crane, — Many thanks. Cleave to the Sphinx and
Eagle, they are delightful. I don't like the Duck-women. By
the bye, what do you say to making the circles in the returns
starry heavens instead of another sun and moon ? — In haste
great, yours sincerely, Fred. Leighton "
The " Duck-women " above mentioned were in a suggestion
of mine for a design (in one of the circles) of Sirens, after the
traditional treatment seen in Greek gems, representing these
creatures on the rocks seeking to ensnare the Argonauts.
Leighton had evidently taken the old Saracenic palace at
Palermo called " La Zisa " as the model both for the mosaic
treatment and the plan and proportions of his Arab Hall.
2i6 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1880-84
I remember he sent me a photograph of the mosaic frieze at
La Zisa, wishing me to adopt a similar arrangement — so far
as the circles on a gold ground went ; but I did not realise till
many years afterwards, when I visited Palermo, how closely
the plan and proportions of the old palace hall had been
followed.
It was Leighton's intention to have carried out mosaic
decoration on the interior of the dome of his Arab Hall, for I
remember his saying to me that, when he was able to afford it,
he hoped to " let " Burne-Jones and myself " loose " there ; but
this never was realised.
In December 1880 I was invited by Lady Pembroke for
a few days' stay at Wilton. The idea was that I should be
interested in the Wilton carpets and make a design for one
introducing the arms of the house of Pembroke. I was duly
shown through the works in the village, and saw the looms
and the hand-weavers at work. There was, of course, an
immense amount of artistic interest in the house as well
as out, with its collection of antique sculpture and the superb
Inigo Jones double-cube room, with the Vandyke portraits as
panelled pictures on the walls-^ besides the Italian garden and
the Holbein porch.
Among the guests were Lord and Lady Brownlow, the
Hon. Sydney Herbert (the present Earl of Pembroke), and the
Earl and Countess of Wemyss.
I do not suppose that the Earl of Wemyss in conversing
with me had any recollection of his visit (when Lord Elcho) to
Linton's office in Essex Street in 1 8 5 9, or could possibly
identify me as the small boy who went to inform Linton of
his lordship's arrival, on the business of his book on the rifle-
volunteer and his equipment — and I did not attempt to revive
his memory.
I afterwards visited Lord Pembroke's house in Carlton
House Terrace, and had the great pleasure of seeing the
room decorated by Watts's paintings there.
Somehow or other the design scheme for the carpets fell
through, nor did it fare better with a picture of mine, " Europa,"
for which Lady Pembroke seemed to entertain a passing fancy,
as, though sent on trial, no place could be found for it, and
1880-84] RECORD OF WORK— ITALY REVISITED 217
" Europa " — born to be a traveller — eventually found a home
in Germany,
I afterwards had a little newspaper controversy in the
Westminster Gazette with Lord Pembroke on the subject of
the unemployed, over-population, and Socialism. He was a
large handsome man, I remember, but did not seem to enjoy
good health, and died young.
Another house in Carlton House Terrace where we were
occasional guests was that of Sir Matthew White and Lady
Ridley, who used to give large receptions. She was a very
amiable lady and kind hostess, but the company was generally
rather a proud one.
I remember seeing the late Marquis of Salisbury there,
among other eminent Conservative politicians, and thought
how well Tenniel and, later, F. C. G. had emphasised his
outward characteristics,
Mr. Balfour, whom I saw later, at Stafford House, allowing
for exaggeration, was equally like — himself, I was going to say
— I mean his caricatures.
At the instance of Mr. George Aitcheson about this period
I also undertook other mosaic designs for the town house of
Mr. Stewart Hodgson in South Audley Street, which the archi-
tect had just designed for him. Leighton had painted two
frieze panels, treating the theme of Music, for the drawing-
room. There remained four smaller panels to be filled, and
for these I designed " Earth," " Air," " Fire," and " Water," as
well as two smaller arched panels in recesses of " Stags
Drinking " and " A Faun and a Satyr." These designs,
also, were made in colour, and carefully tesserated, and
carried out with remarkable skill by the Murano Company
at Venice.
As to pictorial work, I had become interested in tempera
painting, and sent a picture in this method to the Grosvenor
that year. This was " Truth and the Traveller." It was
painted in some colours, prepared with starch, which W. B
Richmond had recommended to me. I also enlarged and
carried out in the same method one of the designs in The
First of May, using a wet plaster ground. This work I
called the " Advent of Spring."
2i8 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1880-84
My assistant, Osmund Weeks, was still with me, and was
very ingenious in preparing plaster grounds and fibrous
plaster panels to paint on, but while the Combe Bank
modelling-work was being carried on, a fine white dust
settled upon everything in the studio, which was not got
rid of for some time, till I was able to use an adjacent
coach-house as a modelling-room. Other work of the sort,
too, came in, and I was able to keep Weeks going for a
long time. We had made the acquaintance of Madame
Coronio, and of her brothers, Mr. Constantine, Mr. Luke,
and Mr. Aleco lonides.
The latter had a house in the Holland Park quarter which
he had called in Mr. Philip Webb to make interesting. It
was originally a builder's house of a not uncommon Bayswater
type, though its detached situation in garden-ground with the
front entrance in an outer wall gave it a certain character.
Webb had made some charming additions to its interior, and
among other changes a tiled roof had been substituted for the
original blue-slate one. The architect, however, described the
house as hopeless : " It was like a feather-bed — shapeless, and
when you pushed it in one direction it stuck out in another."
I was called in to decorate the ceiling of the dining-room, and
to add a frieze. The room already had a fine Spanish stamped
leather on the walls and some charming wood-work designed
by Webb.
I designed a coffered ceiling in relief, taking the vine as
the ornamental motive, and — thinking of Omar Khayyam — I
placed an inverted cylix to serve as a boss at each junction
of the panel mouldings. The frieze illustrated ^sops Fables
in a series of panels, each divided by vertical pilasters panelled
with arabesques.
The ceiling and frieze were, when fixed, covered with silver
leaf, and then tinted and toned with various lacquers. After-
wards small designs worked in gesso in low relief, in situ, were
added as fillings in Mr. Webb's panelling at the end of the room
and in the fireplace, a long panel above the latter being decor-
ated with a design (also in gesso) emphasising the motive of
the vine by a symbolic group framed by an inscription from
the quatrains of Omar.
1880-84] RECORD OF WORK— ITALY REVISITED 219
The house was quite a treasury of art, and apart from
beautiful oriental china and metal-work and curios of all kinds,
contained tapestry and decorations and furniture by William
Morris, pictures by Burne-Jones and F. Sandys, Greek vases
and a choice collection of Tanagra figures. For these latter I
afterwards designed a sort of temple-like cabinet placed in
the position of an " over-mantel." This was ebony, with gilded
recesses to hold the figures.
SKETCH ON BOARD A YACHT
The work at Holland Park, following the Combe Bank
work, also took a considerable time in completion ; but Mr.
Aleco lonides was a most amiable and generous client, and
seemed rather to enjoy work going on in his house, and
was certainly in possession of ample means to gratify his
wishes.
The following summer I was invited to join him with a
party on a yachting cruise.
The party were to start from Liverpool Street and embark
2 20 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1880-84
at Brightlingsea. I, however, missed the train, and had to join
the party at Ryde, so I lost the first part of the voyage. The
party consisted of four men, I think, and two ladies (Miss
Sechiari, daughter of Madame Coronio, and Miss Edith
Gellibrand). I was never much of a sailor, and being
somewhat breezy when we left Ryde, it took me some little
time to get my sea legs, though there were intervals when I
could make sketches on deck. The yacht was a 40-ton yawl,
and she sailed well, the cabins small, but compact and well
appointed. Our destination was Torquay, and it was interest-
ing to mark the various features of the coast as we sailed along.
Our morning bath was an enlivening shock administered by
one of the crew with a bucket or two of sea-water thrown over
one on deck — the ladies having a luxurious bathroom below ;
the intellectual amusements consisted mainly in shooting at a
champagne bottle, trailed astern, with an air-gun, and playing
" Grab " in the saloon in the evening.
I had not seen Torquay since leaving it as a boy in 1857,
four-and-twenty years before, and as we entered the bay and
anchored outside the harbour it was interesting to recognise
the old landmarks and the spots so familiar in early days.
Landing, we paid a visit to Mr. Ralli, a friend of my
host's, who had a villa somewhere on the hills above the
town. He appeared to amuse himself by rapid speculations
on the Stock Exchange, as he was receiving telegrams every
few minutes.
He drove our party in a phaeton and pair to Dartmouth,
where we saw the old Britannia training-ship in the river,
passing it in a steam launch which took us up to Totness,
where we had a look at the old town, and returned to
Dartmouth, and so back to Torquay, re-embarking in the
yacht for the return voyage to Ryde. We enjoyed a
splendid sail before the wind all the way up the Channel
and through the Solent, with the spinnaker out. Altogether
it was a pleasant trip, and one went back to town feeling
very fit.
We were deliberating where to take our children that
summer, and had heard of a house at Richmond, in Yorkshire.
With our friend Edward Blount Smith (one of our old friends
1880-84] RECORD OF WORK— ITALY REVISITED 221
of the Roman days), a landscape painter of much feeling and
refinement, I travelled down to look at the place, which,
though extremely striking and interesting as a town, did
not seem particularly suitable for children on a holiday. So
after a rapid survey and a night at the hotel, we returned to
town and reported.
I had been invited to Naworth Castle again, to take part
in a play the house party were getting up. This had been
written by the Rev. Stopford Brooke, and its title was
Riquet with the Tuft, an amplification and treatment in verse
If
V
SKETCH OF THE REV. STOPFORD
A. BROOKE (naworth, i88i)
SKETCH OF T. J. COBDEN-
SANDERSON (NAWORTH, 1881)
of the old fairy tale, with some charming scenes and songs in
it. Mr. Brooke was himself one of the house party. The
leading rdle of the Prince Riquet with the Tuft was taken by
T. J. Cobden-Sanderson, who described it as " Hamlet with a
hump." To E. R. Hughes was assigned the part of the Court
painter ; Charles Howard, the eldest son (now Lord Morpeth),
took the part of a prince-suitor to the princess, represented by
his sister (now Lady Mary Murray). I was to take two parts —
one of the old gardener in the first scene, and one of the
rejected suitors in another. Great preparations were made.
A stage was erected at the top of the great hall, we were all
learning our parts, the costumes were ready, the rehearsals
222 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1880-84
were in full swing, the guests were invited, when — ^news arrived
of the death of Lord Lanerton at Castle Howard, and every-
thing was put off.
It was at Naworth that I met Sir Wilfrid Lawson, who
was, of course, a neighbour of the Howards, and it may have
been in a great measure due to his influence that the Earl
and Countess and their family afterwards took up the teetotal
cause, which they did with great energy, and, being land-
owners, had considerable powers in respect of public -houses on
their estates, which it was said they were not slow to exercise.
As regards the drink question, I always felt that excessive
drinking was rather an effect than a cause of misery and
poverty.
By the death of Lord Lanerton the Hon. Charles Howard,
Mr. George Howard's (the present Earl) father, was brought a
step nearer to the earldom of Carlisle ; but he did not survive
his elder brother, and the earldom eventually fell to our
friend Mr. George Howard, who sat in the House of Commons
as member for the division of his county, until, in the natural
course of events, he went up higher — though, probably, if he
had had his choice, he would have preferred to spend his time
in his studio, or painting in Italy. He wrote to me about
this period from the Library of the House of Commons, as
follows : —
" I have been wishing to call on you for a long time, but
my time gets so filled up now that I have to waste so much
of it down here, that I have not been able to manage it.
" I had a large number of wallpapers of your design sent
to me by the manufacturer. The blossom patterns are
specially lovely ; but he has not sent me the nursery wall-
paper.
" I am anxious to see the drawings you have done for
Miss De Morgan's book. I have been working hard at my
landscapes, but have not been out anywhere."
My early friend, Mr. Somerset Beaumont (brother-in-law
of the Rev. Stopford Brooke), was another gentleman who
found himself in the House at one time (as member for
r^j-^rio t . ic>'-»'> Mil
1880-84] RECORD OF WORK— ITALY REVISITED 223
Wakefield), but apparently without the slightest taste for and
very little interest in politics, and he was glad to retire from
the turmoil of party strife. He writes about this time from
Shere, in Surrey, where he had bought a house, to ask if I had
any pictures at any of the winter galleries, and expressing a
wish to see them if I had, and he is good enough to say that —
" I am surrounded in my habitation by works of your
creation : they all improve upon acquaintance, and find them-
selves in sympathetic company of some of Costa's and poor
F. Walker.
" I did not see the Grosvenor Gallery collection, as I
returned very late to England ; but I was glad to hear you
found a Gallery where you could give free scope to your
genius and fancy.
" The scenery about here is quite lovely, and infinite
variety of form, outline, composition, and colour. Then the
human beings are as courteous, picturesque, and unaspiring as
Ruskin himself could possibly desiderate.
" I hope you will see it all some time. This winter I am
going to Egypt and some other Mediterranean shores I have
not yet seen.
" I hope Mrs. Crane and the children are quite well.
Pray give my kind remembrances."
It was during the winter of 1881 that a group of
designers and decorative artists formed themselves into a little
Society to discuss subjects of common interest to themselves
and bearing upon various branches of design. The idea was
initiated by Mr. Lewis F. Day, whom I had not seen since the
old days of " The Quibblers," and it was pleasant to renew my
friendship with him when he invited me to join this Society.
The other original members were Mr. Henry Holiday,
Mr. Hugh Stannus, Mr. T. M. Rooke, Mr. G. T Robinson,
Mr. (now Sir) James D. Linton, Mr. E. F. Brentnall, Mr.
Sacheverell Coke, Mr. J. D. Sedding, Mr. H. Arthur Kennedy,
Mr. George Simonds. Mr. H. M. Paget, Mr. Henry Page,
Mr. T. Erat Harrison, and Mr. J. T. Nettleship joined us
later. We used to meet at each other's houses or studios
224 AN ARTISrS REMINISCENCES [1880-84
about once a month from October to May, the host of the
evening being responsible for the refreshment of both the outer
and the inner man, and he had to provide a paper or open
a discussion on some subject or question of decorative art.
The name " The Fifteen " was adopted from a popular
puzzle with which people were wont to exasperate their spare
moments about this time — some trick with fifteen numbers
and one blank in a square box. We never, however, really
numbered fifteen. Some joined and some left, but we kept
our meetings up for two or three years, and should, no doubt,
have existed longer, but for the ultimate but natural
absorption of our members into a larger Society, which was
formed in 1884, with similar objects to ours, namely, "The
Art Workers' Guild," but which was able more effectively to
raise the banner of Decorative Design and Handicraft and to
gather under it a larger and wider representative group of
artists. Mr. George Simonds, the sculptor, was the first Master
of the Art Workers' Guild, and Mr. J. D. Sedding the second,
the gifted and most sympathetic architect, whose early death
was profoundly regretted by all who knew him. " The Fifteen "
was really born in a snowstorm. The first meeting was at
Mr. Lewis Day's house in Mecklenburg Square, on a certain
Tuesday in January, I think — known as " Hurricane Tuesday."
In fact, Beaumont Lodge was almost buried in the drifts of
snow, and the blizzard was so severe that I did not turn out.
However, there were a dauntless few who made a quorum and
started the Society, which was the means of bringing forth
many interesting papers and pleasant fireside discussions.
In December 1881 my friend Edward Blount Smith
proposed I should join him on a little trip to Italy. Rome
was his destination, but we stopped on the way at Paris, at
Turin, and at Genoa, where we visited the tomb of Mazzini
in the picturesque cemetery outside the town, full of very
extraordinary examples of modern Italian sculpture. Mazzini's
tomb was in strong contrast to most of its neighbours —
dignified and massive in its Doric simplicity and seventy.
The Genoese palaces commanded our admiration in the
splendour of their painted and stucco interior decoration,
telling of the former wealth and importance of the port. The
1880-84] RECORD OF WORK— ITALY REVISITED 225
city showed abundant signs of preparation for the Christmas
feast, whole bay trees being used to decorate the butchers' shops,
which were then quite as much in evidence as in our own
country at this season.
We spent Christmas Day, however, in Pisa, and they
brought us with pride an English plum-pudding at the
restaurant where we dined — if, indeed, our Christmas pudding
can be called our own, and has not been imported at some
remote time, together with raisins and currants.
I had not seen either Genoa or Pisa before, and of course
â– W^ C\e*voa..
SKETCH Of'mAZZINI'S TOMB (GENOA, 1882)
found both very interesting, and we sketched as we went
along. I remember making a little coloured sketch of the
Baptistery and the Leaning Tower from outside the gate.
Fair indeed they looked in the clear sunlight of that winter
day, with the purple mountains behind them.
We drove out to the great pine forest of II Gombo,
which had been a favourite sketching-ground with Edward
Smith before. The beautiful silhouettes of the dark stone
pines relieved against the ultra-marine of the Carrara Moun-
tains in all the grandeur of their sculptured masses can never
be forgotten, or the impressive gloom in the forest over-
shadowing the dark waters of the Fiume del Morte.
From Pisa we went to Florence, and it was a joy to renew
15
2 26 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1880-84
one's acquaintance with its beauties and wonders of art, first
seen ten years before.
Continuing our journey to Rome, we stopped at Arezzo,
where we saw the fine Piero della Francesca frescoes in the
church, and after a night there, in a somewhat primitive hotel,
went on to Perugia, where we spent a few days. Leighton
had told me that though it was true they had put on what
he called " a dickey " in the shape of a brand new Piazza
Vittorio Emmanuele, the mediaeval town was still intact
behind it, and so we found it.
The air was very still, and the valleys appeared in the
mornings and evenings wrapped in layers of thick white mist,
through which the tops of the mountains appeared like islands
in a silver sea.
From Perugia we went to Assisi, where we were much
charmed with the beautiful Lower church of the famous
Monastery, its vault adorned with the frescoes of Giotto.
Our last resting-place before Rome was Orvieto, so
strikingly situated upon its steep, with commanding views
up and down the valley of the Tiber, with its shrine-like
Cathedral, and the strong frescoes of Luca Signorelli, and its
west front rich in thirteenth-century sculpture and sparkling
with gold and mosaic. The church was blocked with scaffolding
at the time of our visit, and extensive repairs were going on ;
but under the wise direction of Signor Boni much interesting
work has been preserved from decay and neglect.
At Rome we met Vedder and many of our former
artist friends of the old circle and some new ones, among
whom was Mr. Ross, a genial and versatile Norwegian
painter.
After a pleasant few days' stay, during which I found time
to make several drawings and to discover considerable changes,
notably in the appearance of the Forum, which had been
extensively excavated since I had made my drawing of the
Arch of Titus in 1871, with the avenue of acacias, which had
now gone, I left my friend in Rome, and started homewards
alone, but having a great wish to see Ravenna I made a detour
at Bologna to visit that wonderful treasury of Byzantine
architecture and mosaic. The mosaics in the churches at
1880-84] RECORD OF WORK— ITALY REVISITED 227
that time had not been touched, and wonderfully impressive
they were. There was a pathetic, melancholy feeling about
the old city, as of departed splendour, and memories of Dante,
whose tomb it contains — grass growing in many of the streets,
and the level marshy country around bordered with pine forests
increased this impression,
I broke my journey, too, at Siena, and saw that most
interesting and delightful city for the first time, and enjoyed
the treasures of art in the Cathedral. On the way to Florence
I stopped at Poggibonsi, and took the six miles' drive in a
L.'^ ' ■'^ TL..*!..'-' -=V*iK".jKnJiJ.«&
SKETCH AT VENICE (1882)
vetture to San Gimignano — a unique place, and an almost
perfect example of an Italian mediaeval town, complete with
its gates, walls, and towers, though only thirteen of the latter
were left — out of fifty, it was said.
I also touched at Venice on my way home, arriving, I
remember, about six on a morning early in January. I was
rowed from the station through the silent deserted canals,
a solitary light reflected on the dark water here and there,
and as I was landed on the hotel steps the Ave Maria
sounded, and my gondolier stopped, and putting his hands
together, muttered a prayer.
2 28 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1880-84
I paid my devotions, later, at the great shrines of art —
St. Mark's, the Accademia, the churches, and I made a
drawing of the island of San Giorgio, which I afterwards
exhibited at the Institute of Painters in Water Colours.
From Venice I went through to London. In the train I
met an Oxford professor of science, and during the usual
pause in Paris we dined together, and nearly missed the train
to Calais. He was anxious to bear home as a trophy a yard
of bread, and duly secured one at the restaurant, but in the
haste of our rush to catch the train the yard of bread was
after all forgotten.
Before that January was past a sad sorrow fell upon
us in the death of our fourth child, a little son who had been
born in the previous June. The heavy fogs which visited
London at that time proved fatal in their effects, and our
child, who never seemed very strong from the first, succumbed
to a cold which settled on the lungs.
This upset us so much that, after laying him to rest at
Kensal Green, we determined to leave our house for some
time.
We went, in the first place, to Eastbourne with our two
little boys and a nurse, but after stopping there a while
turned inland, and eventually discovered a retreat near
Sevenoaks — a delightful house on the side of a hill over-
looking Sevenoaks Weald. It had been an old manor-house,
and retained a fine old Gothic hall with open-timbered roof.
This and the house, however, had been " restored " and added
to, with the idea of making it a modern country residence,
and there had been no attempt to make the modern part
harmonise with the old hall. There was a farm attached of
about two hundred acres in extent, and this was managed by
a steward, who with his family lived in a part of the house.
We had abundance of room, and the old hall was a
delightful place for the children to play in in bad weather.
One of the rooms had a good north light, and I was able to
paint and carry on my work. So we stayed on here through
the spring, until the copses were blue with hyacinths and the
valley filled with the song of nightingales.
I find a letter from Professor Herkomer, dated May 27,
1880-84] RECORD OF WORK— ITALY REVISITED 229
1882, acknowledging one of my books I had sent him, pro-
bably Pan-pipes.
The letter is headed with his shield bearing a scroll-work
design of German type entwined with his motto on a ribbon,
" Propria Alis." It runs as follows : —
" My dear Crane, — My daughter and I thank you
sincerely for the gift of your beautiful book. This surely
cannot, and must not be the last ! Just at such a time when
such imitation as Kate Greenaway and her crew are taking
away the masculine tendency you started, you are more than
ever needed.
" I enjoyed the other evening thoroughly. — Ever yours,
" Hubert Herkomer "
This year saw the appearance of Grimm's Household
Stories, which my sister had translated, and for which I had
furnished a large number of illustrations in the form of full
pages with headings and tail-pieces to each story. These
were engraved on wood by Messrs. Swain, and the book was
printed by Messrs. R. & R. Clark, and no pains were spared
upon it. It was called " The Crane Edition," and has been
reprinted several times, remaining still a favourite with the
public.
Another book published this year was Pan-pipes^ a book
of old songs with the tunes. In this I had the advantage of
the co-operation of Mr. Theo. Marzials, himself a most
charming song composer. The book was in oblong form, so
as to be convenient on a piano, and to each song there was
a coloured design, taking the form of a decorative border
enclosing the music. It opened with the delightful " Tudor-
esque " melody, as Marzials called it, of Mr. Malcolm Lawson's
setting of Marlowe's words, " Come live with me and be my
love"; but this was the only modern exception, as the rest of
the airs were all arranged by Mr. Marzials from the old
traditional ones. Marzials himself seemed really more like
a troubadour than a modern person, and was always most
delightful to meet, apart from his musical gifts.
While at Wickhurst the sad news arrived of the sudden
230
AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES
1880-84
death of my sister. She was at the time among her friends
in the north of England, engaged in giving the series of
lectures which were afterwards pubHshed by Macmillan & Co.
under the title of Lectures on Art and the Formation of Taste,
with a memorial Introduction by my brother and myself. It
was in March, and my sister, never very strong, must have
rather over-tasked herself, as after one of the lectures she fell
suddenly ill, and died very shortly afterwards at the house of
the friends she was with. My brother went down immediately
PORTRAIT OK LUCY CRANE (1882)
(Given in '''Art and the P'ormation of Taste")
to make the final mournful arrangements, and she was laid
in the family grave at Kensal Green.
I have already written of her remarkable musical accomplish-
ments. She was also skilled with her pen and pencil, and had
shown remarkable refinement and a cultivated taste, both in
art and literature. She had projected a visit to Italy, to which
she was looking forward with immense interest, before her
untimely death. Altogether this was a sad spring-time for us.
My picture this year for the Grosvenor, " The Roll of Fate "
1880-84] RECORD OF WORK— ITALY REVISITED 231
(painted at Wickhurst), with the verse from Omar, was expressive
of one's feelings at the time : —
"Would that some winged angel ere too late
Arrest the yet unfolded scroll of Fate
And make the stern recorder otherwise
Enregister — or quite obliterate.
O Love, could you and I with him conspire
To grasp this sorry scheme of things entire,
Would we not shatter it to bits, and then
Remould it nearer to the heart's desire."
To set against the domestic sorrows of this year I had
the great gratification of hearing from Mr. G. F. Watts that
he desired to possess my picture, " The Renascence of Venus."
An artist's appreciation and sympathy is always doubly
gratifying, and that one of Mr. Watts's eminence should think
so highly of a work of mine was particularly so to me.
Here is the letter he wrote at the time : —
" Little Holland House
July 5, 1882
" My dear Mr. Crane, — I have always desired to possess
your picture, ' The Birth of Venus,' and as long as it remains
unsold I shall find some pleasure in the possibility, but
certainly I should not consider myself justified in offering you
a smaller price than the one you name. I know it was what
you had fixed upon the work, and only think it too small.
The expenses of my building and framing my pictures for
the collection at the Grosvenor have crippled me, so that I am
unable to gratify my longings at present, but I may have some
better time later. I am glad you like the effect of the paper
ground. — Yours very sincerely, G. F. Watts "
" If you are leaving your old house, you may find some
difficulty in placing your pictures. I know I did, and do for
that matter. If so, and you see no chance of disposing of your
picture, will you let me have it and pay for it by instalments ?
say i^5o at a time [the price was ;^30o]. I might hesitate to
make such a proposal in general, but I think you will under-
stand that nothing can be further from my mind than an offence."
2 32 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1880-84
In reply to my letter agreeing to his proposal he wrote
again : —
" Little Holland House
July 8, 1882
" Dear Mr. Crane, — I shall be delighted to have the
picture, and will try and be not very long about the payment
of the whole sum ; but I have very particulai'- reasons for wish-
ing to be able to hang up the picture as a lent picture. I m|ay
as well say, not to make a mystery, that there are certain
people of my acquaintance who wanting money might think
that I am not behaving in a friendly manner in making
purchases I can do without, instead of lending or giving
such purchase money (this is between ourselves), and I think
you will understand it, so please let me have the picture for
a very short time as a loan. — Yours very sincerely,
" G. F. Watts "
Mrs. Russell Barrington, who has always been very
sympathetic about my work, and has frequently written about
it from time to time, sent me a very kind letter. She being
a next-door neighbour, saw a great deal of Mr. Watts, and
therefore her letter written at the time my picture was sent to
Little Holland House may not be without interest here. It
is as follows : —
" My dear Mr. Crane, — I must write and tell you what
delight your beautiful picture gives. Mr. Watts is really in
ecstasies over it, says in all pictures old and new he never saw
such an exquisite silvery tone . . . and that he never did
anything so good . . . that he is quite in love with the
' Venus ' ... in fact, is quite enthusiastic.
" It is so nice to see a beautiful thing in a house where it is
loved. We speculate how far it is tempera and how far oil,
will you give us a little light ? And, by the bye, Mrs. Merritt
asked me the other day if I could find out how the last book
of yours was done, the big serious work I mean [Fiist of May\.
The process of engraving she meant, and whether it was photo-
graphed. If not too much trouble, will you tell me ?
" I wonder if the pool and the reeds have got into a sketch
1880-84] RECORD OP WORK— ITALY REVISITED 233
yet [a reference to a spot near Tunbridge Wells I think she
had seen on a visit to us]. Please remember me most kindly
to Mrs, Crane and the dear chicks, and promise me, if you
can, to give us an evening and dine with us, if you are coming
to town, and will write a card to say when it will be. — Yours,
very truly, E. I. Barrington
"4 Melbury Road, W.
July 28 "
Mr. Watts's opinion of my picture seemed, too, to stand
the test of years. I had later many letters from him in which
he repeatedly records his opinion, and expresses his intention
of presenting it to the Tate Gallery. Here is one in answer
to a request to lend it to an exhibition : —
" LiMNERSLEASE, GUILDFORD
November 13, 1900
" My dear Mr. Crane, — Of course I will lend the
pictures with a great deal of pleasure — glad that your picture,
which I always admired so much, should be seen. I have
never lost my admiration for it, and feel I ought to have pro-
fited more from my appreciation of the qualities in it which
my work does not possess. I shall, with your permission, give
it to the Gallery of British Art. I always regret not seeing
more of you. — With regards to Mrs. Crane, very sincerely
yours, G. F. Watts
o "
He writes again on October 24, 1902 : —
" I do not doubt * Venus ' has been much admired ! My
opinion, which has never changed, was proved by my purchase
of it, for I never was a picture-buyer. Your place in art will
always be among the highest. I do not greatly value con-
temporary opinion.
" I want to give the ' Venus ' to the Gallery of British Art
[Tate]. I do not think you are represented there."
Again, July 5, 1903, just a year before his death, he
writes : —
234
AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES
1880-84
" I do not think you are represented in the National
Gallery of British Art at Millbank, and if you do not object
I shall present the picture to it. — Very sincerely yours,
" G. F. Watts
"If the picture is not in your way, will you let it remain
till I have made arrangements ? " ^
Our little daughter (now nine years old, I give a sketch
of her done at Little-
hampton later) had been
previously sent to a school
at Tunbridge Wells, so
that it was conveniently
near to see her and have
her over to stay.
In the early summer,
however, to be still nearer
to her, we took up our
abode at Tunbridge Wells,
finding comfortable (but
expensive) quarters over-
looking the Common in a
little furnished cottage in a
large garden.
While at Tunbridge
Wells I was invited to
read a paper during the
University Extension
courses which were ar-
ranged in the vacation at
Oxford that year. Pro-
fessor York Powell had
asked me to undertake this, and I was his guest at his rooms
in Christchurch College for the night. His other guest was
Mr. W. B. Yeats, whom I met for the first time, a very young
man with long black hair, pale face, and slight stoop, then
unknown to fame, whose quiet manner and dreamy look no
doubt concealed unknown depths of poetic imagination.
^ The picture was then in my studio, having just relumed from its Continental lour.
SKETCH OF BEATRICE CRANE
(UTTLEHAMPTON, 1882)
i88o 84] RECORD OF WORK— ITALY REVISITED 235
My subject was " The Architecture of Art " (included in
my Claims of Decorative Art, afterwards printed), and I
illustrated it as I went along by rapid sketches on the
blackboard. We dined in the common room with the
Master and Fellows afterwards, and everybody was very
agreeable.
Professor York Powell I had met in London. He had a
house at Bedford Park, and was a near neighbour of another
friend, Mr. T. Erat Harrison, the artist. He used also occasion-
ally afterwards to attend the Socialist meetings at William
Morris's at Kelmscott House, and was a guest of the Art
Workers' Guild sometimes. An extremely interesting man,
full of learning, yet most retiring and modest. He had an
observant, contemplative manner, behind the facial outworks
of glasses and a pipe, and a personality which gave one the
impression of suppressed force and reserve of power.
At Tunbridge Wells I think we stayed until August,
seeing a few friends from town occasionally, and then moved
on to Littlehampton — a place I had not seen since i860.
While here, Mr. E. R. Hughes came to stay with us and
paint a portrait picture of our two boys.
The place had grown a bit as a seaside resort, but the old
jetty was there, and Arundel Castle stood as of old. The
sands were wide and safe, and it was a good place for
children.
We used to hire tricycles of I know not what antique
make, and trundle along on these " old crocks " to our infinite
satisfaction, and fortunately the country was very level. The
Safety bicycle had not then appeared, and there was nothing
between the " ordinary " (with its extraordinary big wheel) and
a heavy tricycle.^'
It was indeed the heroic age of the bicycle. The intrepid
way in which the young men of the period mounted and rode
those high-steppers and endured the bone-shaking over a fifty-
^ We had tricycles at Beaumont Lodge, and I recall one occasion when Mr.
Watts came to see us he was induced to take his seat on one, and went wobbling
about the lawn with some satisfaction, but I do not think he ever set up one for
himself. He used to ride on horseback a good deal, but now complained of the
danger of the slippery wood pavements and the time it took to get out of London,
and s(j had some idea of taking to the wheel as a substitute, I fancy.
236 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1880-84
inch wheel, innocent of pneumatic tyres, was amazing. One
used to see the Clubs turning out in all their bravery on a
Saturday afternoon on any main road out of London — troops
of wheelers in their close-fitting neat uniforms of dark blue or
grey, with tight knee-breeches, like young men out of W. S.
Gilbert's opera Patience, preceded by buglers to clear the
way.
Patience reminds me that when Mr. W. S. Gilbert was
considering the setting of this opera, in which he caricatures
the aesthetic movement, he consulted me as to suggestions for
stage costume and scenery. I remember going to see him
when he lived in The Boltons, when he explained his ideas on
the subject. As a supporter at the time of what was described
in his opera as the " greenery yallery Grosvenor Gallery," I
was a little afraid of his wanting to guy the Burne-Jones
School too much, and I remember saying that I naturally did
not want to lend a hand to pull to pieces my own nest ; but as
he seemed to want something really beautiful as a setting, I
was induced to make a sketch for a garden scene ; but I don't
think I could have quite lent myself to the comic and satiric
spirit of his opera, and my plan was not actually followed,
though I detected that hints had been taken from it when I
saw the opera produced — though I cannot say I found myself
in any way enriched.
The wariness of a man of business and the alertness of a
theatrical manager were the qualities that seemed most in
evidence in my personal impression of the ingenious humorist
and comic poet. One arrangement in his room struck me as
very convenient and practical, and that was the wide mouth
of a convenient shoot for letters. He got rid of his letters for
the post in this way at once, as they fell into some receptacle
in the hall below, and got posted — or perhaps posted them-
selves !
Later, when the new Savoy Theatre was being projected —
at the suggestion, I believe, of Mr. Arthur MacMurdo — Mr.
D'Oyley Carte consulted me about the decoration and planning
of the theatre. I remember meeting him and Mr. Michael
Gunn about the business, and I made some suggestions and
sketches. I wanted them to adopt the ancient Greek and
1880-84] RECORD OF WORK— ITALY REVISITED 237
Roman plan for the arrangement of the seats for the stalls
and pit — the seats to be built in curved tiers, rising step by
step from the floor in front of the stage.
It all came to nothing, however, and the next thing I
heard was that Messrs. Collinson & Lock had been commis-
sioned to carry out the work on another scheme.
This reminds me of the too sympathetic solicitor in the
Bab Ballad who, after expending an immense amount of
interest (and even tears) on a case, when
he was consulted, his client " the Captain,"
after all,
" toddled off next door,
And gave the case to Mr. Cobb."
To return to Littlehampton : we
finally determined to spend the winter
in Rome again, and so towards the end
of September we with our little family
worked along the coast to Folkestone,
from where we presently took steamer to
Boulogne. Our party had been increased
by a young lady, Miss Fyfe, who acted
as governess to the children. We got
through the usual discomforts of the long
journey, taking it in fairly easy stages, and
in due course found ourselves in Rome
once more.
Our first business was to find quarters, memory sketch of
which we did before many days in our old (IomeViW)''^^'*
neighbourhood, finding a suitable apparte-
ment in Capo le Case, within a stone's throw of where we had
been located in 1873, in San Giuseppe. We had the top
floor or piano, with access to a loggia — or flat asphalted roof
— open to the sky, decorated with pots of small lemon and
orange trees, which was very pleasant.
On the piano below us, in the same house, lived at that
time no less a literary celebrity than Ibsen, then not widely
read or known in England, though he had made a consider-
able repute as a dramatist in his own country, in Germany,
2 38 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1880-84
and on the Continent generally. We never became personally
acquainted, however, though our friend Mr. Ross, the Nor-
wegian painter, had some acquaintance with the dramatist.
I often saw him taking his constitutional on the Pincio.
He usually appeared in a long grey frock-overcoat reaching to
his heels, and a very wide, curly-brimmed silk hat, and he
walked with a heavy cane, so that altogether he rather
suggested an old-fashioned doctor of medicine, and his face,
with shaved chin and grey side-whiskers and pince-nez,
certainly bore out the impression.
We renewed our acquaintance with many old friends in
Rome, and made many new ones. Among the latter must be
named Madame Helbig, the wife of Professor Helbig, the head
of the German Archaeological Institute at that time, and their
residence was close to the Tarpeian Rock. Madame Helbig, a
striking figure and a most accomplished and learned lady, took
the most friendly interest in us and our children, and even
took charge of our little daughter's music lessons for a time.
She was indeed a most genial and generous soul, and carried
a large heart and a wide mind in an ample frame.
Another interesting personality was Miss Beresford, whose
early death was much deplored. She was a great friend of
Madame Helbig's, and they frequently met at our rooms.
Another frequent visitor was William Davies, known as
the author of a book of poems. He used also to make little
etchings of Roman subjects, and had a copperplate press in
his rooms, where he printed them. He induced me to try my
hand, and I did one or two small plates ; but I never took
heartily to etching as a method of expression.
William Davies had some acquaintance with the Rossetti
circle, and Smetham, who was also known to Rossetti, was a
particular friend of his. Davies was an accomplished Italian
scholar and a great student of Dante, and had an immense
love for Italy and Italian life.
I regretted that unfortunate circumstances afterwards hope-
lessly estranged us, as at the time we saw much of Davies
and even had a scheme for a children's book together, for
which his friend Ross composed tunes and Madame Helbig
arranged them — but alas ! it never saw the light.
1880-84] RECORD OF WORK— ITALY REVISITED 239
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Murch were then living in Rome, and
at their rooms we met Mrs. Lynn Linton again, I remember;
Mr. Ridley Corbett also (afterwards A.R.A.), who had a studio
in the Via Sistina, and Mr. Alfred Gilbert, the sculptor, and
his family. The latter was then comparatively unknown, but
the tide was just about turning with him at that time, after
a hard struggle, and important commissions were coming in.
Leighton had bought one of his works, and his generous
appreciation did much to bring the extraordinary genius of
Gilbert to the front. He seemed to me always to show a
tendency to waste his powers, and I fear his artistic fastidious-
ness compelled him often to destroy exquisite preliminary
suggestions and sketches for his work. There was always a
sense of unrest and strife, as if with an invisible enemy about
him, and he gave one the impression of a man who had never
emerged from his " sturm und drang " period.
We renewed our acquaintance with Costa, who since we
had last met had taken to himself a charming wife, and now
had a little daughter. Signora Costa was a delightful Italian
lady and very lively and good-humoured, and we became great
friends.
The Costas had a country retreat near Bocca d'Arno
(where M, R. Corbett frequently worked). Here is a greeting
sent to us for a New Year written by Costa himself —
" II Sigr. Walter Crane e Signora
Spero vorranno accettare gli
Auguri di felicita per il nuovo
Anno, che gli invia il di sono.
" CoUega amico e servo
" GocATO Giovanni Costa
" Marina di Pisa"
No sooner had we arrived in Rome than I received a
letter from Dr. Nevin, who was the clergyman of the
American church (designed by Mr. G. Street) in Rome.
This was to ask me to undertake the design and painting
of an important frieze for the newly built house at Newport,
R.I., of Miss Catherine Wolfe of New York. It was for the
decoration of the dining-room. The subject was to be taken
from Longfellow's " Skeleton in Armour." There was an old
240 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1880-84
tower at Newport which was said to be a rehc of the early-
Norse discoverers and settlers in America, long before
Columbus, and stones with runic characters incised upon
them were said to have been found in the neighbourhood.
Others, however, said the reputed tower was only the base
of a mill ; but the States are not wealthy in antiquities, and
it seems cruel to deprive Newport of the interest of such a
promising relic. I was desired to introduce this tower into
the frieze, and I had a photograph of it to work from. There
were four lengths of frieze of about twenty-four feet each for
the four sides of the room, one of which was invaded by the
window heads. I schemed a continuous sort of decorative
picture, the incidents succeeding one another without formal
break or division into panels, and then painted the frieze
(which full size was about three feet deep) in flat oil colour,
each length being on a continuous roll of canvas worked upon
wooden rollers, around which it was looped, and could be run
forwards or backwards by handles affixed to the same.
It was necessary for such a work to take a studio at once,
and I found one in the Via Sistina, very near our appartement
— not a particularly good one, it is true, but studios were
scarce, and I made it do.
My neighbours on the same floor were the late Lord
Lamington and his family, I remember.
I had rather contemplated being free to make studies in
and about Rome, as in the old days, but as I accepted this com-
mission, I had to practically stick to my studio most of my
time, and even then did not finally complete the frieze until
I returned to England, though the greater part of it was
sent to Newport direct from Rome when finished.
During the progress of the work I had a visit from Sir
Augustus Paget, then English Ambassador at the Italian
Court. He brought some beautiful lady with him, whose
name I did not catch, but she was very appreciative about
the designs. I remember calling at the Embassy and seeing
Lady Paget and her daughter, afterwards Lady Windsor and
now the Countess of Plymouth, and we attended a reception
there in the course of the season.
I afterwards met Lady Paget at one of Leighton's recep-
1880-84] RECORD OF WORK— ITALY REVISITED 241
tions at Holland Park Road when the Arab Hall was com-
pleted, and she expressed her approval of the mosaics.
We sometimes indulged, my wife and I, in a ride on
horseback out into the Campagna, a diversion of which we
were both always fond. We got very good hacks in Rome,
and certainly it was the pleasantest way of seeing the country.
Dr. Nevin, a keen horseman, accompanied us on one occasion,
and we had a long ride outside the Porta Pia, encountering
near a farm the wolfish dogs of the herdsmen, which flew
at us as we rode by, but did no damage. I remember his
relating some of his experiences in the American War, in
which he served as an aide-de-camp. He spoke of spending
thirty-six hours in the saddle sometimes, and when sleep
overcame him he would dismount, and hooking the bridle
over his arm, secure a nap underneath his horse with no fear
of being trampled on.^
Dr. William Spottiswoode and his wife came out to Rome
during the spring, and paid us a visit. He was then out of
health, and unfortunately he contracted a fever while in Rome,
from which he never recovered. In him I lost a valuable
friend and the most considerate and generous client I ever
had.
Another interesting man I met in Rome at this time was
Mr. Wentworth Buller, who first taught William Morris to
work in the high-warp loom, which led to his revival of arras
tapestry. Buller was an enthusiast for hand-weaving and
had an extraordinary knowledge of Oriental carpets and
woven stuffs, especially Persian silks. He had a fine
^ As I write, the announcement of Dr. Nevin's death meets my eye, with an
account of him in the Morning Post (October 2, 1906). He seems to have kept
up his riding to the last, as he is reported to have died while hunting in Mexico.
I find a letter from him dated Rome, October 23, 1883, in which he speaks of
having been delayed on his return there at Paris and Venice. He " was charmed, by
the way, at the latter place with some small mosaic cartoons of yours that I saw in
execution at the Cia-Venezia Murano." (These were probably some of those I
designed for Leighton's Arab Hall or for Mr. Hodgson's house.) He sends me
"the architect's measure for the windows in Miss Wolfe's house," and incidentally
mentions the frieze, asking for a complete set of the photographs from it, and
concludes: " Rome is lovely, as ever, and I wish you were to be here this winter.
Kind remembrances to Mrs. Crane. — Very truly yours, R. J. Nevin."
He was certainly the most genial and unaffected clergyman I had ever met,
16
\
242 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1880-84
collection of such things. He was full of the discovery he
had made that the finer Persian rugs were made of goat's
hair. I remember he got me to design some animals treated
rather in the Persian manner for some work he was then
engaged upon ; but he too, unfortunately, fell a victim to
what was called Roman fever. As a memento he left me a
very interesting piece of silk, of Persian design but of his
own weaving. This his sister sent to me after his death.
He was connected with the Buller family of Devonshire.
We had some very pleasant and interesting excursions
to Frascati and Albano and the ruins of Tusculum. Mrs.
Burtchaell (a lady who lived in Rome and had started a
school of embroidery among the women, with a view to
perpetuating the characteristic traditional patterns of the
Campagna peasantry) and her daughters and Dr. Nevin
were of the party, and we formed quite a cavalcade (on
donkeys !).
Tivoli, too, was again visited, and our youngest child not
seeming well, it was thought a stay there might be beneficial,
and my wife took him there ; but the hotel, it was to be
feared, was not sanitary at that time, so that any benefit
from the air of the hills was counteracted, and I believe the
seeds of typhoid fever were caught there by my wife, though
our little son got better.
This proved a most serious disaster, for although the fever
did not manifest itself definitely for some time, we determined
to make for home. My wife was far from well when we
started. We had intended to break the journey at Florence,
but finding her apparently better on reaching there, we went
on to Lucerne. There a Swiss doctor whom we called in
looked grave, and said that if she went on it would be at
considerable risk, and it must be at our own. This anxiety
clouded the sunshine and beauties of Lucerne, then fresh
and smiling in its new spring dress, the little villages by
the lake looking as if they had just been taken out of toy
boxes and planted there.
We determined to go on, however, and in due course
reached our roof-tree on the evening of June 5, 1883.
I called in our doctor, who at once ordered the patient
1880-84] RECORD OF WORK— ITALY REVISITED 243
to bed. A nurse was installed, and straw laid down in the
road, as quiet was essential, and every measure was taken to
fight the fever, but it was an anxious time, only cheered by the
kindness of friends, and it was not until the 24th June that
my wife was able to sit up for an hour ; but from that
time she improved, although the effects of such an illness
were felt for a long time afterwards, and a depression of
the nerves remained, which it took many months to recover
from.
In the autumn we paid a visit to Mr. and Mrs. Turnbull
at their charming country home, near Ashburton, in Derby-
shire. They were old friends of my late sister, and they had
been among our visitors in Rome the previous winter. They
had purchased a picture of mine which I had worked out
the previous summer at Tunbridge Wells, and which was in
the Grosvenor Gallery in the summer exhibition of 1883.
This was in water colour, and the subject, " Diana and
Endymion," altered in the catalogue to " Diana and the
Shepherd." ^ I had sent it in a silver instead of a gold
frame, but this dismayed the Management so much that I
was implored to have it gilded.
In addition to this picture, I exhibited a portrait of my
wife and two portions of the Newport frieze, " The Viking's
Wooing " and " The Viking's Bride."
I revisited this autumn my old haunts in Derbyshire also,
with my wife, stopping at the little fishing inn at Lead Mill.
There was little change in the aspect of the valley, but time
had made gaps in the old inhabitants, and my former hosts
at Hazelford were no more.
' In connection with this picture, " Diana and the Shepherd," it may be interest-
ing to note that among my hostile critics (I always had plenty of them) was Mr.
Harry Quilter, who then wrote in the Spectator. He had seen me in Rome the
winter before, and so he thought he would be down upon me, and having abused
the picture generally, wrote that it was strange that an artist who had studied so
long in Italy could not paint an olive tree. As it happened, the background for this
picture had been found on Tunbridge Wells Common, so I was able to turn the
tables on him on this point.
It is only fair to acknowledge, however, that some time afterwards Mr. Quilter,
in his own magazine, the Universal Revie^v, an Art Review he conducted for a
lime, in writing of a later illustrated work of mine, handsomely withdrew his former
disparagement of my artistic capacity.
244 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1880-84
The Institute of Painters in Water Colours had been busy
considering a scheme of re-organisation. They had had a
gallery in Pall Mall nearly opposite Marlborough House, where
their exhibitions had been held for many years since they
seceded from the old society.
A meeting was called of unattached painters in water
colours, but chiefly, I think, of members of the two committees
of the Dudley Gallery general exhibition of water-colour draw-
ings, and members of the Institute, to discuss a proposal for
amalgamation, and a scheme for the acquisition of new galleries
in connection with a company then being formed — the
Piccadilly Art Galleries Company.
As a result, most of the members of the Dudley committee
joined the Institute, or rather were elected into it, I being
among the number, and the new galleries in Piccadilly were
opened. I exhibited my water-colour work there from this
time onwards for about seven years, and also joining the
Institute of Painters in Oil, who held their exhibitions in the
winter. This gave me another opportunity for showing my
work in oil.
" La Belle Dame sans Merci " appeared there in the follow-
ing year, 1884, and "Beauty sat Bathing by a Spring," also
a study made in the Beaumont Lodge garden, I entitled
" In a London Garden," though the fact of its being so was
openly discredited by some of my critics.
I was also busy with an elaborate design for a picture
completed and exhibited the following year (1884) at the
Grosvenor. This was " The Bridge of Life." I had made a
large number of designs for it, and had been meditating it,
while the genesis of the picture owed something to my visit
to Venice, and I think the design was suggested by the sight
of the small marble foot-bridges over the canals, approached
by steps each way, and the stream of people passing across
them of all ages, while the black gondolas passed to and fro
beneath — some of the earlier sketches for it, in fact, quite
followed, on slighter lines, the Rialto type of bridge, but in
adapting the suggestion to a purely allegorical idea much
simplification became necessary.
My own description, given in a preface to a catalogue of
1880-84] RECORD OF WORK— ITALY REVISITED 245
an exhibition of my works some years later, may perhaps be
given here —
" The legend is perhaps not difficult to read, though it is an
age that loves not allegory. The thread of life from the staff
of Clotho woven into its mystic and complex web by Lachesis,
and severed at last by Atropos. The boats of life and of death
meeting under the frail bridge. From the one, Young Life
disembarking, and climbing the stairs, fostered by father and
mother, led and guided and taught by Eld : following its child-
like play, till made the sport of Love in the heydey of youth :
till the trumpet of Ambition is heard and * the middle of life's
onward way ' is reached.
* We look before and after,
And sigh for what is not ;
Our sincerest laughter
With some pain is fraught.'
Fortune and Fame pursued and ever eluding the grasp :
till the crown perhaps is gained, but the burden of the intoler-
able world has to be borne. Lot's wife looks wistfully back.
Tottering Eld is led by Youth ; the eyes of the old man
resting on the boat with its dark freight, while the boy is
intent upon tasting life's apple. Hope holds her little lamp,
led by Love, even on the descending steps of life ; when
farther down the frail glass of existence is shattered, and the
mourners weep and strew the memorial flowers over the silent
dead."
A letter of the late Randolph Caldecott may be of interest
here. It refers to the silver cup, mentioned in the previous
chapter, in which Du Maurier collaborated with me as a
designer. It appears the work had in the first place been
offered to Caldecott, who took alarm at the prospect of working
for so exacting a client, and — wisely, perhaps — declined to
attempt to meet his ideas, which were certainly extensive.
" Broomfield, Frensham, Farnham, Surrey
January 25, 1884
" My dear Crane, — Perhaps you may be able to find a
few minutes to read the accompanying amusing rigmarole in.
246 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1880-84
" I had an interview with the interesting writer at the
beginning of the month. He asked me to undertake part —
a small part or a large part — of the getting-out of the cup : or
rather, he had been recommended to apply to me by several
artists, so he wanted to find out whether I had anything to
show him that would justify him in giving me the work (or
part of it) to do.
*' Before we parted I think he would have entrusted a
portion of the work — all the reliefs of the base — to me ;
but I was fearful of being worried by a man of so many
beautiful ideas, and I knew that I had enough work already
promised.
" I told him he would have to be always near the cup
in order to explain to gazers the beautiful meaning of the
pyramidal base, etc., and I said that if he had put the whole
thing into my hands — designing, modelling, and getting it
reproduced in silver — I might have undertaken it ! ! ! He, or
they, will spend £600 on the cup. I reprimanded him for
having promised the reproduction of the thing to Hunt &
Roskell. I further told him to put down his notions on paper,
and I would show them to some artists. He has so done — and
before asking T. Armstrong if he knew of any rising geniuses
who could help Mr. S r I thought I would venture to place
the thing before you. Although you must be very busy and
be above bothering with the man's notions, yet it occurred to
me that you might possibly see your way to designing the four
reliefs — perhaps modelling them too — and fixing the exact
general design of the cup.
" Pardon me for troubling you on the chance that you
might take an interest in the matter. I do not suppose that
the scheme is in a form to tempt you — even if you have time.
I believe Du Maurier has half promised to make the drawings
for cup part at ^50 each. — Yours, R. Caldecott"
This charming artist died only two years later at St.
Augustine, Florida, whither he had gone for the winter, almost
as a forlorn hope for his health.
The following letter from his close friend, Mr. Thomas
Armstrong, has a mournful interest : —
WALTER CRANE IN 18JS
KKOM A COLD I'OINT LRAWING BY IKOF. ALl'HONSK LE(.RO.S
1880-84] RECORD OF WORK— ITALY REVISITED 247
" 14 Sheffield Gardens, Campden Hill, W,
February 14, 1886
" My dear Crane, — As I have not seen you or heard
from you lately, I have been meaning to write to you, and am
moved to do so now by having very bad news to send you,
which I am sure you will be grieved to hear. Poor Caldecott
died yesterday morning, at St. Augustine, Florida.
" He seemed to be recovering from the illness he had
about Christmas, and had been out twice.
" On Friday his wife telegraphed that he was dangerously
ill, and that his friends and his brother in Barbadoes ought
to be informed.
" Yesterday afternoon came the news of his death. We
were all in great perplexity yesterday, for it seemed desirable
that somebody should go out, which, on the other hand, the
very great distance rendered it impossible for one to get to
Florida before the time when Mrs. Caldecott would like to
come away if she is well enough. She was asked by telegraph
if she would like somebody to come, and said * No.'
"It is very sad and, although he was so ailing, very sudden,
and his friends, who are many, will feel his loss very much.
To me it is a very serious trouble.
" I hope you will try to see me soon if you are still of the
same mind and will give the Department your help. — Yours
very truly, T. ARMSTRONG
" Walter Crane, Esq."
I afterwards met a brother of Randolph Caldecott's — Mr.
Alfred Caldecott of St. John's College, Cambridge, who was
known for his musical compositions. He had asked me down
to distribute the prizes and give an address at the Cambridge
School of Art. The Master of Caius (Dr. Perowne) presided,
and was my host afterwards.
During the summer of 1884 we met Mr. Augustine
Birrell, who happened to be a guest at the house of some
friends (Mr. and Mrs. George Freeman), who at that time had
a pleasant house near the Thames, on a tributary stream which
flowed through their grounds.
My impression of the future author of Obiter Dicta and
248 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1880-84
Minister of Education (also Chief Secretary for Ireland) in
the Liberal Government of 1906 was that of a rather self-
contained and absorbed gentleman with a quiet smile, of
distinctly legal aspect, and early Victorian whiskers, clothed
in white flannel, who pulled a good steady oar, and took a
capable hand at lawn tennis, but who could also sit contentedly
enough in the shade of pleasant trees on a summer afternoon
without such violent delights. He, later, married the daughter
of our friend, Frederick Locker Lampson, the widow of Lionel
Tennyson.
We also renewed our acquaintance with Swanage the same
summer, and afterwards paid a first visit to Scotland, spending
three pleasant weeks in the Isle of Mull with our friends the
Turnbulls, who had taken a shooting lodge at Aros Moor in
the Isle of Mull for a season. Here at Aros Bridge we were
on the historic ground celebrated by Walter Scott in his
Lord of the Isles, also Ulva's Isle, associated with the ballad of
Lord Ulin's Daughter. We covered most of the island, I
think, in our excursions, from Deuart Castle to Tobermory,
where, by the way, I remember Lord Pembroke's steam yacht
was pointed out lying in the harbour.
At Aros Bridge I fell in with Malcolm Lawson, who was
at that time hunting up Scottish songs for his Songs of the
North. The weather was characteristically wet and showery,
and proved too stormy to attempt a voyage to lona and Staffa,
originally projected ; but the rich colouring of the moors and
mountains, intensified by the frequent showers, in the intervals
when the sun shone was very wonderful ; as also the sudden
transformations effected in the landscape by the changeful
sky, the mountains often appearing to be suddenly wiped out
or hidden in veils of rain, and as rapidly disclosed again in
pearly light or banded by rainbows ; leaden-looking lakes
transmuted into sparkling silver, or black rocks becoming
nuggets of gold in the sunshine and the extraordinary trans-
lucence of the rain-washed atmosphere.
CHAPTER VIII
ART AND SOCIALISM, 1885-90
AMONG the smaller occasional designs I did while in
Rome during the winter of 1883-84 was a frontispiece
for Messrs. Kegan Paul, Trench, & Co.'s selection from
" Living English Poets," which may claim a certain interest from
the fact that of the groups of poets I represented on the
slopes of an English Parnassus, including Tennyson, Browning,
Matthew Arnold, William Morris, and Swinburne, the last
named only now survives.
I heard also from Mr. Comyns Carr, who had been
appointed Editor of a new magazine, — the English Illustrated
Magazine, projected by Messrs. Macmillan & Co., — asking me
to design the cover — which I did. The magazine has gone
through many vicissitudes since, and has changed hands, as
well as its format and cover, many times since. Some attempt
at first was made in the direction of relieving the effect of
ordinary type by introducing decorative adjuncts of printing
in the shape of headings, initials, and tailpieces, some of these
being reproductions of old designs by sixteenth-century German
masters and others, as well as some modern designers, such as
Heywood Sumner and Louis Davies, and some care was
spent upon the wood-engraving, which was a feature of the
magazine. In furtherance of this decorative aim I sent a poem,
A Herald of Spring, which Carr printed. I wrote it out in
a script of my own with decorative borders to occupy four
pages, and it was reproduced in facsimile. This was followed
by another one similarly treated, entitled Thoughts in a
Hammock. I next offered a more important poem. The Sirens
Three, previously mentioned as being in the metre of Fitz-
gerald's translation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Each
249
250
AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
page embodied a separate design and contained the text in a
script of my own. The poem being long appeared in many
FRONTISPIECE TO "ENGLISH LIVING POETS "
Designed by Walter Crane
instalments in the magazine, and was afterwards issued in book
form with a newly designed title-page by Messrs. Macmillan.
1885-90J ART AND SOCIALISM 251
Socialist aspirations are expressed at the conclusion of the poem,
and it contained a dedicatory sonnet to William Morris which
I give here —
TO WILLIAM MORRIS
The Mage of Naishapiir in English tongue
Beside the Northern Sea I, wandering, read ;
With chaunt of breaking waves each verse was said,
Till, storm-possessed, my heart in answer sung ;
And to the winds my ship of thoughts I flung,
And drifted wide upon an ocean dread
Of space and time, ere thought and life were bred,
Till Hope did cast the anchor, and I clung.
The book of Omar saw I, limned in gold,
And decked with vine and rose and pictured pause,
Enwrought by hands of one well-skilled and bold
In art and poesy and Freedom's cause,
Hope of Humanity and equal laws :
To him and to this hope be mine enscrolled.
September 1885
I sent a copy to the poet, and received the following letter
from him in reply : —
" Kelmscott House, Upper Mall, Hammersmith
October T,, 1885
" My DEAR Crane, — Many thanks for your note and
the copy of the beautiful sonnet ; which, however, makes me
blush ; and I don't know what our comrade, Joe Lane,^ that
contemner of votes of thanks, will say.
" It was nice of you to remember my painted book.^ — With
best wishes, yours fraternally,
"William Morris"
Morris praised the designs in the book, but was not satis-
fied with the way they were reproduced.
I also sent a copy of The Sirens Three to Mr. Watts, who
wrote —
" Your book is and will be a real pleasure to me. I don't
^ A stern and active member of the Socialist League.
'^ The copy of Omar Khayyam before mentioned, illuminated by William Morris,
belonging to Lady Burne-Jones,
2 52 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
know how I have deserved that you should send it to me. I
will not say how much I admire it, lest you should think me a
flatterer, but you must excuse a little envy."
It may be of interest to give here, also, a rather remark-
able letter I had from him about a picture of his, entitled
" The Soul's Prism," which was exhibited at the Grosvenor
Gallery the next year. I had written a sonnet on the picture,
which I sent him. It was as follows : —
Star-stedfast eyes that pierce the smouldering haze
Of Life and Thought, whose fires prismatic fuse
The palpitating mists with magic hues
That stain the glass of Being, as we gaze,
And mark in transit every mood and phase.
Which, sensitive, doth take or doth refuse
The lights and shadows Time and Love confuse,
When lost in dreams we thread their wandering maze.
Fledged, too, art thou with plumes on brow and breast.
To bear thee, brooding o'er the depths unknown
Of human strife and wonder and desire,
And silence wakened by thy horn alone —
Behind thy veil behold a heart on fire.
Wrapped in the secret of its own unrest.
Mr. Watts acknowledged this as follows : —
" L. H. H., Mklbury Road
March 23, 1886
" My dear Mr. Crane, — Thank you for the sonnet. That
my picture could interest you so much is an extreme gratifi-
cation to me. If you would like to print the sonnet I shall be
very much pleased, for the picture will admit of no explanation
or name in the Grosvenor Catalogue. Indeed it is but a
stuttering that I should never have expected even you to follow
or make any sense of. I myself can hardly give a mental
form to the confused ideas which it endeavours in some
slight way to focus, vague murmurings rather than fancies
which constantly beat me and rather prevent any kind of work
than aid. — Very sincerely yours,
" G. F. Watts "
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 253
The picture was, however, entitled " The Soul's Prism " in
the catalogue, and my sonnet was printed underneath, so I
presume the artist felt it was not altogether wide of the subject.
At Mr. F. G. Stephens's request the sonnet was printed in
the AthencBum at the time.
I do not think more than a year or two had passed since
Morris and myself had first embraced Socialism. Morris was
first, of course, and I recall the period of his earlier lectures
and addresses, which show his gradual conversion from his
earlier attitude of " the idle dreamer of an empty day " to an
ardent and active Socialist. He naturally approached the
question from the art side, and it was the conviction of the
hopelessness of any real and permanent or widespread im-
provement in design and handicraft (which he himself had
made such practical efforts to revive and to place upon a vital
basis) under the existing economic system and the deplorable
effects of modern machine industry, both upon art and the
workers under the control of competitive capitalistic commerce,
which really drove him into the Socialist camp. He hated
the shams and pretences and pretentiousness of modern life
and its glaring contrasts of wealth and poverty ; he noted the
growing ugliness of our cities ; he loved simplicity, and, with
all his keen artistic sense and instinct for colour and inventive
pattern, I believe he preferred plainness, and even rudeness, to
insincere or corrupt forms of art.
He was no sentimentalist, however, but went to the root
of things in everything he took up, and a study of Karl Marx
and other economists only strengthened his Socialist convictions.
He saw the evils and dangers which arose from the tendency
of excessive wealth to fall into the hands of the few, and the
disastrous working of the commercial principle of absolute
individual possession of land and of the instruments of pro-
duction and distribution in its effect upon the condition of the
people at large. He saw the world divided into a possessing
class, with their hangers-on, and a vast dispossessed class
dependent for life itself upon the condition that their
employment should be a source of profit to the employers,
and he saw the resulting competitive struggle, commercial
booms, followed by commercial depression and want of work,
254
AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES
1885-90
and a chronic state for many of what he termed " artificial
starvation."
He brought his vivid insight into and intimate knowledge
of mediaeval life to bear on modern problems, and in his
Dream of John Ball associates the ideals of the English
popular revolt of the fourteenth century and its leaders
historically with those of modern Socialism, and he places on
record in delightful form in News from Nowhere his own
vision of a socialist or communistic state in the midst of the
well-loved and familiar landscape of the Thames valley.
On the occasion of one of his addresses in some hall near
Tottenham Court Road (it might have been Store Street, but
LIBERTY EQUALITY FRXEERNITY
WILLIAM MORRIS S DESIGN FOR THE CARD OF MEMBERSHIP
OF THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC FEDERATION
I am not sure), some of his old friends (who looked upon him
as a prophet in decorative art, though but few could follow
him as a Socialist) were present, and were a little startled and
flustered by some of the things he said, and I remember one
saying rather apprehensively, as we came out, " He bears
the fiery cross ! " His intense earnestness and profound
conviction set one thinking, however, and to a mind already
more or less prepared by the economic writings of John
Ruskin, and possessed of Radical sympathies in politics of long
standing, it was not difficult to advance farther, even though
such- advance involved some divergence from the main road
of contemporary thought.
A little pamphlet entitled Art and Socialism, issued as
1885-90J ART AND SOCIALISM 255
one of the " Leek Reprints," — really a reprint of one of
Morris's addresses, — had a great effect upon my mind, and led
me into a correspondence with Morris on the subject, in which
I stated all the objections or difficulties which occurred to me
against Socialism, as I then understood it, and he very kindly
wrote fully in reply. The result was that the difficulties
disappeared, and from the verge of pessimism as regards
human progress, I accepted the Socialist position, which became
a universal solvent in my mind. It was the question which
swallowed all other questions — " Like Aaron's rod," as Morris
said at the time.
A helpful book which he told me of was TJie Co-operative
Commonwealth^ by Maurice Grlinland, the author of which I
afterwards met in London (H. M, Hyndman's Historic Basis
of Socialism, and a translation of Karl Marx's Das Capital,
were also among the most informing books on the subject).
I think this was at Wedde's Hotel in Greek Street, a favourite
rendezvous for men and women of advanced political and social
opinions of all schools at that time.
I met here Pierre Kropotkin, the Russian prince and
savant, who had suffered so much for his opinions, and who
has won universal respect and sympathy in this country,
charming all who have had the pleasure of his acquaintance by
his genial manners, his disinterested enthusiasm for the cause
of humanity, and his peaceful but earnest propaganda in
" anarchist-communism," as well as his valuable sociological
writings. Stepniak 1 met later, and Madame Stepniak, at
the house of Dr. Todhunter at Bedford Park, where the
author of Underground Russia also lived, and where at the
level crossing of the North London Railway he came by his
untimely and tragic death.
At Wedde's, too, one met the leaders of the then newly
formed " Social Democratic Federation," the chief being Mr.
H. M. Hyndman. His remarkable force and political insight
struck one at once. His power as a public speaker is well
known, and it has always seemed to me extraordinary that he
never found his way to that best platform in the country —
the House of Commons. Even his enemies ought to welcome
so able an exponent of advanced views, and so fearless and
256 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
trenchant a foe, who would show them the weak places in
their armour. But, like others who happen to be in advance
of their time, he was not much reported by the press. Apart
from the social question, his knowledge of Indian affairs ought
to be of the greatest service to that country, and to those
responsible for its administration ; but warning voices are
seldom listened to, and officials do not like questioners, however
able, who are possessed of an inconvenient amount of knowledge
beforehand.
John Burns, another leader in the Federation and the
Socialist movement, was a conspicuous figure at these gatherings.
He was then a working engineer. With all his apparent con-
fidence and power of public speaking, he often showed diffidence
in private conversation and a certain caution and desire to be
politic, but a picturesque and attractive personality, and a strong
voice, and his resourceful and popular imagery in speaking made
him very influential at public meetings and in the movement
generally. H. H. Champion was another well-known member
of the S.D.F. Executive at that time. He was an ex-artillery
officer, and very ardent and energetic in the propaganda.
He afterwards transferred his activities to Australia, like
another able and ardent champion of Socialism and Labour
leader, Tom Mann, who was a powerful public speaker, and
was very much to the fore in the early years of the propaganda,
and did excellent service for the workers in connection with
the organisation of various Labour Unions.
The organ of the Federation, Justice, had recently been
started as a weekly paper, as it has continued ever since — a
genuine workman's paper, and for a long time all the work on
it was gratuitous, from the writers of the articles to the com-
positors and printers, and, as regards the former, still is so.
E. Belfort Bax, Dr. Aveling, Eleanor Marx Aveling (the
daughter of Karl Marx, the famous author of Das Capital), Miss
May Morris, and Mr. Emery Walker were all active spirits in
the movement.
Among so many ardent natures there were different
counsels, and that natural divergencies of view should take
place in the growth of such a far-reaching movement was not
surprising, and there are always two wings to every party — a
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 25;
Right and a Left. Differences arose as to the policy of the
Federation among the leaders, mainly on the question of the
part to be taken in the elections and how far it was desirable
to use the existing political machinery, and the result was that,
after a stormy meeting, which went against them, William
Morris with his daughter, and I think Mrs. Aveling, Emery
Walker, and Belfort Bax, withdrew from the Federation and
established the " Socialist League " at Hammersmith, a room
attached to Kelmscott House being used for weekly Sunday
evening meetings, when lectures were given, questions were
asked, and discussions followed.
It was here, I think, that I first met Mr. George Bernard
Shaw, who used often to be at Kelmscott House, and frequently
lectured for Morris's League. There was indeed a general
interchange of lecturers and speakers between the various
Socialist groups, which as groups and organisations kept
themselves distinct, however, and though they may, as such,
have appealed to different sections of the people, from the point
of view of political effectiveness and influence it seemed a
mistake to show so sectarian a spirit in so large a movement,
and not to be able to unite in one party, agreed in principle,
while allowing room for different tactics locally.
This want of unity may have hindered for a time the
general understanding and acceptance of Socialist principles
and aims, and certainly stood in the way of getting repre-
sentatives into Parliament^ — which has now been accomplished.
Until a movement can make its weight felt politically it is
apt to be treated as a negligible quantity in this country.
But, after all, it was educational work which was mostly wanted
then.
Besides the Social Democratic Federation and the Socialist
League, there were the Christian Socialists, allied with
certain Churchmen, such as the Rev. Stuart Headlam, and
the Guild of St. Matthew, and having the sympathy of such
men as Canon Scott Holland and the Rev. Stopford A.
Brooke, A journal named the Christian Socialist ran for a
time, edited by Mr. Paul Campbell.
Then there was, and still is, the Fabian Society, founded
by Mr. G. Bernard Shaw and his group, among whom were
17
258 AN ARTISrS REMINISCENCES [1885-go
Mr. Hubert Bland and Mrs. Hubert Bland (who writes under
the nom de plume of " E. Nesbit "), Mr. Graham Wallas, Mr.
Sydney Webb, Mrs. Annie Besant, Miss May Morris, and Mr.
Sydney Olivier. Many of these have since won distinction in
other ways. The Fabian Society certainly has done very useful
educational work by its economic lectures and tracts. The
Society has addressed itself more to the middle classes, and as
regards Socialism has advocated a waiting or Fabian policy, rely-
ing rather on the effects of a gradual permeation of society by
new ideas than emphatic protest and revolt — the name " Fabian "
being an allusion to the Roman general who opposed Hannibal.
Representatives of the other Socialist bodies, however, frequently
attended their meetings and spoke — Morris himself among the
number.
I joined the Society, and lectured for them on several
occasions — once, I remember, in Westminster Town Hall, to
a large audience, when Mr. G. Bernard Shaw took the chair,
and Oscar Wilde was among the speakers in the discussion
which followed.
The essential difference between anarchistic and socialistic
ideas and aims was not then very well understood or generally
recognised, especially as both schools could join in their pro-
tests and denunciations of the existing economic system.
Prince Pierre Kropotkin represented the most enlightened
opinion on the anarchist-communistic side, and a journal with
the title Freedom, to which he contributed, was conducted for
some time with great spirit by Mrs. Charlotte M. Wilson (a
graduate of Girton, I believe).
Louise Michel, that devoted and ardent Communist, came
over to England about this time and started an International
Socialist School in Fitzroy Street. A Committee was formed
to support it, and I made a design for the prospectus, which is
a remarkable document, and states the principles upon which
the teaching is to be based — quoting from Michael Bakounine
that " the final object of education necessarily being the forma-
tion of free men full of respect and love for the liberty of
others."
I heard Louise Michel speak (at Hammersmith). She
had much fire and fervour, and her sincerity and enthusiasm
1885-90]
ART AND SOCIALISM
259
for the welfare of humanity it was impossible to doubt, while
her appearance seemed to speak of her strenuous life and
struggles and sufferings for her ideal — " La solidarity
humaine."
By the use of explosives (other than moral) the extreme
anarchist section had set public opinion hopelessly against
DESIGN FOR LOUISE MICHEL S INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
them, and, what was worse, confused them and their methods
with others who totally disapproved such methods, and their
plea for the freedom of the individual and the substitution of
purely voluntary effort and organisation in social matters,
instead of regular government and its complicated and co-
ercive machinery, was obscured and lost sight of Indeed, by
26o AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
using force, those who protest against force and coercion are
themselves employing means which they themselves denounce.
There was reason to believe, however, that so-called
" anarchist plots " were manufactured by police agents in
some cases, and certainly police spies or agents disguised as
sympathisers attended the Socialist meetings, and got them-
selves enrolled as members of Socialist bodies. One Coulon
was well known for the persuasive manner he would use to
induce people to speak at these meetings (in the hope they
would compromise themselves), creeping about amongst an
audience and addressing individuals, sotto voce, with this
object. But he was eventually found out and exposed. Such
tactics are too base and detestable for words.
Funds were much needed for the Socialist propaganda, and
the drama was called into requisition with this object.
I remember, on one occasion, a play was given, I think at
Ladbroke Hall, in which Mr. Bernard Shaw himself appeared,
— red beard and all, — but I cannot remember whether the
play was one of his own writing, or whether the author was
Dr. Aveling, who with his wife certainly appeared at another
time in a play of his own. William Morris, too, came out as
a playwright, and actually took a part himself in it — that of
the Archbishop of Canterbury, called as a witness in court.
The title was The Tables Turned ; or, Nuptkins awakened, and
the play turned on the trial of Socialists for sedition, by a
prejudiced and tyrannical judge, whose proceedings are
interrupted by the social revolution which breaks up the
sitting and releases the prisoners. Then we are shown what
happens afterwards — the country peacefully settled and every-
body happy, except old Nuptkins, who is a vagrant hiding
from what he fears will be the vengeance of his former victims,
who now transformed into comfortable rustics at their village
Folkmote turn the tables upon him, but in the end only require
him to do some honest work for his living. Miss May Morris
appeared in this scene, singing " Come, lasses and lads," to her
own accompaniment on her guitar.
It appears there was some difficulty about filling the part
of the Archbishop, as so unlikely a person as I was applied to
to take it up ! A comrade writes : —
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 261
" As you no doubt are aware, we are producing an
' Interlude,' written by Morris, which is to be played next
Saturday. Everything is all right but a part for the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, who is called as a witness in a trial for
sedition. It is not a large part, but Morris thought you would
not mind taking it, if you had time. Should you be able to do
so, we should be glad to have a word from you to-morrow night,
when we meet again here for rehearsal. If you come here at
8 p.m. we shall be extremely glad to see you. — ^Trusting you
will be able to help us ... "
I did not fancy myself as an Archbishop, however, and so
lost — well, what I am sure was no loss to the audience !
It was a very interesting performance. Morris (in full
canonicals) was said to look more like an archimandrite than
an archbishop, and no doubt he did, with his full beard ; but
he played his part well, though looking a little too bluff.
There were other attractions, too, for after the play Mr.
John Burns appeared rigged out in gay Japanese costume,
with a Japanese umbrella, and gave the song " Titwillow " from
Gilbert and Sullivan's opera, The Mikado, very popular then.
That was in 1887. I seem to have got a little ahead
chronologically, but it was in this year that another dis-
tinguished personality in the movement, who frequently
attended the Kelmscott House meetings, Mr. Edward Carpenter,
author of England's Ideal, wrote to me to ask me to do a
frontispiece to his Chants of Labour. He says : —
''December 7, 1887
" I am bringing out very shortly a song-book for the use
of the Labour party. Socialists and others, and want to know
whether you would be so good as to help me with a design for
frontispiece or cover, or both. The book will contain fifty or
sixty songs, with music, — a pretty good average, with plenty
of variety, — and I think will be a help to the movement. I
should be very pleased if you could do this, as I am sure it
would add greatly to the circulation ; and if you are willing,
and would let me know, I will call upon you, and show you
specimens of the songs and give you details about the book.
262 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
I am going to lecture at Hammersmith next Sunday, and
might meet you there, or could see you any time on Friday
up to 5 p.m.
" I think of calling the book Chants of Labour.
Sonnenschein has the MS., but if you would like to see
it in toto I can get it from him. — Yours fraternally,
" Edward Carpenter "
The book duly appeared with my cover and frontispiece,
and I believe it has been a favourite in the movement.
Edward Carpenter might almost be called the English
Walt Whitman, as he shares much of his spirit as well as the
power of expressing his thoughts in irregular cadences. His
large-hearted humanity and aspirations after a simple life
penetrate all his writings, and he has done good service
against the callous demon of vivisection.
Among others who occasionally attended the Hammer-
smith meetings was Mr. H. G. Wells. I did not, however,
make his acquaintance, and never heard him speak there.
Mr. Catterson Smith, the artist, now head of the Birmingham
School of Art, was very constant in his attendance, and
frequently took part in the discussions. Mr. Robert Steele,
also, and Mr. John Burns, Mr. Sydney Webb, Mr. Graham
Wallas, and others ; Mr. R. B. Cunninghame Graham occasion-
ally, as well as those previously mentioned.
Mr. Felix Moschelles, the artist, whose delightful Remini-
scences are well known, was always an earnest Socialist, and
was generally to be seen at the important meetings. Latterly
he has worked hard for the cause of International Peace and
Arbitration, and conducts the journal Concord. I met Mr.
Keir Hardie, who has come so much to the front, later.
I remember, too, a Mr. Craig, who had been connected with
some industrial and social experiments in Ireland as organiser
and director many years before, but who despite his great age
had lost none of his enthusiasm, and often spoke with much
fire and energy.
Mr. Halliday Sparling acted as Secretary, and Mr. Emery
Walker as Treasurer. After the meetings it was the custom for
Morris to ask the speakers and a few of the chief members of the
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 263
Branch into the house, where, in the famous dining-room, on
the oaken board, a cold supper was spread, and the evening
finished in a talk round the fireside.
Morris and his group, who rather inclined to the commun-
istic, or, at one time, even anarchistic, side of the movement,
while the Social Democratic Federation represented the political
side, also started a weekly paper to give expression to their
views. This was The Commonweal. Morris designed the title,
and he asked me for some little headings, which were also used
for pamphlets issued from the same Press.
In the summer of 1885 I had designed a cartoon for
Justice, ready for a big meeting in Hyde Park. A suggestion
for it had been made by H. H, Champion. Capitalism was
represented as a vampire fastening on a slumbering workman,
and an emblematic figure of Socialism endeavours to arouse
him to a sense of his danger by the blast of a clarion.
It was curious that a while afterwards the pictorial motive
of this obviously inspired a cartoon of Tenniel's in Punch, but
he applied the vampire idea to the Irish Home Rule question
and Nationalist movement — and against both, of course.
Those were days when one of the recurring waves of com-
mercial depression had fallen on the land, after a period of
comparative prosperity, — an inevitable accompaniment of the
capitalist system, as Socialists have continually pointed out, — •
and as a consequence the army of the unemployed rapidly
increased, and the distress that winter (1885-86) was very
great.
There were meetings in Trafalgar Square and in Hyde
Park, and on one occasion, early in February 1886, large
numbers had marched in procession to the square and proceeded
afterwards to Hyde Park, led by John Burns waving a red
flag, by which he earned the name of " the man with the red
flag." In the Park the crowd surged around the fashionable
people in their carriages, and frightened some of them very
much, though no damage was done. On leaving the Park
after the meeting was over, large crowds of unemployed and
doubtless hungry men poured along Oxford Street, with them
no doubt all sorts of elements and characters generally to be
found in a London crowd, and it was said that some shop
264 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
windows were broken and some provisions taken ; but it must
be remembered that the police were that day conspicuous
by their absence, and the West End might be said to have
been practically at the mercy of the demonstrators. Under
these circumstances the wonder was not that such incidents
had occurred but that the food and drink shops were not
generally attacked.
The West End, however, had a thrill of horror, and thought
a revolution was really upon them. The Socialists were freely
blamed, but their numbers were absurdly exaggerated, as at
that time they were really only a handful. To begin with,
Mr. Hyndman described the leaders as no more than could
easily be got into a four-wheeled cab.
One gentleman on Campden Hill — I believe it was Lord
Walter Campbell — publicly announced his intention, in a letter
to the papers, of fortifying his house and arming his servants
with Winchester rifles !
In the next number of The Commonweal I designed a
cartoon entitled " Mrs. Grundy frightened at her own shadow,"
or rather, I had it first, " Madame Bourgeois." Morris,
however, in the following letter recommended this change as
being advisable: —
"Kelmscott House, Upper Mall
Hammersmith, Monday
" My dear Crane, — Thanks for note. Yes, I got the car-
toon all right, very many thanks for it ; I thought it very good
indeed, and also well cut. I think we had better call the lady
' Mrs. Grundy,' as a foreign language will not be understanded
by all our customers. We have come to the conclusion to keep
it for the first number of the weekly issue, as in any case the
event has ceased to be a current one, and as we have quite
made up our minds to go in for the weekly. — Yours very truly,
"William Morris"
This shows that The Commonweal was first started as a
monthly, which I had forgotten. The following winter the
unemployed trouble began again, but a military dictator had
been appointed as Chief of the Metropolitan Police in the person
i885-go]
ART AND SOCIALISM
265
MRS. GRUNDY FRIGHTENED AT HER OWN SHADOW
Cartoon for " The Commonweal" (1887)
266 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1885-90
of Sir Charles Warren — a case of a King Stork instead of a
King Log — and he proceeded to treat public meetings and
popular rights in true military and summary fashion.
In addition to other revolutionary symptoms at this time,
the Irish kept the question of Home Rule and separate
nationality well to the fore, and in their determined struggle
both in and out of Parliament their representatives, like
Michael Davitt, William O'Brien, Tim Healy, Joe Biggar, and
their Parliamentary leader, Parnell, by their courage, persistency,
and resource, set a spirited example of what unity and self-
sacrifice is capable in political life. The Socialists supported
them. Meetings were held in Trafalgar Square, to protest
against the treatment of the Irish political prisoners and to de-
mand their release. These and the meetings of the unemployed
kept things busy there. This state of things continued all
through the winters of 1885, 1886, but the culmination was
in 1887.
There had been upheavals in America too. At a Chicago
workmen's meeting on the occasion of a strike and in favour
of an eight-hour day, a bomb had been exploded in the midst
of a body of armed police who were preparing to attack and
disperse the meeting, and in consequence, though no proof had
been produced that any of the accused had thrown the bomb,
certain of the leading speakers (avowed anarchists) were
arrested and condemned to death.
This evoked the strongest protest from English Socialists
as well as from the Labour party generally. Petitions were
signed, and at length a mass meeting was summoned in
Trafalgar Square on Sunday, November 13, 1887. Large
contingents of workmen with bands and banners marched
from every quarter of London and made for the square, but
Sir Charles Warren with an enormous force of police, which
he used as an army, issued orders to stop every procession
half a mile before it reached the square, and to break it
up. Morris at the head of his Hammersmith League was thus
stopped. The square, or rather the outsides of it, was already
crowded with spectators, and the demonstrators. Trade
Unionists, Socialists, political clubs of all sorts, only reached
the place of meeting in gfoups, as their processions were
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 267
broken up, and there they found that the centre of the square
where the meeting was to be held was surrounded by a solid
blue hedge of policemen six deep (!).
Mrs. Annie Besant, at that time a most ardent and
enthusiastic Socialist and a most eloquent and powerful speaker
in the cause, is reported to have flung herself against the
solid six-deep wall of police in her efforts to break through
to the centre of the square (which was quite empty, except
for police officers), stoutly asserting her right of entry.
At another point the cordon was broken by a determined
rush headed by R. B. Cunninghame Graham, H. M. Hyndman,
and John Burns, but all these were instantly taken into custody,
the former being struck on the head by the truncheon of one
of '* our admirable police " (a phrase used by Mr. Gladstone).
The next business of the police was to clear the sides of the
square, which were full of people, the larger proportion of
whom had come to look on. The state of things was not
improved by the frequent charges of mounted police upon the
inoffensive crowd. I narrowly escaped myself in crossing over
to Parliament Street. There were broken heads. I saw one
unfortunate man led by, bleeding ; but, worse than this, one
man was knocked down by the mounted police and so injured
that he died in the hospital shortly afterwards. I never saw
anything more like real warfare in my life — only the attack
was all on one side. The police, in spite of their numbers,
apparently thought they could not cope with the crowd. They
had certainly exasperated them, and could not disperse them,
as after every charge — and some of these drove people right
against the shutters of the shops in the Strand — they returned
again. So the Guards were called out, and I remember in the
gloom of that November evening the glitter of the bayonets,
and the red line in front of the National Gallery, and also the
magistrate riding up Parliament Street in the midst of a
company of Life Guards, having been hastily fetched to read
the Riot Act.
The day has been known as " Bloody Sunday " ever
since.
The time-honoured right of meeting in the square was
suddenly and, as many considered, quite illegally taken away
268 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
—in fact, there was no pretence of legality, but it was done by
simply brute force.
The three champions of public rights who had actually,
at their own risk, broken in — Messrs. Cunninghame Graham,
H. M. Hyndman, and John Burns — were put on their trial at
the Old Bailey. Mr. Hyndman was acquitted, but Cunning-
hame Graham and John Burns were committed to Holloway
for a term of some months. Mr. Asquith defended. All the
prisoners of Liberty made notable speeches in their own defence.
On the day her husband was brought up at Bow Street
Mrs. Cunninghame Graham very spiritedly issued invitation
cards to her friends, on which the legend ran —
Mrs. Cunninghame Graham
At Home
Bow Street Police Court
I find a note from her at this time as follows : —
"52 Brook Street, W.
November 29, 1887
" Dear Sir, — My husband's trial is postponed until to-
morrow, Wednesday. — Hoping very much that you will be
able to come, and that we may have the pleasure of making
your acquaintance, believe me, yours very truly,
" G. L. Graham "
Here is a letter from Mr. Cunninghame Graham a few days
later. I believe he was committed for trial, and released on
bail.
"52 Brook Street, W.
December i, 1887
" Dear Sir, — Mrs. Graham has asked me to write to you,
as she is very ill with excitement and worry, and a bad cold,
to thank you for your very kind letter,
" Kind letters (except from the working classes) are all
too few.
" You are right ; in the future the most well defined public
rights will have to be clearly asserted or lost.
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 269
" I am glad you think that liberty is worth preserving
remarkably few men who have enough to eat and drink seem
to care for it. If, as Moliere says, ' Cinq ici six coups de
batons entre ceux que s'aimerait ne fut que regardez avec
I'amour,' certainly the public should be full of love, as many
thousands were given to perfectly unoffending men and women
on Sunday in Trafalgar Square.
" Again thanking you for Mrs. Graham and myself, and with
hopes that I may soon have the pleasure of making your
personal acquaintance, believe me, yours very faithfully,
" R. B. CUNNINGHAME GRAHAM "
The action of the police and the Government as to closing
the square was considered a blow at the rights of free speech
and public meeting, and had the effect of rallying all lovers of
freedom in their defence.
As a protest a public funeral was arranged for poor Linnell,
who had fallen a victim to the brutality of the police on
" Bloody Sunday." After various official hindrances and
objections had been removed, this funeral took place, starting
from Bow Street. An enormous procession followed the
hearse on foot along the Strand, Fleet Street, past St. Paul's,
Cheapside, Cornhill, and on down Whitechapel Road to the
cemetery at Burdett Road. Cunninghame Graham and
Annie Besant, and most of the leading Socialists and their
Societies were represented, as well as large workmen's con-
tingents with their banners, and bands playing the Dead
March. It was an impressive spectacle, and all London
lined the streets, and frequently uncovered as the hearse
passed.
A song for the occasion was written by Morris, which was
set to music by Malcolm Lawson, and this, with a cover I de-
signed, was sold in the streets at the time, and sung by those
in the procession.
In connection with meetings of protest held in various
places at the time there were arrests of some of our comrades
who were too outspoken for the police, or on the plea of
" obstruction " ; and on one occasion there was a large muster
of Socialists at Bow Street before Mr. Vaughan to be bail
270 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
for the prisoners. In reference to this, this postcard was
received : —
"19 Avenue Road
December 2,, 1887
" Please hold yourself ready on Monday, December 5 th, to
go, on receipt of telegram, to Police Court named in the
telegram, to bail out persons arrested to-morrow.
"Annie Besant"
SOLD FOB THE BENEFIT OF LINNELL'S ORPHANS.
ALFRED LINNELL
Killed in Trafalgar Square,
NOVEMBER 20, 1887.
A Death Song,
BY MR. W. MORRIS.
Memorial Design by Mr. Walter Crane.
FjWP^HIf; jlj'j-y.tjpl PH f ^yai
PRICE ONE PENNY.
COVER OF LINNELL'S DEATH SONG
Mrs. Besant conducted a magazine of her own, with the
title Our Corner, for which \ made her a cover design. It
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 271
was in this magazine that Mr. G. B. Shaw's original novel,
" Cashel Byron's Profession," appeared, if I mistake not, and
also a second one, the title of which I do not recall. His first,
" An Unsocial Socialist," appeared, I think, in To-Day , another
magazine devoted to the Socialist cause though open to the
expression of various opinions, and at one time edited by Mr.
H. M. Hyndman.
Another small journal which bore a cover design of mine
was The Practical Socialist. E. Belfort Bax, W. K. Burton,
and Thomas Bolas (who also issued leaflets and pamphlets
from a press of his own) were among the contributors.
Yet another was Time^ edited by E. Belfort Bax, for which
I designed the cover.
The Pall Mall Gazette, then edited by Mr. W. T. Stead,
played an important part at this time, and took a strong line
in the defence of public liberty, which certainly was at that
time in some danger, and the paper was our chief supporter in
the press.
Mr. and Mrs. Gustafson from the United States, who had
distinguished themselves by their ardour in the teetotal cause,
we met about this time, — it was at the Holman Hunts, — and
they both showed the keenest interest and sympathy with our
struggles at the time. They were the joint authors of The
Foundation of Death. Mrs. Gustafson was also the author of
poems. We became very friendly before they returned to the
States.
On the release of Mr. Cunninghame Graham and John
Burns great demonstrations were held to welcome them. I
remember a large meeting in a hall in Argyll Street, near
Regent Street, full of enthusiastic supporters, at which a tea
was given in their honour, and certainly the fervour of the
welcome must have been gratifying to the champions of public
rights. Representatives of all shades of Socialist opinion were
there. Mr. Graham's health had suffered while in durance, and
public speaking was trying for him, and he nearly broke down
on one occasion.
This was at a very large and rather turbulent meeting (on
February 20, 1888) in a riding-school in Seymour Place, near
Edgware Road, not a favourable place for speaking, but the
2 72 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
best that could be got, and at that period, in this free country,
halls were frequently refused for Socialist meetings. The
platform was at one end of the long tan-strewn shed, filled
with people, mostly standing, though there may have been a
few rows of chairs in front.
That staunch and noble-minded true Irish patriot and
devoted and self-sacrificing fighter for the freedom of his
country who so recently left us, Michael Davitt, was in the
chair, and delivered a notable speech, containing suggestions for
the organisation of London, and several of the Irish members
of Parliament were present. Mr. William O'Brien was one
of the speakers, and he received a tremendous ovation as he
worked his way through the crowd to the platform. H. M.
Hyndman also spoke, and while he was rather fiercely demand-
ing where the supposed " Liberal" bulwarks of Liberty were when
the square was closed to the people, among the professional
politicians and representatives of the people in Parliament,^ a
man, angered by what he said, sprang forward and jumped on
the platform, apparently with intent to do the speaker bodily
harm, but he was seized by many hands and persuaded to retire.
Michael Davitt was a good chairman, and kept the meeting in
hand. The Irish Home Rulers and Nationalists certainly
helped the Socialists at that time, and the support was mutual.
Both were engaged in a strife for freedom, and on both sides
had seen the people's rights trampled upon, and free speech
endangered, and had suffered persecution and imprisonment
for the sake of their cause, which they made common.
Such experiences convinced me that freedom in any
country is measured by the impunity with which unpopular
opinions can be uttered — especially those advocating drastic
political or social changes — or by the length of the tether
of toleration, and that certain public rights may be won,
but that they require constant vigilance to defend and
maintain.
It was a stormy period, and the bourgeois were in a panic,
and the wildest ideas of Socialism were about. We were mis-
represented and abused in every direction, and confused with
^ Professor Stuart and one or two other Liberal members of Parliament were,
by the way, present.
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 273
the advocates of the use of dynamite. This, however, became
a joke with us, and I remember being in Morris's room at
Hammersmith, always full of papers and books, which covered
the chairs as well as the table, when a friend (it was the Hon.
Richard Grosvenor) entered, and Morris said, as his visitor was
looking for a place to sit down, " Oh, you can sit there all right
— there's no dynamite under the papers."
Morris did not waste time replying to attacks much, but
he had letters in the papers in the interest of the movement,
and I frequently wrote in support of him. A journal named
Life was very venomous, and I called his attention to it in
case he cared to reply, which drew from him this letter : —
" Kelmscott House, Upper Mall, Hammersmith
December lo
" My dear Crane, — Thanks : but I'm afraid it is not
worth the wear and tear, as I am so busy, to answer. Ignorance
of this very gross sort defeats itself ; one would have to begin
with protoplasms in order to argue with it, and also I suppose
Life is not often read by convertible people. By the way, as
to the funeral, you see that the coroner has reclaimed the body,
so I suppose the funeral will be put off,^ — the Pall Mall of
last evening says, till next Sunday. I take this to be a dodge
of the Government : clever, but oh, how shabby ! I suppose
you will have seen Judge Edlin's sentence on poor Coleman ^
yesterday. I confess I am beginning to lose patience, and feel
inclined to throw the helve after the hatchet, and go in for
mere attack ; but I suppose it would not be wise. — Yours very
truly, William Morris"
There could be no doubt of the strength of Morris's
feeling at this time. He was certainly in the thick of
the fight, which was, it must never be forgotten, for the
maintenance of public freedom in speech and meeting, then
certainly threatened, and on one occasion was actually
arrested, temporarily. He was in one of the London Police
Courts, over which Mr. Newton presided, — the Thames, I
^ This was Linnell's funeral, the victim of the police, already spoken of.
2 A member of the Socialist League.
\
274 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1885-90
think, — in defence of one of the comrades of the Hammer-
smith Branch of the League, who had been hauled up for
" obstruction " in speaking in the open air. (This was a
favourite method of stopping the Socialist speakers by the
authorities at the time, although Salvationists, who also
drew crowds, were unmolested.) He protested against the
magistrate's sentence on his comrade, and called out " Shame ! "
in court, and being roughly hustled by the police, resisted them,
and was instantly arrested and placed in the dock. The
magistrate, in entire ignorance of the identity of the unusual-
looking prisoner, asked Morris who he was, and he replied,
" I am William Morris, artist and poet — pretty well known
throughout Europe, I believe." This had the effect of
bringing about his immediate release, but Morris said after-
wards that it was the only time he had had to bounce about
himself, and would never do it again.
These disturbed times gave, as such times are apt to do,
opportunities for cadgers. Here is a postcard I received from
Morris, who appears to have been victimised : —
"Kelmscott House, Upper Mall, Hammersmith
" My dear Crane, — It is true that that chap did call
on me yesterday and that I gave him materials for an article
and IS. 6d. towards expenses — but: I had no sooner done
so than it flashed across my mind that he was a do ; and
since the same idea has got hold of you also, I have now
but little doubt that it is so. Therefore a thousand pardons
for sending him to you : and I will never do such a thing
again, I was muddled and tired after a long day's work.
Many thanks for your support in D. N} W. M."
The general principles of Socialism at that time were very
imperfectly understood — indeed, it would be truer to say
generally quite misunderstood, as well as misrepresented.
The attitude of some of our old friends, of those at least
who did not show the cold shoulder towards us, is indicated
in the following letter from Mr. Harvey Orrin Smith, who,
by the way, could never resist the opportunity of making a
^ Letter in the Daily News.
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 275
pun, and was often extremely amusing in a vein of whimsical
Dickensian humour : —
"7 Gibson Place, Sr. Andrkws, Scotland
Saturday, July yi, 1887
" My dear Walter Crane, — My wife answered Mrs.
Crane's note — explaining why we, being here, would not be
there. I desire to add a few words to express the pleasure
1 felt at the receipt of your 'At Home' card for July i, 8,
2 2, 29, showing that I had not altogether dropped out of
your memory.
" I have a very pleasant recollection of our meeting and
talk at my dear partner's ^ house, and that conversation
seemed a revival of some old Argyle Square memories, to
me at least.
" I suppose you may know from William Morris that
my wife's brother, Charles Faulkner of Univ. Coll. Oxon,
is the arch priest of Socialism at Alma Mater. Arch ! I
may say he is a perfect viaduct — I cannot go with the party,
as the programme seems so indefinite. So Faulkner and I
meet but seldom. I say he inverts the old saying, and gives
up to mankind what was meant for a party — that party being
yours faithfully, HARVEY Orrin Smith
" P.S. — I should like a talk with you as to Socialism some
day, if it might be.
"Walter Crane, Esq."
Orrin Smith's partner was Mr. James Burn (James Burn
& Co., the well-known firm of bookbinders), and his allusion
is to a meeting at his house in Phillimore Gardens, where a
glee-singing club were wont to meet, the name of which was
" The Phillimore Philomels." My brother Tom designed
the card which summoned the meetings, which were very
melodious and pleasant — the nightingales refreshing them-
selves with an oyster supper after they had discoursed sweet
music. Mr. Burn possessed an early decorative picture of
mine, " The Four Seasons."
^ James Burn.
2/6 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
It might be wondered how one's ordinary work in art pro-
gressed during these stormy years, but work and ordinary Hfe
went on as usual. In the quiet of one's studio the tempestuous
world was, if not temporarily forgotten, at least unheard, and
my favourite motto was always " Nulla dies sine linea."
The influence of a new spirit, however, made itself felt,
and the melancholy of much of my earlier work gave way
to a new hope, which found expression in various ways.
In 1885 my principal picture at the Grosvenor was
founded on an early design of " Freedom," and represented
a young man in a prison from whose limbs the chains have
fallen as he looks upward to greet the radiant winged figure
of Freedom, who announces his emancipation in spite of two
guards, a king in armour and a priest with a book and
crozier, who sit each side the portal — but asleep.
I had introduced this design in my book. The Sirens
Three. To the same year and exhibition belongs a water
colour, " Pandora," showing the mythical lady after the fatal
box had been opened — which I had represented as a marriage
coffer — she haviiig cast herself upon the lid after the evils had
escaped. Through the pillars of the porch is seen a stormy
lurid sunset, and the gleaming curves of a river, barred by
the dark forms of cypresses bent before the wind.
Sir Coutts Lindsay from this time onward began to show
me the cold shoulder, and from giving me prominent places
in his Gallery gradually shelved my works. So marked did
this at length become that ultimately I felt in self-defence
compelled to withdraw a picture sent in 1887, which was
placed behind a pillar in a corner of the corridor. This
was " The Riddle of the Sphinx," afterwards purchased in
Germany, where, to compensate for their growing unpopularity
in England, my pictures have received most sympathetic
welcome and honour.
In 1886 I added another little book to the Bahys Opera
Series. This was Baby's own ^sop} For the text I was
indebted to my old friend and master, W. J. Linton, who sent
it me from America, where he had been living for many years.
^ An amusing parody of one of the pages was sent to me by my cousin, Mrs.
Houghton. It refers to the conduct of her pet dog, who was somewhat shy.
1885-90]
ART AND SOCIALISM
277
He had treated the Fables in verse, compressing them into
very succinct lines with still shorter morals, " for the use of
W/l/^ Apo/o^ies fe
BPiBYS /ESOP
WAITKR CRANE
JILL- ^ THE -LION.
Yk M timi Hv.\|- J,ll h^
Vy/iin l)i ntil mil her si^t,
*«:#- politz. ,
CARICATURE OF A PAGE OF BABY'S OWN ^SOP
By Mrs, Houghton
railway travellers and others," as he said. When the book
was finished I sent him a copy, and he wrote from
"Newhaven, Conn., U.S.A.
December 6, 1886
P. Box 1 139
" My dear Walter, — I have to thank you for your
friendly letter and the copy of ^sop just to hand. I shall
have to get another copy for a baby grandchild, for I own
to being baby enough to wish to keep this one copy to
myself. I am well pleased to see it, satisfied that my lines
(even had you taken more ' liberties ' with them) had been
occasion for such an admirable series of designs. Beyond
this, I shall not object to any royalty to come to me, if I
may take it as an assurance that the work has been of fair
profit to yourself.
" What you say of old times is very pleasant to me, and
with what you say of times to come — yes ! most certainly
to come — I need hardly assure you I am in full agreement
with you. I bate no jot of heart and hope once held by me.
2 78 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
The years since I began to hope have given sufficient vouchers
for holding to it.
" The world moves — however slowly.
" With much regard, and heartily reciprocating all your good
wishes, I am, very faithfully yours, W. J. LiNTON "
To return to 1885. We passed some pleasant weeks at
St. David's, in Wales, at the extreme point of the coast of
Pembrokeshire, on St. Bride's Bay. It was owing to the
attractive report of Mrs. Molesworth (for whose annual
children's story for Macmillan I continued to supply illustra-
tions). She and her daughters were staying there, and we
saw a great deal of them at that time, and made the
acquaintance of the Cathedral clergy, who had many a
pleasant gathering in the evenings at their houses in the
Close. We were shown over the fine Cathedral by the
venerable Dean, who had its history at his fingers' ends.
We were a considerable party, and I remember his asking
me to draw aside the curtain from the entrance through the
stone rood screen, so that the ladies could obtain a prospective
view of the choir from the end of the nave, and his saying to
the party as he did so, " I always like to make use of young
men." I wondered if he realised my age was then forty !
Still, I presume youth is comparative, and I suppose I was
only about half his own age.
St. David's Cathedral was certainly full of interest, though
Gilbert Scott had left his mark upon it, and works were still
going on, doing useful engineering work in tying up the tower,
which had threatened to fall, but also rebuilding the west
front. One had a shudder, too, when one learned that the
late rich carved timber roof with pendants would have been
ruthlessly cleared away if any authority could have been
discovered for a stone vault over the Norman piers of the
nave ! Part of the Cathedral was ruinous, and there were
chapels of nearly every period of Gothic, with interesting
carved tombs and fragments, and some fine late Gothic
encaustic tiles.
It was a drive from Haverfordwest of about sixteen miles
to St. David's — " sixteen miles and seventeen hills " they used
1885-90]
ART AND SOCIALISM
279
to call it. The villages all nestled in the valleys, the lands
above looked bleak and bare, the fields divided by stone fences.
St. David's was of the same type, and only a little larger
"â– i-.-^ - ^
SKETCH OF ST. DAVID'S CATHEDRAL (1885)
than some of its neighbours. It might be described as a
whitewashed Welsh village with a Cathedral thrown in. One
did not see the Cathedral till one was right on the city, and
then only the top of the tower, for it was built quite in the
28o AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
valley. Near it were two interesting Gothic ruins, one of
St. Mary's College, and the other the remains of a very fine
Bishop's Palace, a beautiful detail in which was a rose window
in the gable of the chapel.
I made many studies and drawings, and one of the interior
the venerable Dean afterwards acquired. His old-fashioned
figure appears in my pen sketch of the Cathedral given
here.
The rocky coast was interesting, with Ramsey Island a
little way from the mainland. To bathe, one had to descend
a steep path to the shore, and there was a " porth " where
boats were moored, left dry at low tide.
To return again to other events of the early " eighties." In
1884, to inaugurate the re-organisation of the Institute of
Painters in Water Colour, now Royal, and its establishment in
its new building in Piccadilly, a fancy dress ball had been pro-
jected by the President and Committee on a large scale. This
was to have taken place on May 2, 1884, but was postponed,
owing to the death of the Duke of Albany, until the following
May.
This undertaking gave the members of the Committee a
great deal of work. A scheme of a sort of masque to repre-
sent different epochs in art was adopted, and different artists on
the Committee undertook to arrange different groups in this
historic pageant, which began with Phidias and ended with
Romney.
Mr. Edmund Gosse was asked to write the introductory
verses descriptive of each group, and Mr. Forbes Robertson
presenting Virgil, in a scarlet toga and laurel wreath, delivered
them, before the curtain rose on each scene.
Mr. Caton Woodville had a fine group of Francis the
First at Fontainebleau, with Jean Goujon, I think. The
President, Sir James D. Linton, who was knighted that year,
had a characteristic group of Maximilian the Great in Albert
Durer's studio at Nuremberg, rich with sixteenth-century
costume and armour from Hans Burgmair's triumphs.
I designed a group to represent the art of Italy, arranging
it as a triptych of round-arched Renascence arches. Through
the centre one were seen the towers of Florence, with a group
1885-90] ' ART AND SOCIALISM 281
in front, including Dante and Beatrice, Petrarch and Laura,
Fiammetta and an early Italian angel, Niccolo Pisano, Cimabue
and the Giotto as the shepherd boy. Under the right-hand
arch was the dome of St. Peter's, and the group consisted of
Pope Julius II. examining a plan presented by Michael Angelo,
while in front the young Raphael and a cardinal completed
the group. On the left Venetian art was suggested by a
group in a balcony, in which the fair lady of Paris Bordone
in her crimson gown as in the National Gallery picture was
a central figure, supported by other ladies, while in front stood
Titian with Paolo Veronese, and Giovanni Bellini played a
lute, seated on the steps.
Of the sort of difficulties encountered in getting together
suitable impersonations, and keeping them together when
caught, further increased by the postponement, the following
extracts from a letter from Mr. E. J. Gregory gives a glimpse
(he was to have arranged a separate Venetian group, but
eventually handed it over to me to be included in my
triptych) : —
" With regard to the lady of the Bordone dress, the
dress is made, and I have written asking her to be one of
your party.
"I never succeeded in getting a Doge I wanted — a clean-
shaved one like the Bellini one in the National Gallery : a
bearded one would be easier to get.
" Pilleau was to have been my Titian, but chucked me
up on account of ill-health. He may be better now.
" Herkomer was to have been Giorgione, but he threw
me over.
" Henry Moore promised to come in the group, and asked
me again about it recently.
" My Bellini (clean-shaved) was Lewis Jarvis — I expect
he is still game.
" C. W. Deschamps was to have been a ' companion of
the Calza.'
" Another ' Calza ' was A. Taylor, Hogarth Club. He
still has the drawing I made for him, but I think he told
me that he had mislaid it.
282 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
" I had a middle-aged * fine woman ' for Catharine Cornaro
after Gentile Bellini. She may still be obtainable.
" Ernest Parton was also one of my lot.
" W. Harvey — I had almost persuaded to be an
admiral.
" I will write to such of these as you may desire and try
to get them for your group, but times are sadly altered since
even last year, and I fear most of them will retreat."
This seems full of " might have beens," and I think
there were very few survivors of Mr. Gregory's in my Venetian
group finally. He did his best for me, however. One
gentleman, he informs me later, in another letter, " will
be a Senator to the amount of two guineas " ! This seems
cheap for a Venetian Senator.
Mr. John Archer, a well-known portrait painter whom
I had invited to join my Roman group, writes that " it is
a most unexpected honour this, that you should wish to
raise me to the Papal chair, when I had expected to
have ended my life as a cardinal ! " (This was an allusion
to his appearance in the latter character at the Boughtons'
fancy ball, where I had met him.)
Mr. Hamo Thorneycroft wrote that "to be Ghiberti for
an hour or two would be very pleasant, and it would not
be unpleasant even to wear his dress ; but just about the
time of the ball I am going to be married, so I shall be
busy."
I had several letters from Mr. Edmund Gosse while
he was engaged on the verses, in one of which he is good
enough to say he thinks my "triple scene will be most
exquisite," and asks for the names of the personages in
my groups.
I asked Leighton whether he could lend me a photograph
of his famous picture of " Cimabue's Madonna carried through
Florence," and he wrote —
"2 Holland Park Road, Kensington, W.
"Dear Crane, — I will try to find, and if I succeed
will send you a photo I have somewhere (in two pieces) of
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 283
Cimabue, It is not now to be had, I believe. — In haste,
yours very truly, Fred. Leighton "
I was fortunate enough to have some beautiful ladies
in my Florentine and Venetian groups. Miss Lisa Stillmann
was Fiammetta. Miss Galloway of Manchester was the
Paris Bordone lady. Miss Lisa Lehmann was my Beatrice.
(Mr. Stock, R.I., the artist, was an admirable Dante.)
Mr. W. A. S. Benson was Niccolo Pisano. My wife took
the part of Laura. My little daughter was an early Italian
angel. My eldest son personated the young Giotto, and
I represented Cimabue myself, in the white costume in which
Leighton painted him, taken from the fresco of Simone
Memmi at Florence.
Sir James Linton was Veronese in my Venetian group,
the late Mr. J. H. Mole, R.I., personating Titian. The
late Mr. John O'Connor made an excellent Michael Angelo,
and Mr. E. R. Hughes presented a lifelike and artistic
portrait of the young Raphael.
Our anxieties and rehearsals (some of our rehearsals
took place in the old " Vic " Theatre, on the Surrey side, by
the way, then disused as a theatre, I think, but before it
was transformed into " Salvation Army Barracks " : it was
full of queerest gangways and little boxes of dressing-rooms)
were over at last, the night came, and the masque turned
out very successfully. King Edward then was Prince of
Wales, and he consented to be present with the Princess
Alexandra, now the Queen, and their suite. They were
seated, of course, immediately in front of the stage, which
was the stage in the former Prince's Hall, Piccadilly, since
altered into a restaurant. At the end of the masque, the
whole of the groups reappeared and passed across the stage
in procession, passing down before the Prince, and then
proceeded upstairs to the supper-room.
Dancing afterwards began in the Prince's Hall. The
spectacle was pronounced a great success, and we were asked
to repeat the performance, and did indeed give it again at
the Mansion House before the Lord Mayor, in the Egyptian
Hall.
284 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
(Sir) Henry Irving became interested in it, and so
much so that he commissioned Sir James Linton and
myself each to paint for him our own group or tableau.
This was done through the agency of Messrs. Dowdeswell,
but I had the following letter from Irving respecting the
picture : —
"15A Grafton Street, Bond Street, W.
Jtdy 31, 1886
" Dear Mr. Walter Crane, — I am much obliged to
you for writing to me about the picture.
" I have told Dowdeswells to send it here.
" It is a lovely work, and I consider myself most fortunate
to be its possessor.
" After our little holiday, I hope you will come and
see Faust, and give me the privilege of making your
acquaintance. — Most truly yours, H. Irving."
This work, which was in water colour, was sold with the
actor's other pictures at Christie's after his death.
I was occupied a good deal in the spring and early
summer of 1886 with the design of a series of tableaux —
a scheme of Professor Warr's of King's College to illustrate
the text of his translations from Homer, The Tale of
Troy and The Wayfaring of Ulysses, and also some scenes
from the Agamemnon of ^Eschylus.
These were given in the season at Prince's Hall (the
scene of the Institute ball and painters' masque of the year
before). Lord Leighton, G. F. Watts, and Mr. Henry Holiday
designed some of the scenes, which had been given at a private
house previously. These were re-modelled, and new scenes
and costumes, scenery and accessaries, were designed by me,
at Professor Warr's request.
One of the scenes represented the return of Agamemnon
with Cassandra. Miss Dorothy Dene took the part of
Cassandra, and distinguished herself by the passion and
feeling she threw into it.
The following letter from her with regard to a change
in her attitude in the scene before the house of Agamemnon
is interesting as showing the earnest thought she gave to
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 285
the subject, as well as her consideration for the designer of
the scene : —
"The Chase, Clapham
Alay 12, 1886
" Dear Mr. Crane, — I write to ask your sanction for
an alteration which I wish to make as far as my attitude
is concerned in your beautiful tableau. If that tableau stood
alone, I should not think of doing so ; but it does not : it
is a moment in a continuous dramatic action of the greatest
difficulty, and which I have considered with the utmost care
ever since the part has been in my hands — every step in
the action has been considered, and one must, as I need
hardly say to such an artist as you, flow out of the other.
I propose to stand precisely where you place me, upright,
and if possible statuesquely^ my gaze riveted with intense
prophetic emotion on Clytemnestra, but with my arms down,
not up. This is to me of the utmost importance as a link
in my performance — action comes later on, at the ' Woe,
woe.' I feel sure that you will be willing for the performance
as a whole to sacrifice this little detail, on which certainly
your tableau does not depend. — Believe me, yours truly.
"Dorothy Dene"
Miss Dene's performance as Cassandra elicited general
applause, and it was thought she had a fine career before
her. Punch spoke of her as " delightful Dorothy," and
printed her portrait (after a sketch by Leighton, I think)
in a notice of the tableau. Unfortunately, her early death
prevented her taking the position she might have done as
an actress.
Professor Warr afterwards printed his translations, and
I made a series of designs for the book, which was issued
by Marcus Ward & Co. in a rather sumptuous form, under
the title of Echoes of Hellas, which included the " Tale
of Troy " and the " Story of the Odyssey," together with
scenes from the Orestian Trilogy. These designs were
printed in black and red by lithography, or rather, from
zinc plates, on which I drew the designs myself, and the
music, by Sir Walter Parratt and Mr. Malcolm Lawson,
286 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
accompanied the work as a supplementary volume, This
was issued in 1889.
In the summer and autumn of 1886 I was considerably
engaged in an agitation for a really representative National
Exhibition of Art as distinct from the Royal Academy and
its methods, and on much broader and more comprehensive
lines, including a better representation of architecture and
sculpture, as well as decorative design and handicraft.
There had been rather more than the usual crop of
surprising rejections at the Royal Academy that year, and
the group of artists who then formed the leading spirits of
the New English Art Club felt that something ought to
be done — if only to bring their own forms of art more
prominently before the public.
There was a lively correspondence in the newspapers ;
the subject became a quite exciting topic — in fact, a burning
question, as indeed it is apt to do when it happens to suit
the convenience of editors as copy to fill their sheets with
when the silly season comes on.
In 1886, however, things looked really more serious.
Complaints were loud and deep from disappointed artists and
their friends, and grew into something like a clamour.
Mr. George Clausen, who was then a leading member
of the New English Art Club, wrote to me in May 1886,
asking me if I would be " disposed to join in and give [my]
influence to a movement which will help to place art matters —
or rather the exhibition of pictures and sculpture — on a better
footing than they now have here," and he goes on to describe
the idea, which was that " instead of making another little
society, to start if possible a national movement on a broad
and fair basis," " an exhibition open to all artists" " every
artist who has exhibited in the United Kingdom in the last
three years " to be " invited to send." " Every artist will
be eligible to serve on the hanging and selecting committees,
and will have a vote for these committees, that is the principle —
that artists have the right to elect their own committees
{i.e. juries) — what could be more simple or more just?"
These principles at once claimed my sympathy, and after
a lengthy correspondence, Clausen drafted a letter for publica-
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1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 287
tion, embodying these principles, which he sent me, asking
me, if it liad my approval, to sign it. I think I made some
suggestions as to widening the scope of the proposed National
Exhibition in the direction of including the A^rts and Crafts
design, and we then asked Mr. Holman Hunt (who was
engaged in the newspaper warfare on the question at the
time) to sign it also, which he agreed to do, and in the letter
I received from him at the time he says : —
*' I gladly sign, finding it to express in a manly and
distinct manner the absurdity of the position of English artists
in the present day, and to appeal not less distinctly for a
redress of injustice which the Royal Academy does to the
whole profession by its opportunity to assume authority over
without acknowledging responsibility towards outsiders."
He adds : —
*' My illness, although less serious every month, as my
doctor says, still curtails me of so much time each day that I
have but an insufficient amount for my work, or I should have
enjoyed much coming to you with my wife yesterday. I
wanted much to talk with you on this R.A. question, although
I should not have been surprised had the decision been
quietly submitted to — so fearful a folk have the outsiders
always proved."
He further says that if he can get through certain work
" now pressing, to write an article on the subject ; for the public
can never understand the question as a vital one, as they look
on it now as one connected with the festivities of the London
season."
The letter with our joint signatures duly appeared in all
the principal papers, and attracted a considerable amount of
attention and discussion.
The next step was to issue an appeal to artists for support
to this proposal for a National and comprehensive Exhibition of
Art, and another letter was drawn up and again signed by the
three of us for issue to the artists generally. It was as follows : —
288 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
" Dear Sir, — The proposals for a National Exhibition of
Art lately put forth in the public press have raised the whole
question of the adequacy of the present representation of the
Arts in Exhibition.
" The principle put forth in these proposals, namely, that
artists should have the right to choose the committees entrusted
with the selection and placing of their works, the undersigned
hold to be sound and just, and that it is the basis on which
a representative Exhibition of the Arts should be conducted.
Believing that it will, on fair consideration, meet with the
agreement and cordial support of artists generally, they beg
to ask you if you will consent to join with them in forming
a Provisional Committee to consider the best means of carrying
out this principle ?
" A list of artists to whom this letter is being sent will be
found below. — We are, etc.,
" (Signed) GEORGE CLAUSEN
Walter Crane
W. HoLMAN Hunt
*' N.B. — Informal meetings are held each Saturday evening
at the studio of J. H. Thomas (i Wentworth Studios,
Manresa Road, Chelsea) of the friends and supporters of the
movement, and all artists interested are invited to attend and
state their views freely."
It was in answer to my request for his signature to this,
I think, that I received the following letter from Mr. Holman
Hunt, who pleads for a little delay : —
" Draycott Lodge, Fui.ham
August 18, 1886
" My dear Walter Crane, — Influenced by the con-
sideration that it was important for us to escape the just
charge of destructiveness, 1 was busy yesterday in writing
the letter which appears in to-day's Times. I scarcely hope
to find the mad Academicians wise enough to listen to the
appeal, but if so, they will know the terms, and if not we shall
be so much more justified in the eyes of the world, so that
it seems worth some little delay. It will be better that
— 00 ~
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1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 289
the world should thoroughly see that we are not the
aggressors.
" Thinking this very strongly, I hope you won't be annoyed
at my wishing to wait a few days before signing the joint
paper. If the Academy makes no capitulation, we shall not
have lost valuable time.
" I perfectly agree about the Hon. Secretaryship : it could
not be better held.
" I have been negligent in not sending reply yet to Mr.
Clausen's letter, but I have had such very bad nights lately
that my day-time has been terribly shrivelled up, and 1 have
had a lot of business in connection with the winding up of the
Bond Street Exhibition, but I will write soon.
" However, lest there should be need of knowledge of my
powers of help, let me say that I am so poor now that I could
not give a penny, and that I can't yet say what I could con-
tribute in pictures, but I would have something,
" Sir Edwin Lee has perhaps seen you. He has a very
good place for a Gallery, and the power of building one to offer,
without money from us. // is quite worth keeping in mind, but
I think it would be better if possible to get the reversion of
some well-known one, like the ' Grosvenor,' which must be
going a-begging soon. One desirability seems to me under
existing circumstances is to avoid the appearance of enlarging
the number of the profession. — Yours truly,
"W. HoLMAN Hunt
" If you want the letters immediately, I will send them."
Mr. Holman Hunt's letter to the Times appeared on the
same day as the date of the above, and very fully expresses
his views, and gives many interesting facts about the Royal
Academy and its policy, concluding with his own proposals of
reform.
"The Royal Academy
" To the Editor of the Times
" Sir, — I will not presume to inquire who is the gentleman
signing himself ' R. A.' in the Times of Saturday. The
19
290 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
letter is, without doubt, sufficiently authoritative to be taken
as representing the true sentiments of the majority of the
Royal Academicians and Associates. I will beg you, there-
fore, kindly to allow me space to justify the trio who protest
against the imperious position and course of the institution,
" I thank the writer heartily for having so fully revealed the
spirit of the body ; without such explanation the dispute could
not be understood by the public, who are invited to judge the
matter. The letter is one blast of infallibility from the first
word to the last, varied only with regret that the sublime
superiority of the genius of the body was ever allowed to
shine outside the walls of Burlington House. The institution
sprang perfect from the head of George III., perfect for all
time (although then there were perhaps not 500 artists in
the whole of England, and now there are 50 times this
number who profess the art of design). It is still absolutely
what it should be, and the interests of the whole world of art
may be left safely in the hands of its members, without care
for the unreasonable malcontents ; the schools are everything
that could be desired, although they are producing thousands
of students, who, according to the showing of ' R. A.,' are
undeserving of due opportunity to exhibit their works (with
the exception of the infinitesimal number who are to be future
members). Our difficulty might have been to account for the
fact that because the Council rejected the petition of outsiders
these last should forthwith invite combination for the establish-
ment of a truly national institution. It might have needed
much argument to account for the rebound to such an extreme
measure, but the lofty tone of * R. A.' will convince the world
that no hope would be held out of reformation of the power
which at present ' stops the way ' of English art. The
question as to the number of works for a member to contribute
has disappeared. This is now only a past test case. We
must look for a National School of Art to ourselves alone. The
distortion of our views in * R. A.'s ' statement, that the money
for such exhibition must come out of the pockets of the
taxpayers, is a flight of genius, but it is too imaginative for
the business-like world, and need not be answered.
" Now, with the general ground better understood, let us
1 885 go] ART AND SOCIALISM 291
proceed to details. ' R. A.' says that Burlington House was
given in place of a lien on the benefactions of George III., but
he does not say that it was given with conditions or recom-
mendations which have never been observed.
" He studiously ignores the pent-up force of public opinion
behind the Royal Commission, as did his predecessors, and, as
he assures us, his successors will do. With the august
honours he enjoys, he has forgotten the feelings of outsiders,
and the power which they may exert if they will but be
united. I will try to recall to his memory some of the facts
of the date referred to. I can remember that in my evidence
I had to prove my charge of injustice in the hanging of
pictures of outsiders. I chose the case of F. Leighton, whose
works had recently been placed most unworthily ; and I
added that one of the Royal Academicians had said in my
hearing that if he had his will they should be put in still worse
positions. Knowing that the gifted painter in question happily
had means at his command to continue the struggle, and that
he had openly declared his intention to avoid all opposition
to authority, I added that in a short period the Academy
would be obliged to elect him. At that time, the institution
having elected Millais to the rank of A.R.A. while he was still
very young, proved that it was from no appreciation of his
genius, but only to break up the band of independent artists
to which he belonged ; for they kept him in the lower grade
of honour while year after year they put very inferior men
over his head ; until it was known to others, if not to them,
that the future pride of their Academy had come nigh to a
decision to leave them in all their narrow glory. At that
time Watts had received nothing but contempt at their hands,
Rossetti had been deterred from exhibiting altogether,
Armstead, Woolner, Brett, Stacey Marks, Hodgson, and
many others now in the Academy, and some still outside its
walls (in fact, every one with new blood), were struggling
against the hindrances which the ennobling for life of some of
the most incapable of artists had occasioned. The decision
which many of my friends had come to was to rely nothing
at all upon the Royal Commission ; we recognised that the
Academy would find a way of evading all such recom-
292 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
mendations as would detract from its power of usurping to
itself all the influence, the glory, and the emoluments of the
profession ; and I was implored by certain of those whose
names I give above to bind myself by honour to refuse all
overtures from the institution. I had never made secret of
my independence, but, on the contrary, only recently had
obtained opportunity for exhibiting the rejected works of the
victims of arbitrariness in the rooms of the Cosmopolitan Club,
thus increasing my offence to the Academy. It was by this
time convinced of the need of reducing the number of its
opponents ; and so, with knowledge of the feebleness of human
nature to reject personal riches for the sake of public good, my
fellows in revolt were invited separately to go over, and they
all accepted without a moment's demur. The revolt, there-
fore, apparently did but little at the time, for with the new
blood exactly the same traditions were kept up, and it was
only when it was seen that Burne-Jones could not be ruined
by persistent opposition that last year he was elected member
of the body.
" There has been but one principle adopted by the Academy
during the whole of my experience. Over respectable
nonentities there is no fighting. Why should there be?
These are assiduous admirers and are not dangerous. But
towards young men with original force, of whatever form,
everything is done by the Academy and its friends to make
the struggle an impossible one. Painting and sculpture are
very expensive professions. Without due recognition a man
must give up the effort to do ambitious work. Some true
men fall and disappear altogether ; others take to very
humble and private work, and the Academy says triumphantly,
' Look at the glorious roll of genius we can show,' implying
that they have judiciously fostered all that the country has
produced. Let me ask them, with all candid admiration for
the great men they have had among them and still have,
whether the infamous roll would not be appallingly long and
hideous ; whether the men comprising this last have not kept
honest and noble artists from their best work and from a fair
chance of gaining the wherewithal to live ; whether the
traditions of the Academy have not put their thoroughly
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 293
incompetent members into posts which none who had not
done the State due service should hold ; whether they have not
been appointed teaclrers of drawing without being in the
slightest degree qualified for the office, greatly to the injury
of the next generation of artists ; whether the ' benevolences '
have not been given to these, to their widows and children, to
the loss of more worthy claimants ? I would ask also
whether a truly strong man, who has been opposed and
almost ruined until he is fifty years of age, has not often
succumbed to the temptation to make the period of life that
remains to him a means of enriching himself, rather than of
doing what he might have done to raise public taste had his
life been a calmer and more equal one, enabling him to work
unhampered by daily cares and without temptation at the
last to repeat himself ad nauseam, and thus to bring upon
himself * the bitter cruel words ' which ' R. A.' very properly
reprobates as vulgarly inflicted upon veterans of the
institution.
" My conclusion is that as at present constituted the Royal
Academy is a perpetual injury to art. It helps to dazzle the
feeble judgments of the world as to what is true merit. As
Hogarth said, when its establishment was contemplated,
' More will flock to the study of Art than what genius sends ;
the hope of profit or the thirst of distinction will induce
parents to push their offspring into the lecture-room, and
many will appear and few will be worthy.' Of late the
influence of the institution has silently been extended far
beyond the bounds its founders ever contemplated. On
Continental great exhibitions it has its officers ready to enforce
its judgment about the placing of the works of our country,
and the prizes are given in exact order of Academy honour.
In the Colonies it exercises its influence, having — at least till
lately — one of its members to choose works for their per-
manent galleries. In the provincial towns at home it controls
the hanging of pictures, sending down one of its members to
ensure the placing of the Royal Academy works in posts of
honour, and taking care to put the works of rebels in
ignominious positions. Is it a wonder that few men dare
to refuse its favours? or is it astonishing that with such
294 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
protection it should be found that these often paralyse their
recipients ?
" The remedy to be preferred (I speak here singly) would
be to make the present institution thoroughly representative,
with members elected from without by exhibitors of certain
standing, each batch of members to remain in office for a fixed
number of years, and on retiring to carry with them the title
of honour of their service. The hanging I would have per-
formed by a second representative body elected for the year
only, to relieve the first for other duties. The schools should
be conducted by teachers, permanent so long as they were
considered satisfactory by the existing body of control, who
would strive to perfect the system of instruction, and thus
render needless the exodus of students to Paris — this a most
desirable point, because with the good so often obtained in
France much evil is done to English taste in the contemplation
of the sanguinary and brutal pictures of Continental schools.
There would be effort also made to honour those branches of
English art which are now treated as though beneath national
recognition. Effort also would be made to render every
artist better acquainted with his materials, and better able to
procure the soundest and best. Each party would strive to
make its tenure of office compare nobly with that of other
representatives, and so all would be living and healthy. The
responsibility of refusing such a scheme will rest with the
Royal Academy. I hereby make a last appeal to its members,
so eager for reform before their election, to prove that their
discontent was not only a selfish one. I will trust yet they
may respond generously. But if the decision is made finally,
as * R. A.' would seem to say, we must turn to the realisation
of the alternative opportunity declared in our joint letter —
unless, indeed, Government will exercise its power to do what
it can to save the existing institution from its internal foes,
and to save English art itself; for both, indeed, are in imminent
peril. — Yours obediently, W. HOLMAN Hunt
"August 17 "
We had a large number of adherents among the artists,
and the meetings at Chelsea were very numerously attended,
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 295
and there being so many of the Chelsea colony in the move-
ment, and the meetings being held there, we were eventually
nicknamed " The Chelsea Conspirators."
Mr. Frederick Brown, now Slade professor at University
College, was elected Chairman of these meetings, which at least
afforded full opportunities for discussion, and even for defenders
of the Academy to speak.
Mr, Whistler gave us his benison, but did not attend.
Mr. Oscar Wilde was present on one occasion and spoke, I
think.
Mr. H. H. La Thangue (who acted as Hon. Secretary /ro
tern?) was keenly interested in the movement, though he lived in
great seclusion at a remote spot on the coast of Norfolk, where,
being with my family at Southwold for a few weeks in the
summer of 1886, I went over to see him, cycHng from
Yarmouth.
Mr. James Stanley Little (at one time the active Secretary
to the Shelley Society) also worked hard in the movement,
using his pen vigorously, and really he remains one of the few
men in it who have stuck to their guns. He and his brother,
Mr. Leon Little, the painter, I remember drove over from
Bungay to see me about the movement, while I was at Southwold.
I think they were staying with Mr. Rider Haggard at the time.
(I met the novelist afterwards on one occasion in London.)
Mr. S. J. Solomon and Mr. T. B. Kennington were also of
our crew.
It is to be noted that Messrs. Solomon, Clausen, and La
Thangue have all since those days been admitted into the
Academic citadel. The walls of Jericho refused to fall at
the sound of the Chelsea trumpets, so in the end certain of
the trumpeters went in to reinforce (not reform) the garrison !
Mr. M. H. Spielmann wrote a series of letters in the Pall
Mall Gazette, under the nom de plume of " Outsider," dealing
with the subject of Academy reform, and the columns of the
same paper were open to a very full correspondence on the
subject from various points of view, in which many artists took
part.
Much steam was let off, and I think much time and
energy wasted, and although, ostensibly, the object was to
/
2 96 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
further the original scheme of a National Exhibition of Art,
with a jury annually elected by the artists of the country, and
make a wider appeal, so as to enrol a very large body of
supporters, one became aware that behind a few earnest men
there were others who were by no means anxious to see the
scheme realised, and the result was that when at last the
question was put to the test it was discovered that the majority
were too timid or too politic to support the big national scheme,
but fell back on the pretence and the forlorn hope of reform-
ing the Royal Academy, the real secret being that certain
prominent artists in the movement having had, I suppose,
second thoughts, when it came to the point were not willing
to forego their own chances of election to the privileged body
they had made a show of opposing. So, as far as the painters
and sculptors were concerned, the agitation, which had
attracted so many adherents and had become more important
than any outsiders' demonstration previously, fizzled out in a
mild manifesto of pious opinion, which yet obtained, I believe,
some three hundred signatures. With Hans Breitmann one
might ask, " Vere is dat party now ? "
From the ashes, however, of this painters' movement may
be said to have sprung the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society.
Many members of the Art Workers' Guild had been
attracted to the meetings in view of the prospect of a better
representation of the arts of design and decorative art in the
proposed National Exhibition, and had supported me in my
claims. Perceiving the temporising policy in the ascendant,
and that there was no chance of making any headway among
the half-hearted ones, we withdrew in a body, and took counsel
together as to the steps to be taken to, at least, give
practical shape to our own aspirations for the recognition of
the Arts and Crafts among the Fine Arts.
Sir Edwin Lee, whom Holman Hunt mentioned in his
letter, called on me with a proposal to at once form a Limited
Liability Company with a Board of Directors, to run the idea
of a big National Exhibition, which should comprehend all the
Arts, according to my original idea. He had then in view the
site in Regent Street afterwards taken up by the New Gallery,
which had been a failure as a Metropolitan meat market.
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 297
One was not quite prepared to start the enterprise in this
sort of way, and without the support of a vast body of
distinguished artists, and experience had shown that the
painters, generally at all events, were not prepared to take up
an independent attitude. While in the principal cities on the
Continent " Secessionist " bodies were being formed, or have
since been formed, entirely independent of the older Academic
schools and institutions, and devoted to the exposition of the
newer ideas and aims in art, with their own buildings and
funds, it seemed impossible in England, owing perhaps to the
intensified individualism of the artists, or to the inveterate
English habit of compromise, to unite the younger men in the
same way and with a similar purpose.
Personally, I ma)/ say, I had little interest in the reform
of the Royal Academy, and less belief in its possibility.
Threatened men live long, and threatened institutions still
longer, apparently, and one that had so successfully steered
itself through the rocks and shoals of opposition, and had
borne the brunt of many a Royal Commission, and — since our
fathers fell asleep — had continued just the same, secure
in its comfortable position and the strength of its attraction
as a benefit society to artists apprehensive of the uncertainties
of a proverbially uncertain profession — and moreover attracting
the great British public, who continued to pour its shillings
into its coffers. Was it likely that such an institution, rooted
in its prestige and emoluments, would consent to change its
constitution on the demand of a group of outsiders — especially
while able effectively to silence that demand by electing into its
own body the most prominent or able of its would-be reformers ?
Yet the Royal Academy is dependent for the continuance
and renewal of its artistic vitality entirely on outsiders and the
younger men, and if there had been any coherence or power of
collective fidelity to a higher ideal among these, an institution
might have been founded on broader lines and on democratic
principles more in accordance with the needs of our time.
This remains, however, a " might have been." Cliques and
small groups of artists of similar leanings are the order of the
day. Painting becomes more and more a matter of individual
expression or impression, and modern economic and commercial
298 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
conditions favour this individualism. Only the growth of a
new social ideal could really lead to any fundamental change
in our view of the functions of art and the best conditions for
its development, and though the influence of such an ideal is
already at work we must wait for its consummation.
The competitive and wasteful struggle for existence under
capitalism is illustrated in the lives of artists, and in our art
exhibition system, just as it is illustrated everywhere else.
Human life becomes a vast handicapped race, and so it must
be until economic necessity again changes the system under
which now we live and move and have our being, or — perish
in the attempt.
Most of the members of the small group of artists who
joined with me on our secession from "The Chelsea Conspirators "
were conscious of being stirred more or less by a new ideal in
founding the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society. The first
meeting called with the view of establishing such a Society
was held in a small room in the Charing Cross Hotel, I
remember, and it was quite a small gathering, at which I was
elected to the chair.
Mr. W. A. S. Benson, Mr. Hey wood Sumner, Mr. T. J.
Cobden-Sanderson, Mr. Emery Walker, Mr. Henry Longden,
J. D, Sedding, and Mr. Lewis F. Day were the most earnest
workers in the movement, which really represented a further
step in the same direction in which most of us had been
working for some years in our endeavours to assert the claims
of decorative design and the artistic handicrafts to their true
position in relation to architecture and the arts commonly
called " Fine."
The title " The Combined Arts " headed our first circular,
and it was not until later that our title " Arts and Crafts " was
adopted, I think on the suggestion of Mr. T. J. Cobden-
Sanderson, who acted as Hon. Secretary.
After prolonged incubation the Society was hatched, and
we held our first exhibition in the autumn of 1888 at the New
Gallery. William Morris had joined us by this time, and
Burne-Jones became a member not long afterwards, and their
work was an important feature of our earlier exhibitions.
I may mention, as indicating the awakening of interest,
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 299
that an " Applied Arts " section had been formed about this
time by the Society of Arts, and for a lecture I gave there,
" On the Importance of Applied Arts and their Relation to
Common Life," I was awarded the Silver Medal of the Society.
The Society had been in the habit of offering prizes for
works of handicraft, and offered to select works for this
purpose from our first exhibition, and the Committee did so,
though not without some difficulty, owing to the incompleteness
of the catalogue. Our Committee, however, were never very
keen about the prize system, and I do not think the experiment
was continued.
The Applied Art section of the Society of Arts was under
the chairmanship of Sir George Birdwood, who had written an
admirable work on The Industrial Arts of India, in which he
showed how the beautiful native handicrafts were being
extinguished by the importation of British manufactured
goods. It was a work which won him the high appreciation
of both lovers of art and of India.
I remember Mr. George Clausen at the private view greet-
ing me with the remark, " Well, Crane, you have got your
show, at all events," but I could not return the compliment.
We were supported in our expensive venture by a list of
guarantors, and so guarded against actual loss. The circular
drafted by me and sent out to invite guarantees may not be
without interest here, as it gives the names of the Committee
(some, alas ! no longer with us) at the time, as well as the
general aims and principles of the Society.
"Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society
" Something very like a revival of the arts and handicrafts
has been taking place amongst us of late years ; but while the
awakening of interest is undeniable and widespread, there has
hitherto been no means — except such chance opportunities as
have been from time to time afforded by various trade exhibi-
tions — of enabling those concerned with the more purely
artistic side of the applied arts, or crafts of design, to gauge
our general progress. It has not been possible for a craftsman
to test his work by the side of others, or, by a careful selection
300 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
of examples, to prove that there are artists in other ways than
oil or water colour, and other art than that enclosed in gilt
frames or supported on pedestals. In short, there is no exist-
ing exhibition of art which gives an opportunity to the designer
and the craftsman as such to show their work under their own
names, and give them at least a chance of the attention and
applause which is now generally monopolised by the pictorial
artist.
" It is believed that such opportunities of public recognition
and distinction would supply a stimulus not hitherto felt by
workers in the handicrafts, and would tend to draw artistic
invention and skill again to the arts in their endless forms of
application to daily life and its associations and surroundings,
to the charm of which their beauty may contribute so much, and
so, perhaps, we should go far to nourish the tree at the root
instead of, as now, too often attempting to grow it downwards.
" Art exhibitions have hitherto tended to foster the prevalent
notion that the term ' Art ' is limited to the more expensive
kinds of portable picture-painting, unmindful of the truth that
the test of the condition of the arts in any age must be sought
in the state of the crafts of design.
"It is little good nourishing the tree at the head if it is
dying at the root ; but, living or dying, the desirability of an
accurate diagnosis while there is any doubt of our artistic
health will at once be admitted.
" The Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society has been formed
with these convictions, and with the aim (i) of taking measures
for organising an exhibition of the decorative arts, which shall
show (2) as far as possible the inventive and executive powers
of the designers and makers of the various works that may be
exhibited, such as textiles, tapestry, and needle-work, carvings,
metal-work, including goldsmith's work, bookbinding, painted
glass, painted furniture, etc. etc., to illustrate the relation of the
arts in application to different materials and uses, without,
however, excluding paintings or sculptures less directly of a
decorative kind when space is available for showing them in
proper relation. (3) It is not proposed to undertake the sale
of works, but to refer intending purchasers directly to the
exhibitors. (4) All work will be exhibited under the name of
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 301
the designer and responsible executant. (If a joint work, the
names of the various workers to be given.) The name of an
employer or firm of employers may be given in addition.
" It is obvious from such a programme that the projected
exhibition will occupy entirely new ground, with distinct aims,
and objects differing from any existing exhibition,
" The Society have the refusal of the New Gallery in Regent
Street for their exhibition in the ensuing autumn, and a sum
of £260 has been already guaranteed by the members, but
while there is reasonable prospect of the exhibition being self-
supporting, since it is not desirable to conclude final arrange-
ments until the whole of the estimated costs are at command
further guarantees are invited to make up a further sum of
£S'^o. The profits of the exhibition, after exonerating the
guarantors, would be devoted to future exhibitions of the
Society.
" As one interested in the welfare of the arts, we venture
to put our objects before you, and invite you to become a
guarantor.
" In order to make the necessary arrangements, we should
be obliged if you would kindly favour us with your reply by
the 26th of March.
Walter Crane, President
Harry Bates William De Morgan
W. A. S. Benson William Morris
{Hon. Sec. and Treasurer) J. HuNGERFORD PoLLEN
SoMERS Clarke G. T. Robinson
Lewis F. Day T. J. Cobden-Sanderson
Onslow Ford J. D. Sedding
F. Gerrard Heywood Sumner
C. GuiLiANO Emery Walker
Thomas Godfrey Thomas Wardle
W. R. Lethaby Metford Warner
Henry Longden Stephen Webb
W. H. Lonsdale N. H. J. Westlake
Mervyn Macartney
" Guarantees may be sent to W. A. S. Benson, Hon.
Treasurer, 2 Gordon Place, Kensington, W."
302 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
The exhibition was, however, most successful, and the
novelty of its aims attracted much attention. A feature of our
catalogue was a series of papers on different arts and crafts,
by various members of our Society, and a series of lectures
were arranged which were given on certain evenings in the
Gallery. These again were quite successful, and so crowded
that the lecturer of the evening sometimes had considerable
difficulty in getting to the platform.
Mr. T. J. Cobden-Sanderson acted as Hon. Lecture
Secretary, and was particularly keen and zealous in arranging
the courses.
Our first list included the following : —
" Tapestry and Carpet Weaving," by William Morris,
" Modelling and Sculpture," by George Simonds,
" Letterpress Printing," by Emery Walker,
" Bookbinding," by T. J. Cobden-Sanderson,
and on " Design," with a presidential address, from me.
My old friend W. J. Linton was in England at the time.
He had been engaged upon a very important book on wood-
engraving, and had come to London to finish it and to arrange
for the publication. I had put my name down as a subscriber,
and he wrote to me as follows : —
'*9 Brackley Terrace
October 26
" Dear Mr. Crane, — Thanks for your order, for the names
you give me, and last, not least, for your pleasant letter. I
shall be glad to see you again, but you will easily understand
that my time is fully occupied during every day. But I hope
I shall see you before (months hence) I go back to America.
" I had well-nigh forgotten the ^sop, until I saw it the
other day again. I am content, if no other return came from
it, to have had it so admirably made use of.
" You will, I am sure, help me toward subscribers for my
big work,i whenever that may be in your power. Not being in
a publisher's hands, I have to depend on private influence, so
making slower, though in the end it may be the surer way.
" I must thank you also for the Arts and Crafts : I shall try
^ A History of Wood- Engraving.
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 303
(though seldom out at night) to get at least to your lecture.
You are doing good work there, and I heartily wish you
success. — Very faithfully yours, W, J, LiNTON "
I had, also a letter from Mr. Frederic Harrison: —
" 38 Westbourne Terrace, W.
November 30, 1888
" My dear Crane, — I was much disappointed that I could
not hear your lecture last night. I had booked the day in
order to attend, but my wife accidentally made another
engagement for me which I could not avoid. If it is printed,
I should much like to know. I have just got your Flora,
which contains some of the prettiest fancies which, I think, you
ever drew — or indeed anyone else. — Yours truly,
" Frederic Harrison "
Mr. Ernest Radford was appointed Secretary to the Arts
and Crafts Exhibition. I had become acquainted with him
at William Morris's, where he frequently took part in the
Socialist debates.
He published a book of poems through Elkin Mathews,
entitled Chambers Twain, for which I designed a frontispiece.
He was well read in the literature of art, and was a University
Extension Lecturer, having been a Trinity Hall man, and
possessed a literary gift and a vein of quiet humour of his own.
He threw himself with great enthusiasm into his arduous work
— indeed with such an expenditure of nervous energy as to
endanger his health, and he had to give up work for a while.
J. D. Sedding, of whom I have spoken as one of our
" Fifteen," and second Master of the Art Workers' Guild,
was an enthusiastic member of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition
Society in its early days. He had a very attractive,
sympathetic personality, and his charming way of har-
monising many different elements in the same company, while
acknowledging individualist characteristics and paying
deference to different opinions, made him extremely popular
among his confreres. A favourite idea of his, to which in one
of his papers he gave expression, was to unite artists of very
304 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
different tastes and lines of work in a great scheme of decora-
tion in a public building — a cathedral was his idea, and he
cherished the hope that harmonious co-operation between
architects, sculptors, painters, and craftsmen of all kinds might
again become practicable and, indeed, a matter of course. In
his church in Sloane Street he certainly called in the aid of
many of his brethren in different arts. His real solvent was
no doubt the Christian faith — despite the fact that outside
Roman Catholicism it has proved a fruitful source of differ-
ences, divergences, and dissent.
The mention of " Hans Breitmann " a page or two back
reminds me that I must have made the acquaintance of Charles
G. Leland about this time. He was introduced by his son-in-
law, Mr. Joseph Pennell. Some years before he had made a
hit with his " Ballads " under the nom de plume of " Hans
Breitmann," but he was now deeply interested in what he
called " the Minor Arts." ^ He certainly came to our house
on one occasion, and probably seeing me engaged in plaster
and gesso work was much interested, and shared my enthusiasm
for the revival of handicraft. He was keen about all sorts of
processes in different crafts, and had all the ingenuity of the
American character about him.
He wrote me several letters inquiring about my methods
in gesso work and asking for recipes, and all sorts of informa-
tion, which he was indefatigable in seeking, but at the same
time, also like his countrymen, always ready to impart his
own experiences in exchange.
The following long but interesting and curious letter
written by him from Venice is very characteristic : —
" Hotel di Roma, Venice
November 29, 1886
" Dear Mr. Crane, — Eccomi qua, in Venezia ! you have
been and ever are more in my memory than you suppose,
because I am ever at the Minor Arts, and you are one of the
few who also understand them. There is a wonderful poetry
— a language even in decorative design, but I do not think
^ I never used this title myself, and do not think it is adequate for what it is
intended to cover, although it might apply to the processes in which he was interested.
1885-90J ART AND SOCIALISM 305
it has ever in truth gone beyond a ballad or a Chaucer stage,
and that all efforts to make too 7nuch of it (as seen in Rococo
work) are frivolous and false. In fact, I rather distrust Cellini.
I am always after that philosopher's stone, a new motive.
Savages have found them — why cannot I ? The Passama-
quoddy Indians have a decoration founded on a wigwam,
with branches at the top which they have developed into a
style.
" My object in writing to you is to ask you to kindly let
me have as soon as you can conveniently do so, the directions
for working in gesso, on cement or plaster and clay, or what-
ever it is in which you are at home. I wish to try it here in
Venice and then iron it, a process which I learned in Vienna.
It consists of applying varnish — smooth this when it is dry
with the finest polishing powder and by hand, repeating the
process if you want very fine work, then a coat of white and
Naples yellow mixed. When dry, go over the lines with a
point and mat or dot the ground. Rub in Van Brown, leaving
the pattern salient in ivhite. Polish by hand carefully, and
apply a coat of thin varnish.
" In Vienna they use a thin size which dries like varnish.
The effect of this is quite perfect, and it can be applied to
leather or wood or paper. I have several specimens of wall-
paper thus ivoried. It is very pretty. I am going to make
a papier-mach^ horn — I always longed to have one, but as
I can't afford to buy I shall manufacture it — like the poor
French author who whenever he wanted a book wrote one.^
" Venice is a poor place in which to find tools, colours, etc.,
but wood for carving is excellent and not dear — Italian walnut
is almost devoid of grain. I have been three weeks in Buda
Pest. I went there without a note of introduction, and within
four days I had made the acquaintance of everybody from
the Arch-Duke, who presented me with a magnificent book (I
never had such a superb affair), down to a very large selection
of gipsies — including all the principal scholars — Vambery,
Pulsky, etc. Then the newspapers got hold of me, and with
^ I always understood that this was said by Disraeli (Lord Beaconsfield), who,
when asked if he had read such and such a book, replied, " Oh no ! when I want a
book I write one."
20
3o6 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
the vivid imagination peculiar to the Huns and Tartars
published wonderful accounts of the American whose life had
been passed in search of gipsies in every corner of the earth
— a-gipsying after gipsies — how I had been the guest of the
Arch-Duke at his country place (which I wasn't), and how he
had shown me the MS. of his great work (which he didn't),
and how I went into ecstasies over its excellence (which I
couldn't), and how I had visited the ruins of the Roman city
near Pest by moonlight and there found a camp of wild
gipsies who confided to me the secret story of their lives !
truly they danced, sang, and begged like so many demons, and
the scene would have been a grand one for an artist — but I
heard no story from them. It is quite a sensation to see
such an article about yourself in a language which you cannot
read — for though I have studied Hungarian for some weeks,
I can't read it yet, save as one goes through a swamp jumping
from hussock to hussock — I don't know the English for
' hussock,' 1 it means clumps of grass or reeds, which boys call
* Indians' heads.' "
(The term is a good one, for the hussocks do look like the
top-knots of submerged savages. I meant to say that when
you only know one word in five of a language, reading it is
very much like swamp walking.)
" I was three weeks at Heidelberg, including the grand
Jubilee festival. Then I went to read a paper at the Congress
of Oriental Scholars in Vienna — and the round of festivities,
receptions, excursions, and dinners. There I stayed two
months, and finally held my little campaign in Pest ' on my own
hook.' The gipsies — poor souls ! — knew nothing about my
reception by their betters ; but they seem to agree by common
consent that the Romany Rye was a great find — and one who
had only seen me twice, wept bitterly and kissed my hand
when I took adieu. A gipsy musician who had been in
America asked me if I knew a young lady there who spoke
Romany, and truly it was of my niece Mrs. Pennell that he
spoke.
^ It must be allied to "hassock" — a cushion for the feet, or kneeling cushion in
church, and was probably English before it was American, like many other so-called
Americanisms.
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 307
" There are in Pest old Turkish baths, where people can
lie steaming all day for twopence, and where both sexes do
He about ' promiscuous-like ' and quite naked. But of three
women among twenty men whom I saw, two were middle-aged
and ugly, and the third was a girl who had a face of quite
exceptional plainness, albeit 'twas in a fair delicate body, I
thought she ought to go through life like Panurge's old woman,
with her head in a bag. I am told that very respectable
families in Pest, pere, mere, filles et gargons, including friends,
go to these baths — in which there are private as well as public
rooms — and there steam for hours — tout en scramble — ' use
maketh proper, it is said.' Anyhow, the Pest people seem to
be very clean in their persons. It is said there was no real
cholera there — in their innocence they called everything the
cholera. But there was a riot of smallpox — fifty cases dying
per diem.
" Now I am writing on the Grand Canal, opposite old
S. M. della Salute — everything exactly as it was forty years
ago when I dwelt in the same place or next door — I forget
which. Venice is the only place which never changes. Truly,
I have no warrant for gossiping at you in this way, but I am
writing in warm sunshine by a wood fire — we have had sun-
shine ever since we came here, eight days ago, and it seems
to thaw me out into idly chattering.
" Scussate mi ! I pray you send me the directions for the
gesso-work. If there is any manual teaching the subject, the
Triibner firm will obtain and send it to me if you will kindly
send them a card directing it. — Yours very truly,
" Charles G. Leland "
" P.S. — Kind regards to Mrs. Crane."
Mr. Leland wrote a book called The Minor Arts, and on
Practical Education, and projected a series of manuals on the
crafts, to which he invited me to contribute.
At this period, at the suggestion of Mr. Thomas Arm-
strong, who had succeeded Sir E. J. Poynter as Art Director
at South Kensington, I undertook a series of lectures on
demonstrations in various crafts allied to decorative design
in which I had had personal experience, such as gesso and
3o8 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
plaster relief-work, sgraffito, tempera painting, stencilling,
designing for embroidery, repouss^ metal work. I gave a
short introduction, and having the tools and materials at hand
proceeded to give practical demonstrations of the methods of
working. These lectures were mostly given in the Lecture
Theatre, but the one on modelling in plaster was given in the
lecture-room in the school. Osmund Weeks was my assistant
with the materials, mixing the gesso, etc. I believe they were
the first lectures of the kind at South Kensington — forerunners
of the time when craft classes became part of the ordinary
college course in design.^
I had about this time an extensive piece of modelling work
to design and execute, which was offered me by Mr. (Sir)
Aston Webb, who was enlarging the house of Sir F. Wigan at
Clare Lawn, East Sheen. This consisted of a repeating frieze
produced in plaster, for the picture gallery, as well as a frieze,
also in plaster, for the drawing-room and another for the library.
In these I used for the modelling clay for some and gesso for
others, and these were moulded in fibrous plaster panels by my
assistant Mr. Weeks, the work taking a considerable time alto-
gether. I also for the same house designed a pair of stained
glass panels, which were executed by Morris' people at the
Merton Abbey works.
In the drawing-room frieze I attempted the introduction
of modern figures of ladies and gentlemen in evening-dress,
dancers, and musicians.
Some of the panels were shown at the Arts and Crafts
Exhibitions of 1889 and 1890.
The early history of the Arts and Crafts movement has
carried me a little forward; but returning to 1886, I find that
my resignation of membership of the Royal Institute of Painters
in Water Colours and Oil dates from the spring of this
year, and this is shown by a note from Sir J. D. Linton (who
had previously tried to induce me to withdraw it), contain-
ing a reference to the drawing I had done for Sir Henry
^ To Mr. Armstrong's initiation, also, was due the first classes in enamelling, at
the school, as he secured the services of M. Dalpeyrat to give a series of demonstra-
tions in the art to selected students, one of whom was Mr. Alexander Fisher, who
revived enamelling so successfully.
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 309
Irving of my group at the Ball, which has already been
described —
"Ettrick House, Steele's Road, Haverstock Hill, N.W.
March 5, 1886
" My dear Crane, — I am sorry there was no alternative
but resignation.
" If Dowdeswell does not think he ought to exhibit the
drawing, of course we shall be very glad to have it. — With kind
regards, I am yours, James D. Linton "
A formal letter from another president — that of the Royal
Academy — seems to indicate the commencement of that
appreciation with which British art has been received in
Germany in recent years —
"2 Holland Park Road, Kensington, W.
January 1886
" Dear Sir, — Allow me to introduce to you the bearer of
this note, Herr F. Gurlitt,^ who is here as Commissioner, with
full powers, for the great International Exhibition of Art about
to be held in Berlin in honour of the centenary of the Royal
Academy of that city. In this exhibition H.I.H. the Crown
Princess of Germany ^ is deeply interested, and H.I.H.
has communicated to me her warm desire that English Art
should be done full justice to on this occasion. May I hope
that you will be willing to contribute to that result? — I am,
yours faithfully, Fred Leighton "
The completion of fifty years of Queen Victoria's reign was
commemorated in 1887. There was a great pageant of the
usual State official and military sort — a procession through
London headed by a galaxy of princes, representatives of
foreign courts, and Indian maharajahs.
Among the former rode the Crown Prince of Germany
(" The Red Prince " of the Franco-German War), afterwards
Emperor, but who died from a disease of the throat not long
afterwards.
^ Dr. Gurlitt later wrote about my work in Germany.
* The late Princess Royal of England.
3IO AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1885-90
Everything was " Jubilee," of course. The commercial
instinct of the British, ever on the alert, labelled all things
useful, ornamental, or neither, with the popular brand, and the
event was commemorated certainly with remarkable unanimity
throughout the land in all sorts of local ways, appropriate or
inappropriate. It must have been a good time for sculptors
from the number of images of Queen Victoria which were
ordered and placed throughout the cities of the land.
It was some time in 1887 that I first made the acquaint-
ance of " The Sette of Odd Volumes " — a dining club, with a
literary and artistic flavour, which used to meet about once a
month. Like many societies, it began, as I remember Mr.
Quaritch saying, in a very small way ; but when I was a guest,
the company was a large one, and the dinner long and
elaborate. The J>zece de resistance, however (outside the menu),
was a paper by one of the members, followed by a discussion.
The chairman or president for the year was called " His Odd-
ship," and before calling on the paper reader, it was the odd
custom for each " brother " to introduce his guests — describing
them and their achievements, hitting off their peculiarities over
their heads, in a brief speech. I was at one time the guest of
Dr. Todhunter, and at another of Mr. G. C. Haite, the versatile
artist, who was afterwards a president of the Odd Volumes.
I remember Oscar Wilde was present on one of these occasions,
and pronounced a eulogy of " Buffalo Bill," who was rather a
" lion " of the season when he and his cowboys first appeared
on the wild prairies of Earl's Court. I believe it was Oscar
Wilde who took us to visit the Colonel in his tent after one of
the performances, greatly to the delight of our two boys, who
examined his rifles and trophies with keen interest, and after-
wards endeavoured to improvise a sort of " Wild West " of their
- own in the garden at Shepherd's Bush.
Our summer holidays this year with our children were
spent at Harlech under the towers of the romantically situated
Edwardian Castle, with the Snowdon range and the mountain-
ous coast of Caernarvonshire for background, and the waste of
sand-dunes at our feet. Here I found abundance of attractive
material for sketches and studies among the sand solitudes on
the shore, or inland as far as the beautiful lake of Cwm Bycham.
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 311
Characteristic Welsh weather in compensation for wetness show-
ing magnificent sky effects, as cloud and sunshine and rain
chased one another over the mountainous distance, or melted
into the glow of sunset.
Amid such scenes I was moved to write this sonnet —
Lo ! torn and grey this weary day outworn,
Wind-driven, chill, and lashed with rains untold,
Hath climbed at last to reach the bars of gold.
Bright at the sunset's gate like hopes of morn :
There doth she cast herself in weeds forlorn
Of clinging clouds that close her shape enfold
To snatch through gleaming rifts the vision rolled
Of her lost glory, as of day still born.
Ultimate hope of man upon this earth
So wrapped in vaporous cloud, and storm distressed,
When shall the new day's light thy fond eyes fill ?
Yet comfort ye, and to your heart take mirth.
For lo ! the sky is red from East to West,
And Freedom's beacons blaze on every hill !
I also endeavoured to embody a similar motive in pictorial
form, but making it " Sunrise " (the title of my drawing)
instead of *' Sunset." This drawing was afterwads exhibited at
the Old Water Colour Society, and is now in the collection of
Dr. Willie Mark of Frankfort.
My principal work this year, however, was " The Chariots
of the Hours." There is a fine passage in Shelley's
" Prometheus Unbound " describing the flight of the hours like
charioteers driving at full speed in a race. This had dwelt in
my mind vaguely for some time, but what helped to give it
definite form in design was my seeing the chariot races v/hich
the Paris Hippodrome brought over to the Kensington
Olympia,
A design I made originally for the souvenir book of the
performance in black and white, showing a chariot race at
ancient Olympia with a Greek audience looking on, was after-
wards enlarged for a poster, and this design contained the
germs of the design of the picture afterwards painted, now in
Herr Seeger's collection, and which gained me a gold medal
(of the second order) at Munich in 1895.
In the spring of 1888 I had an invitation to join a party
312 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
of Devonians on an excursion to Greece/ and I had my first
sight of that classic land. We went by steamer from Tilbury
to Naples, touching at Plymouth and Gibraltar. Our vessel
belonged to the Orient Line and was the Garonne, more like a
steam-yacht than an ocean liner, and she was afterwards used
for North Sea excursions. At Plymouth most of the Devon-
shire party came on board, and it included the late editor of
the Western Morning News, Mr. Groser, who, with Mr. James
Baker, the novelist, were the chief engineers of the travelling
arrangements, and did so well for us, that one gentleman of
the party said he " should not think of going to Greece without
a Baker and a Groser."
We had had a tranquil voyage down Channel, and did not
encounter anything distressing until the Bay of Biscay, which
we found fully sustained its reputation, as we were " rolled to
starboard, rolled to larboard," in a very thorough way. Re-
covering, by degrees, one began to take a keen interest in the
features of the coast and the unfamiliar craft we passed, such
as the little Portuguese fishing-boats. We made our salute at
^ In connection with this I had an interesting letter from Mr. Philip Webb,
the architect, whom I had proposed to join our party. He writes —
"April 10, 1888
"Your idea was not 'preposterous' ; my sliding down the road of forgetfulness
would be ; for, since I came back from Italy three years ago, I knew that journey
should be my last out of reasonable bounds.
"Well, I am hardly out of the swathing bands of sickness, and have not more
than enough strength to move out of the way of a six-year old reckless driver of a
perambulator. In addition to these impediments, I have work in hand which j/iust
be attended to when the key has been turned on the winds from the North Pole.
" To pile it up, I may say that I have more knowledge of the ways and manners
of the ancients tnan I can boil down in the rest of my natural ' jerry-building ' life !
"Sometimes I regret the gradual fading away of the reasonable myths of the
ancient and Middle Age worlds as to perdition, when I think of the justly-to-be-
damned financiers, who have nearly got their holding grasp on Greece.
" I had a book of tables and other matter on the resources of that country sent to
me a little while ago, which wound up with the happy and comfortable state of all
the people there, and closed with the herring-scented suggestion that the country
only wanted opening up.
"There are certain bellies which cry aloud to be opened up, in the 'happy
despatch ' way. I will go on no more, remembering the kindly thought of the
prisoner, with his ' Cheer up, Jeremiah, old boy ! '
" I hope the hole in your party will be filled up with a pair of clear eyes. — Yours
sincerely, Philip Webb"
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 313
Cape St. Vincent, and admired the distant Spanish coast as
we steamed along by " Trafalgar's Bay," and close to the
African coast, where I recall a charming little view of Tangier
framed by the port-hole — the gem-like white town set between
the purple hills and the deep blue enamel of the sea, and so
through the Straits to Gibraltar. There was a case of fever on
board, and so the yellow flag had to be hoisted, but after an
official visit from the doctor we were allowed to come into
port and to land. Most of the passengers went ashore, but I
preferred to utilise the short time there by making a sketch
from the deck. The light and colour were very brilliant, and
one seemed after the greyness of England to have come into
a new world.
A sad incident occurred as we were leaving Gibraltar.
We had made Europa Point and were steaming across the
bay beyond at full speed. I was with Mr. Baker in the saloon
looking at a map when we heard a loud rattling sound down
the ship's side and a splash, and then the cry, " Man over-
board ! " We rushed on deck and found that our quarter-deck
able-bodied seaman while adjusting the ropes connected with
the gangway, which had been let down to enable the passengers
to embark in the boats in Gibraltar harbour, on the starboard
quarter, the gangway had suddenly given way under his
weight and the unfortunate sailor was thrown into the sea.
The steamer at once slowed down, and was steered so as to
describe a wide curve backwards, and boats were lowered, but
all to no purpose. The poor man was never seen again, but
only his floating cap was picked up. It was supposed that he
must have been struck by the screw and gone down at once.
A concert was afterwards held on board for the benefit of
his relatives.
In the Gulf of Lyons we encountered as heavy seas almost
as in the Bay of Biscay — enough to knock people over in their
deck-chairs and keep others in their berths, but afterwards the
Mediterranean was in gentler mood, and under the brilliant
sun, in a gentle breeze, its blueness was wonderful — a light
cobalt blue, flecked with white foam crests and shot with danc-
ing rainbows. Steaming on steadily day and night, out of
sight of land, except for a very faint and far view of Sardinia,
314 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
the vastness of the sea impressed one ; the only vessel we passed
between Gibraltar and Naples, after we got clear of Gibraltar,
was on the horizon, and was made out to be the Australasia,
another vessel of the Orient Line.
Among the passengers was a young married couple going
out to join the Religious Colony at Mount Carmel, of which
one heard about at that time.
We entered the Bay of Naples at sunrise, and saw
Vesuvius looming up large and dark against the dawn, a long
pennon of smoke streaming from its summit. Soon the sun
rolled over the dark shoulder of the mountain and flooded
everything with intense light, and disclosing the little white
towns along the beautiful coast I had known before. The
steamer anchored, and we were landed in boats at the quay in
the midst of the usual excited crowd of touts, drivers, facchini,
and guides competing with each other for the custom of the
" forestieri."
Our party bound for Greece here bade farewell to the
Garonne and her captain and the other passengers, mostly
bound for Australia. We, however, met some of them wander-
ing about Pompeii, as the Australian liners allowed four days
at Naples. After revisiting the Museum and San Martino,
Posilipo, Baiae, Virgil's tomb, and, of course, Pompeii, we took
the railway to Brindisi over the mountains, an interesting line,
giving glimpses of out-of-the-way mountain villages and
figures (such as shepherd boys, who might have been models
for the young Giotto), and then down the coast from Foggia.
Our next steamer was a Greek one, and as to comfort,
cleanliness, and food rather suffered in comparison with the
Garonne. We passed some beautiful coast scenery, particu-
larly off Albania and Corfu, finally reaching Patras, from where,
without stopping, we went on by the railway to Corinth,
along the beautiful shores of the gulf, where the currant is
extensively cultivated.
An enthusiastic guard of the train came along to our
window, and pointed out to us with great pride Mount
Olympus among the mountains across the gulf Characteristic
figures were seen at the little stations, and the Albanian dress
with the am^le white fustanella, embroidered jacket and
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 315
leggings, pointed red shoes with black tufts at the ends,
and the large tasselled Greek fez as headgear, was the usual
costume of the men, though modern influences seemed to be
creeping in here and there, as occasionally a modern straight-
brimmed sailor straw hat and a tailor-made overcoat sur-
mounted the fustanella and leggings with rather quaint effect.
The shepherds looked antique enough in their large white-and-
black goat-skin cloaks, with the hair outside. Here and there
one saw a Greek priest with the curious inverted black tall
hat ; and ancient life was again strangely suggested by the
appearance of a mule with a pigskin full of wine slung on
each side of its pack saddle.
At Corinth we climbed the Acro-Corinthos, passing the
Doric Temple on the way. It was rather a stiff ascent in the
blazing sun ; some of our party walked, and others rode up
on donkeys or mules. There was, of course, a commanding
view from the top, and the ruined walls of the old citadel
were interesting. One of our party turned faint under the
effects of the climb and the heat, and had to be left at
Corinth in charge of another, but he soon recovered and joined
us again at Athens. On the way thither from the railway we
saw the moon rising over Salamis.
It was superb weather at Athens, and I shall not easily
forget my impressions.
Ascending to the Acropolis on the morning after our
arrival, the first people I met in front of the Parthenon were
Miss Jane E. Harrison (the Greek vase specialist) and Mr.
D. S. Maccoll (the art critic, now director of the Tate
Gallery),
I had met Miss Harrison first at our friends the Turnbulls,
in the Isle of Mull. She and Mr. Maccoll were engaged upon
the important work on Greek vases which afterwards appeared,
and it seemed an appropriate spot on which to meet Greek
scholars and students of Greek art.
The pentelic marble of the ruined temples remained
singularly white, except where it was much exposed to the
weather, which had brought out the iron and caused stains of
rich yellow and orange, which, illuminated by the strong
reflected light from the pavements, had almost the effect of
3i6 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
gilding on the fluted columns and cornices, and this was en-
hanced by the contrast with the deep blue sky overheard.
At night the moon was full, and we visited the Acropolis
again, when it was so light that I found I could even sketch.
The moonlight, too, seemed warmer and more full of colour
than in our clime.
The winds played around the rock as of old, as if assert-
ing their right to their tower at its foot, which we duly visited.
Indeed, the winds frequently asserted themselves so emphatic-
ally as to raise huge white clouds of fine dust (mostly marble,
I suppose), which suddenly blotted out the view.
I remember sitting at a little cafe near the noble columns
of the Roman temple of Jupiter Olympus (through which
the swallows flitted in and out), sketching the Acropolis,
when it became suddenly, though temporarily, obliterated in
this way.
We made an interesting excursion, under the guidance
of our dragoman, to Mount Pentelicus, passing Kalandri, the
birthplace of Pericles. We ascended the mountain with mules
by a rough road of loose sand and stones, but the slopes
were covered with wild flowers, among which a little dwarf
thornless rose (cistus) was abundant, also the wild pink, a
convolvulus, a small ragged robin, camomile, deep red poppies,
and daisies both yellow and white, a kind of blue orchid, and
the blue gentian. We halted for luncheon at a monastery
in a delightful spot amidst trees, chiefly oaks, olives, and
cypresses. I noted a very fine group of whitebeams, the
largest I had ever seen. We found the summit of Pentelicus
covered with white heather, and from it beheld the plain of
Marathon, with its crescent-like curving bay, as well as a
splendid mountain panoramic lancfscape in which were visible
Eubcea, Hymettus, Athens, and the Piraeus, Safemis, Helicon,
and Mount Parnassus, and the Greek islands, seawards — the
whole under the changing lights and shadows of a showery day.
We duly " stood on Mars Hill " ; and among the many
things of interest visited the tombs in the Dipylon, the Theatre
of Dionysos, the prison of Socrates, and the beautiful choragic
monument of Lysicrates.
It was Easter time, and we saw the midnight ceremony
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 317
of the Greek Church. Crowds thronged the cathedral at the
service, and at the stroke of midnight, tapers in everybody's
hands were lighted, the priests left the altar and moved in
procession towards the open doors and out into the square,
where a stage with an altar had been erected. They ascended
this and went through some further ceremony, while on every
side fireworks were let off, and rockets tore the sky and
showered their jewelled rain over the crowd. Then a pro-
cession was formed, headed by the priests with their crosses
and icons and sacred emblems, with candle-bearers, and with
incense swinging, and this was joined in by everybody —
citizens, soldiers, peasants, cabinet ministers — and led by a
band, and all carrying torches they paraded the town.
On Easter day there were plenty of understudies for the
Primitive Theseus with the lamb across his shoulders, holding
the feet in front, and groups at street corners or on vacant
ground could be seen squatting by charcoal fires roasting
lamb on spits made of freshly peeled stakes — about the size
of clothes-props — which were brought into the town for the
purpose. Trellis arbours of canes, decked with green boughs,
were put up here and there for the people to feast in ; and I
saw a group of soldiers executing a curious slow and measured
dance, quite in an antique manner.
We did not see the famed peasants' dance at Megara,
which is said strongly to resemble the antique Greek dances
as figured on the vases.
I remember buying some mementoes in Athens, and the
bargaining was conducted before a crowd of interested
witnesses without speech (at least, on my part), each party
chalking the sum he proposed to give or take on the steps of
the shop until an agreement was arrived at.
We visited the temples at Eleusis — a mass of broken
marble, with fragments of steps and shattered columns. It
was on Good Friday, and the sky was, for a wonder, overcast
and wan, under which the marble fragments had an unnatural
pallor. On a hill above there was a little Turkish minaret,
and a gaunt youth in a Turkish fez continually tolled a bell.
Its ceaseless clang had a monotonous, weary, hopeless sound,
and altogether the scene was melancholy in the extreme.
3i8 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
We had a pleasant excursion to Sunium, and a beautiful
day. The only suggestion of modern industry I saw in
Greece was at Laurium, where there were iron mines, and
their usual accompaniments. The temple at Sunium stood
on the highest point of a bold headland, and between its
snowy marble columns sparkled the blue ^gean.
Another day we took a coasting steamer from the Piraeus
to Nauplia, passing ^gina, and touching at Hydra and
Poros. The steamer was crowded with country and fisher folk
of the district, who were extremely interesting in variety of
character and costume, including a shepherd and a flock of
horned sheep. A school of dolphins played in our wake as
the steamer left the Piraeus. When we touched at the islands,
little lateen - sailed boats would come flying up to land
passengers, and brown-limbed, dark-eyed natives clambered
on board to secure them, bag and baggage.
The sculpturesque forms of the mountainous coast were
very fine, and the delicate lines of the ranges relieved in
silhouette as the sun passed behind them.
We reached Nauplia at nightfall, and found the best
hotel rather primitive in some of its arrangements, but it was
situated in an interesting square in the centre of the town,
shaded by pepper trees, and containing an ancient Byzantine-
looking church, the dome and tiled roof of which were thickly
overgrown. From Nauplia the next morning we departed by
carriage for Argos and Mycenae, stopping at Tiryns to see Dr.
Schlieman's excavations of the ancient city.
(With Mr. James Baker, who had an introduction to him,
I paid a visit to the famous archaeologist at his villa at
Athens, and found him in the midst of work, with a secretary,
in a long gallery-like room with a range of windows, and long
tables covered with books and papers. He was a grave,
studious - looking man, with a rather preoccupied air, yet
with an occasional keen glance when anything specially
interested him that happened to be said.)
Mycenae was most striking, lying away from any signs of
modern habitation, on a rising ground in the midst of wild
and bare country ; the great gate built of cyclopean blocks
of stone, superimposed without mortar, with its massive lintel
A STRANGER
WALTER CRANE, 190O
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 319
and tympanum carved with the colossal lions supporting the
column — the totem of the kings — impressed one with a sense
of primitive strength and barbarous dignity, as we passed
on through it to the Treasure House of Atreus, and of
Clytemnestra.
With James Baker I visited the traditional spot of the
Acaddme of Plato, which my friend, by dint of persistent and
careful inquiry, discovered at Colonnos. We passed through
a private garden, through a gate which led into a field, bordered
by a row of magnificent plane trees, from under the shade of
which one could get a good view of the Acropolis.
Before leaving Athens I presented an introduction I had
from our friend Madame Coronio to Madame Tricoupis, the
sister of the Priuie Minister Tricoupis at that time. She held
afternoon receptions, and was very hospitable and amiable.
Her rooms were full, I remember, of lovely roses.
Another of our excursions was to see the works of the
canal through the Isthmus of Corinth, commenced in Hadrian's
time, and which — as the schoolboy said of the conquest of
Ireland — were " still going on," having been taken up again
under the Greek Government. It was a curious sight to look
on the edge of the deep wide cutting and see, far down, the
gangs of men at work like busy ants, and appearing almost
as diminutive.
We saw a large group of the workmen in a shed listen-
ing to one of their number in a fez and Turkish trousers
playing on a Cretan lyre, a single - stringed instrument
shaped like a lute and played with a bow, as an accompani-
ment to a song or chant, the refrain of which was taken up
by the rest.
From Athens we voyaged by steamer, on our way home-
wards, round the Peloponnessus, passing Ithaca with its
Odyssean associations, and touching at Corfu. It was a
fete day, and crowds of peasants were attending Mass in the
churches and wandering about the town. The women,
singularly handsome for the most part, gorgeously arrayed
in their native costume. I found time to make a sketch
from the fortress, from which commanded a lovely view of
the Albanian coast, before the time came to re-embark.
320 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
We steamed on to Trieste, passing Lissa, noted as the
scene of a naval battle in the Franco-Italian War.
From Trieste we took another steamer leaving in the
middle of the night for Venice. We had a rather stormy-
passage, and it was raining as we worked up the lagoons, so
that we had no beautiful Turneresque effects of sunrise ; but
by the time we had anchored off the custom-house, the sun
had come out brightly, and Venice smiled upon us as we
landed at the Piazza, to make our bow to the Lion of
St. Mark.
From Venice we made our way by easy stages homewards,
steaming up Lago Maggiore and resting at Locarno, before
taking the St. Gothard route to Lucerne, where we made
another stop, and so in due course reaching England again
about the middle of May.
I should have mentioned that in the spring of 1888 (Sir)
Edward Poynter proposed me for the Old Water Colour
Society. As I have stated previously, I had resigned in 1886
my membership of the Royal Institute, but with no thought
of being a candidate for any other body. When Poynter
suggested it to me, and expressed his willingness to propose
me if I agreed to the idea, I thought it very friendly of him
but quite unexpected, and I consented to let him put me up.
In the kind letter he wrote me at the time he says —
" I have been intending to go and see you for a long
time, but I am so frightfully behindhand with my pictures
that I have not been able to find a morning to spare. Now
I find that the election at the Water Colour is close at hand,
and I am told that it would be better if I could have a work
of yours at the Gallery for members to see, as I intend to
propose you. I will go on Monday morning and look you
up. I do not know whether you have anything at the studio,
but perhaps you could get some important specimen of water
colour for me to show, — I do not mean before Monday, but
some time before the end of next week, the election being on
the 19th" (i.e. of March).
" Do not answer unless you will be away from the studio
on Monday."
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 321
In this connection a letter from the late Mr. John Ward —
sometime a member of the firm of Marcus Ward & Co. and
a friend and immense admirer of Poynter's — may be not
without interest —
"Lenoxvale, Belfast, March 27, 1888
"Dear Mr. Crane, — It was peculiarly pleasing to me
to hear that Mr. Poynter was your proposer at the R.W.S. I
well know how he esteems your art, and who so fit to judge ?
I possess five beautiful works of Mr. Poynter's, and I was so
convinced that nobody living could do such, but E. J. P. I
therefore showed them to various members of the council of
the R.W.S. , with the result that Mr. Poynter was elected.
" He had often said to me that he believed he painted in
water colour better than in oil, and that was why I brought
it about — for at that time his water-colour drawings were
little known. Those I have are exquisite works. — Yours
sincerely, John Ward"
"W. Crane, Esq."
Being duly elected as Associate I exhibited that year
" Flora " and " Pegasus," both of which ultimately found
homes out of this country — one in Germany, and one in
Belgium.
Mr. Ward, backed by Mr. Poynter, had wished me to do
some examples in design — treatment of plant form — for his
series of " South Kensington Drawing-books," and I intended
to have done so, though I did not feel quite happy about it,
and, as it turned out, the scheme never came off, as I never
succeeded in satisfying myself in the matter, though I made
a number of drawings for the work.
Sir Coutts Lindsay's assistant directors, Messrs. Carr and
Halle, for reasons that were never made publicly clear, left
him and the Grosvenor Gallery, which I suppose was not in
a flourishing condition, to start the New Gallery in Regent
Street. A company was formed to take over the same
abandoned meat market which I remember Mr. Heywood
Sumner and myself inspecting when we were searching for
suitable quarters for our Arts and Crafts Exhibition, and
which Sir Edward Lee a year or two before had proposed to
21
322 AN ARTISrS REMINISCENCES [1885-90
me for a National Exhibition of Art, to be worked by means
of a joint stock company.
Some correspondence appeared in the papers, including
letters from (Sir) Edward Burne-Jones and (Sir) Alma Tadema
in support of Messrs. Carr and Hall6 in the step they were
taking, and approving their resignation from the management
of the Grosvenor Gallery. One heard that the frequent
suppers and other entertainments at the Grosvenor were
distasteful to (Sir) E. Burne-Jones, and it was even whispered
that labels announcing " soups " and " ices " were hung in front
of some of his pictures.
Whatever were the true reasons, however, the New Gallery
was established, and held its first exhibition in the summer
of 1888, with Messrs. Carr and Halle as directors, who secured
the support of most of the principal artists of the Grosvenor,
and started with a "Consulting Committee" containing the
names of (Sir) L. Alma Tadema, (Sir) E. Burne-Jones
(A.R.A.), A. Gilbert (A.RA.), H. Herkomer (A.R.A.), W.
Holman Hunt, E. Onslow Ford (A.R.A.), J. W. North
(R.W.S.), Alfred Parsons (R.L), E. R. Robson (F.S.A.),
(Sir) W. B. Richmond (A.R.A.), and even the former secretary
of the Grosvenor Gallery, Mr. J. W. Beck.
The meat market was transformed by the skill of Mr. E.
R. Robson, the architect, into the handsome galleries we
know, and he did wonders with marble linings and gilding.
The traditional heavy red was clung to, however, in the walls
of the picture-galleries, although it is a colour really very
rarely suited to set off pictures successfully, cool and neutral
tones, or white, being much better.
Burne-Jones was a large exhibitor, and he continued to
show his work at this gallery to his death. Practically all
the old exhibitors at the Grosvenor went over to the New,
and, being no longer in favour with Sir Coutts, I joined them,
sending this year " A Water-Lily " and several small landscape
studies, from Southwold and Harlech, and have continued to
exhibit my most important pictorial work there each year since.
The Grosvenor soon afterwards came to an end as a
picture-gallery. A circulating library was started there, and
a club was formed and occupied the spacious premises for a
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 323
time, which have been since transformed (by Mr. Walter
Cave) into the ^olian Hall, and dedicated to the music of
sweet sounds and the strains of the pianola.
Many of Sir Coutts Lindsay's artist friends, however,
gathered round him and gave him a dinner, in recognition
of his services to art, which he certainly deserved, for his
spirit and enterprise. It is to be regretted that he did not,
when he had secured the adherence of so many distinguished
artists outside the Academy, maintain a more distinctly in-
dependent attitude, and was not able to place the Gallery on
a sound and permanent footing.
The Grosvenor had a brilliant career for ten years. Society
thronged the evening receptions and the Sunday afternoons
given by Sir Coutts and Lady Lindsay, before their separation,
and the most notable artists both within and without the
Academy supported the Gallery by their works ; and, albeit
tempered somewhat by amateur efforts, the Gallery won a
very distinguished position. Many causes no doubt com-
bined to destroy it, and the establishment of the New
Gallery out of its own materials, as it were, deprived it of
the artistic reason for its existence.
The name of E. Burne-Jones, with the letters A.R.A.
attached, looked strange upon the New Gallery catalogue
when both the genesis and development of his art, and his
known personal views, were considered. He only exhibited at
the Academy once, however, and one picture only. Curiously
enough, too, it was " The Depths of the Sea," in which it was
difficult to avoid reading an allegory in the siren triumphantly
securing her prey.
The artist, however, soon resigned, feeling, no doubt, that
what might be an apparent distinction might in course of time
become a brand.
Among other work upon which I was engaged about this
time was a series of panels I painted for the Ophir, a. new
Australian liner for the Orient Company, for which Mr. J. J.
Stevenson had designed the interior woodwork and arrange-
ment of the saloon, and who offered me the work. Mr. C.
Napier Hemy also painted some panels, and came to confer
with me about them.
324 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1885-90
My subjects were single female figures symbolical of the
seasons and of the times of day.
In the autumn of 1888, probably in some way as the
outcome of the recent movements in the art world, and with
the idea of offering a public platform for the discussion of
many questions agitating artists and art lovers, a scheme
was started for a National Association for the Advancement
of Art in Relation to Industry — a rather portentous title.
Professor (now Sir) Martin Conway, of Liverpool University,
was one of the active spirits in its initiation, and his idea
was that as there was a British Association for the advance-
ment of science, why should there not be a British Ass. for
British art (as some expressed it) ?
There was an inauguratory meeting at Grosvenor House,
I remember, and I think the Duke of Westminster was in
the chair. Mr. Cuthbert Quilter, Martin Conway, Mr. M. H.
Spielmann, Mr. Edmund Gosse, and Oscar Wilde were among
the speakers. Mr. Gosse brought in statistics of trade and
the cotton industry — " Things," as Oscar Wilde said, who
followed him, " which we do not want to hear about at
all." The meeting was considered a great success, however,
and the resolutions convening the Congress were all duly
proposed, seconded, and carried.
It was at this meeting that I remarked that we " must
turn our artists into craftsmen and our craftsmen into artists."
The Congress was duly organised, and met at Liverpool.
There were many sections — architecture, painting, sculpture,
decorative art, and arts and crafts, and each had its section
and special chairman — and papers were duly read by different
artists and others.
A train full of artists of all ranks carried most of the
active spirits down by the London and North-Western to
Liverpool, including the President of the Royal Academy
and the most extreme opponents of that body. The artists
were hospitably entertained in the houses of prominent Liver-
pool citizens, and at the Congress we went at it — hammer
and tongs. It was indeed an artists' tournament, and many a
lance was broken, the Academy being rather severely handled.
The Arts and Crafts banner was well to the fore, and the
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 325
movement made way all along the line as the most practical
effort to unite Art and Industry.
William Morris and I had something to say for the
relation of Art to Socialism, and there were many interesting
discussions in the various sections ; and as a platform for the
expression of opinion — and perhaps, in some cases, a con-
venient eminence for the grinding of axes — the Congress was
certainly a great success.
There were agreeable interludes in the way of dinners and
other functions, one of the most interesting being a visit to
the famous shipbuilding yard of Messrs. Laird on the occasion
of the launch of a big steamer. It was a striking sight to see
as the stays were gradually removed until it almost seemed as
if the huge vessel was really only held in check by the tiny
silken cord which the lady who performed the christening had
to sever with a toy hatchet, after the champagne bottle, dressed
in a bunch of ribbons, had been broken against the ship's side.
Then she began to glide down the slope, and finally gracefully
took the water like a swan. A luncheon and speeches followed.
The Congress was repeated the following year at Edinburgh
under the presidency of the Marquis of Lome (the present
Duke of Argyll), who in his inaugural address spoke of " a
member for the Discobulus " as a possible necessity of the
future in the direct representation of the interests of art and
art schools in the Legislature.
As before at Liverpool, many members of the Art Workers'
Guild took a prominent part as presidents of various sections,
as paper readers, or in the discussions.
William Morris again attended, and the truths of Socialism
were not neglected — so little, indeed, that our opponents said
we had " spoiled the Congress " (!).
We incurred the wrath of Mr. W. E. Henley, who con-
ducted the Scots Observer at that time, in which many bitter
attacks upon Morris and myself appeared. A copy was sent
to me from the office of the paper containing something
offensive, which I might have been in happy ignorance of
but for this delicate attention. I returned the paper with
my compliments, adding that I " feared the cover may have
got a little soiled, but perhaps there was not more mud outside
326 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
than was to be found within its pages." Henley — who was sur-
rounded by a clique of writers who seemed almost to worship
him — was no doubt an able writer, but entirely out of sympathy
with and perhaps incapable of understanding our movement. He
afterwards came to London and edited the National Observe}'.
I once saw him at the Pennells' afterwards — but no blood
was shed ! Indeed, one could only feel pity for his want of
health and other misfortunes.
I think it was on the same evening at the same host's
that I met for the first time Mr. Frederick Sandys the artist,
for whose work I had always had the highest admiration. His
draughtsmanship was marvellous, and the power and imagina-
tion he showed in such works as his painting of " Medea," and
in his black-and-white designs, must always give him a very
high place in English art. He had a strange penetrating
gaze, and a somewhat sarcastic way of speaking.
Lectures were given, too, outside the Congress both by
Morris and myself; sometimes he took the chair for me, and
at others I presided for him. " We hunt in couples," he said
at the time. My host was a leading banker of Edinburgh,
and he put me up at his house at Murrayfield. Among the
interesting and sympathetic people one met at Edinburgh
must be mentioned Professor Patrick Geddes, whom I visited
in his tower and who showed me his schemes for saving the
fine old palaces, turning them into residential flats ; and we
exchanged ideas about the beautification of modern towns,
schools, gardens, flowers, and other things.
I was also introduced to Mrs. Traquair, the distinguished
artist and craftswoman. I found her at work in a small
chapel on the walls of which she was carrying out a complete
scheme of mural decoration delightful in colour and invention.
This lady has since become a valued member of the Arts and
Crafts Exhibition Society, where her beautiful needlework,
illumination, and enamels are well known.
I was much struck with the city of Edinburgh, which I had
never before visited, especially with the old part of the town on
the rock. The length and width of Princes Street was imposing,
and the Scott Monument not without its dramatic effect.
After the Congress we — the Socialist group, consisting of
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 327
William Morris, T. J. Cobden-Sanderson, Emery Walker, and
myself — had arranged to visit Glasgow, where I was to give
a lecture on "The Educational Value of Art." We all
travelled together and put up at the Station Hotel. The
lecture was to be given in a large hall near by. Morris took
the chair. I made illustrations to my lecture on the black-
board. Questions were invited and a discussion afterwards.
In the course of this there was some allusion to the treatment
of its employees by a local firm, and Morris got somewhat
impatient with a speaker who took the firm's view of the
matter, but we all urged that he should be heard.
Mr. Bruce Glasier, the present editor of the Labour
Leader and a prominent Socialist, came to see us at the
hotel, and we met the local Socialists at their quarters on a
Sunday, when Morris and I spoke.
It was about this time that, in concert with Mr. Emery
Walker, Morris's scheme of the Kelmscott Press was first
projected, and I remember it was discussed among us while
at the hotel in Glasgow together.
The subject of the form of spacing of lettering and the
harmony of text and ornament on decorative illustration had
occupied both Morris and myself much of late, and Mr. Emery
Walker, who, as has been mentioned, lectured on the subject
at our first Arts and Crafts Exhibition, brought his technical
knowledge of printing to bear on the question.
I had recently delivered the Cantor lectures at the Society
of Arts on the Decorative Illustration of Books, illustrated
with lantern slides from many beautiful examples of illuminated
MSS. from the British Museum and early printed books, and
to enrich these I had also been able to draw upon Morris's
own magnificent library of early printed books.
Morris himself had lectured upon the printing of books
at the Society of Arts also, and he now took up the subject
practically and, with his usual ardour in the arts, concentrated
himself upon it.
He got Mr. Walker to make him large photographs of
certain early printers' types, chiefly Venetian of the fifteenth
century. These he studied, and on these he modelled his own
types.
328 AN ARTISrS REMINISCENCES [1885-90
The first book from the press was Morris's own Story of
the Glittering Plain, which he wanted me to illustrate, but he
was so eager to get his first book out that he could not
wait for the pictures, and so the Glittering Plain first
appeared simply with his own initials and ornaments, the
larger illustrated edition following later, with the woodcuts
from my designs (engraved by my cousins, A. & E. Leverett)
and a special title and borders designed by Morris.
I remember Morris and his friend, Mr. F. S. Ellis, who
edited several of the Kelmscott Press books, coming to my
studio to see the drawings for the Glittering Plain when they
were finished, Mr. Ellis seemed so delighted with them that
he asked me to do a set to an edition of Reynard the Fox
he had in preparation, and this duly appeared from the house
of David Nutt in 1894.
I remember returning from the Glasgow visit to London
with Morris alone. We had a coupe to ourselves. Near the
English border the London and North-Western line runs close
to a very beautiful old grey stone manor-house — Yanworth
— partly embattled. A place I had often heard Morris speak
of with admiration. We had been chatting away freely, but
after catching sight of this ancient house Morris became
abstracted, and presently taking out paper from the wonderful
satchel, without which he was seldom seen in his later days,
he began to write, and he wrote furiously all the way back,
only stopping at York to eat and drink. The result was
" The Hall and the Wood," a poem which appeared in the
English Illustrated Magazine shortly afterwards. The magazine
had changed editors, and was then conducted by our friend
Emery Walker, who was always Morris's right hand in regard
to the Kelmscott Press.
In June 1889 I remember being one of a large deputation
of architects and artists to the London County Council to
plead for the preservation of St. Maiy le Strand, which was
actually in danger of being pulled down to widen the
thoroughfare. Fortunately, our efforts were successful, and
this beautiful bit of English Renascence work was saved, and
the aspect of the Strand also. Mr. Norman Shaw, the Earl
of Carlisle, and Mr. F. J. Shields were on the deputation.
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 329
It was in the summer of 1889 that I met Mr. Gladstone.
I had previously heard him speak, but had not made his
personal acquaintance. His friends and supporters desired to
mark their appreciation of his political services by a presenta-
tion on the occasion of his golden wedding. A great meeting
was arranged at the National Liberal Club on July 26, and
as a special feature and a souvenir an address was prepared
to form the text of an illuminated album to be presented on
the day. A group of artists were invited to contribute, and
Messrs. Marcus Stone, John MacWhirter, Alfred Parsons,
Lewis F. Day, Henry Holiday, Arthur Severn, and myself
each designed a page in this album, Mr. Day designing the
text throughout. My subject was an allegorical treatment of
the movement for Home Rule for Ireland and the measures
Gladstone had advocated for that country.
When the book was given to Mr. Gladstone each artist
in turn was presented to him and to Mrs. Gladstone, who
accompanied him, and indeed took such charge of him that
she seemed a little afraid of his getting too interested in the
album and in our explanations of our designs in it, and was
rather by way of hurrying him on to, or reserving him perhaps
for, the speech function which followed.
I received later a postcard from Mr. Gladstone, bearing
the date August 12, 1889, and the postmark Chester, of
which the following is a copy : —
" My dear Sir, — I thank you very much for the de-
scription, and I think that by it you have added to the value
of the beautiful memorial itself. — Yours very faithfully,
" W. E. Gladstone
''Augtist 12, 1889"
The description of my design here mentioned was as
follows : —
" The design, under the form of allegory, deals generally
with Mr. Gladstone's policy in regard to Ireland, and his
advocacy of Home Rule in particular.
"At the top of the page he is represented as a good knight
330 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
fighting the many-coiled dragon of tyranny. The red cross
of St. George upon his surcoat indicates that it is England's
will and power that must free the suffering Erin from the
injustice and oppression for which English Governments have
been answerable, and what these are are shown by the legends
upon the coils of the dragon twisted about the figure of Erin.
She stretches forth her hands to the deliverer, who has taken
one of them while he strikes at the head of the dragon with
the axe of Home Rule.
" Below on each side are two shields inscribed with the
names of the parliamentary measures referring to Ireland
associated with Mr. Gladstone's administrations. A scroll on
the left bears the words, ' Justice to Ireland,' and that on the
right, ' Home Rule.' Below these again, on either side are
the figures of Irish peasants, the man with a spade, the woman
with a spindle, to indicate those fundamental and useful labours
upon the maintenance of which the welfare of peoples and the
wealth of nations alike depends. The upward gaze of the
peasants is fixed upon the issue of the struggle above, with
which their hopes and prospects are involved.
"In the border at the foot of the page is a group personify-
ing Ireland and England taking hands, and being crowned with
olive wreaths by the winged child Freedom, to indicate the true
and only union possible, which the scroll further emphasises
in the words : * Freedom for England and Ireland.'
" The initial letter T is intended, by the golden setting sun,
the fruited trees, and the plough at rest in the furrow, to
illustrate the wish embodied in the text — ' Datur hora quieti.'
"Walter Crane"
Lord Oxenbridge was the chairman on the occasion of the
presentation, and a crowd of Mr. Gladstone's political adherents
received their hero with great enthusiasm.
Though showing signs of advanced age, Mr. Gladstone
seemed full of life, and quite keen and interested in the
proceedings, and was evidently pleased with the album, and
he spoke without apparent effort, with his wonderful flow of
words, when he rose to address the meeting.
Another political event in this year was the very large and
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 331
important Home Rule demonstration in St. James's Hall, at
which Mr. Parnell received a tremendously enthusiastic recep-
tion when he rose to speak, the crowded audience rising and
waving handkerchiefs and cheering for some minutes. He had
a dignified presence, and spoke with power and effect, but with
more parliamentary manner than other Irish orators.
Mr. Henry Holiday, who had keenly interested himself in
the cause, had asked me to assist him in the decoration of the
hall for the occasion, and we multiplied harps upon green
banners and Home Rule mottoes and shamrocks at a great
rate, assisted by a volunteer staff of ladies, at his studio at
Hampstead.
I designed two maps, which we enlarged and hung at the
end of the hall. In these I drew a contrast between England
and Ireland before and after Home Rule. Preserving in the
drawing in the main contours the actual geographical shapes
of the two countries, I introduced in one a repressive and
coercive frowning Britannia, with her Lion, holding a revolting
Hibernian by a chain ; while in the companion picture the
same general outlines appeared, but in detail the map showed
a fair and friendly Britannia on one side of St. George's
Channel and a comely and contented colleen, wearing the Cap
of Liberty, on the other, and, of course, no chain between
them. The Lion was thought to bear a resemblance to " The
Grand Old Man."
About this time, too, I was at a garden party given by
Mr. and Mrs. Holiday at their charming house at Hampstead,
when Mr. Gladstone was present and made a speech on Home
Rule.
In this connection, also, I had designed a Nationalist
banner, which was beautifully worked in silk by Miss Una
Taylor, as a labour of love, and presented by her to the
Nationalist party in Ireland, in order that it might hang in the
first Home Rule Parliament. The design displayed heraldically
the arms of the four provinces, quarterly, with the Harp a
sun-burst in the centre, suggesting in their arrangement a
Celtic cross. This banner was shown in our Arts and Crafts
Exhibition the same year.
Mr. Thomas P. Gill, one of the Nationalist members in the
332 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
House, to whom I was introduced by Miss Una Taylor, interested
himself in the matter, and procured for me drawings of the
Heraldry of the four provinces ; and in a letter in which he
speaks of our work, and the pleasure with which the design
had been received by his colleagues, he concludes : " I would
bring the drawing in person to you myself, only there is a
warrant out for my arrest these days, and it is not safe to
undertake a journey of any length through the streets."
The summer of 1889 was also remarkable for the great
dock strike, which brought Mr. John Burns so prominently to
the front, when he advocated the claims of the dockers, who
under his leadership won their " tanner," or sixpence an hour,
and established their Union.
He was elected to the London County Council on its
formation in this the first year.
Mr. Frederic Harrison was also one of London's first
Councillors, and he wrote to me with reference to designing
the Seal of the Council.
Mr. John Burns had proposed that I should be asked to
design the Seal, and he writes about it as follows (on Amalga-
mated Engineers' Society paper) : —
'•'56 WiCKERSLEY RoAD, BaTTERSEA
" Dear Crane, — Will you send in a design for a Common
Seal for County Council ?
" I spoke to Morris about it, and he seemed to think it was
just your line.
" I informed the Council of my intention to ask you, and we
all agreed that you were the best man for it. The design can
be adapted to our views, as you generally manage to do these
things.
" Drop me a note in reply. — Yours truly,
"John Burns"
He writes again, later —
" The Council was highly pleased at your design. Rosebery
recommended it to the Council strongly "
"The cap of Freedom and the labourer is good
propaganda "
'THE WINDS OF THE WORLD"
WALTEK CKANK, IQ^I
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 333
and he adds —
" We had a good day's work : abolished local dues, suggested
removal of bars and gates (150), and carried ' sweating ' re-
solution."
I had besides many letters from Mr. Frederic Harrison,
who took the greatest interest and trouble in the matter. He
writes (March i, 1889) —
" The design is certainly very beautiful and poetic.
Nothing that we have, in my opinion, approaches it."
Lord Rosebery, too, seemed pleased with both the seal and
the letter stamp, as he writes (May 26, 1889), from Durdans,
Epsom —
" I am quite fascinated by your design for the paper
stamp. I have no doubt it will be adopted by acclamation."
And of the seal design he writes (June 8, 1889) —
" I think the seal looks even better in the small size than
it did in the original drawing."
I sent in a design which was accepted, and the steel die
was cut by Mr. W. H. Hooper, a member of the Art Workers'
Guild and a most accomplished engraver (the same who
engraved on wood Morris's designs for the Kelmscott Press).
We collaborated again in a letter stamp for the L.C.C., and
I remember we went to Spring Gardens to have an interview
about it with Lord Rosebery, the then Chairman, and Mr.
Firth, his deputy, and the engraving of the die for the Common
Seal was also discussed. I had put the inscription in Latin,
but it was desired to have it in English. " The Common
Seal of the London County Council " — " not that we want to
find fault with Mr. Crane's Latin," as Lord Rosebery remarked.
He did not, however, care for a suggestion I first made for the
letter stamp embodying figures of Justice and Liberty, remarking
he did not see what they had to do with the County Council,
and one I made of a single figure with a mural crown holding
the shields of London and Westminster was finally adopted.
334 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1885-90
Mr. Frederic Harrison again writes (March 10, 1890) —
" My dear Crane, — I have at last got an impression
of the L.C.C. Seal, which certainly seems to me a very fine
work, worthy of you and of the Council. I am taking it to
show the principal librarian at the British Museum, who
advised the Chairman last spring, and they will have an
impression for their collection. I tell him there is nothing at
all equal to it in the modern series."
His only regret seems to have been the omission of the
sword of St. Paul from the shield. This, however, seemed to
belong to the City of London, whereas the cross of St. George
is national. The sword, however, appears on the London
shield of the letter stamp.
At the Paris Universal Exhibition of this year I was
awarded a silver medal for my water-colour drawing, " A
Diver," previously shown at the Royal Institute — a gratifying
recognition from a foreign country.
In 1889, too, my term of office as Master of the Art
Workers' Guild came to an end. I had been elected to the
chair at the annual meeting in December 1887, and had
served for two years, like my predecessors, Mr. George Simonds
and Mr. J. D. Sedding. Since that time the Master has
served for one year only. Our meetings were then held in
the fine old hall of Barnard's Inn, with its open timber roof
dating back to the fifteenth or even fourteenth century, as
some supposed. Barnard's Inn and its hall were, however,
required by the Mercers' Company for their school, which,
according to their laws, had to be within the precincts of the
City of London ; so, very reluctantly, we had to find fresh
quarters, which we happily succeeded in doing at Clifford's
Inn Hall, which has been the home of the Guild ever since.
This hall dates from the fourteenth century, though the
interior has been transmogrified and plastered, probably in the
seventeenth century, and the only obvious relic of its foundation
now visible is the Gothic arch in stone which forms one of the
entrances to the hall.
What with the Guild meetings, and the work of a second
THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH
WALTER CRANE, 1901
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 335
Arts and Crafts Exhibition ^ in the autumn at the New
Gallery, attending the Edinburgh Congress, lecturing, and
carrying on one's ordinary work, the year 1889 was certainly
a busy one.
One of the last functions in Barnard's Inn Hall, I remember,
was a supper very kindly given in my honour by some of my
brother artists and craftsmen, members mostly of the Guild or
of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, which was very
pleasant ; though it is sad, in recalling such occasions, to
think of those of the company who are gone.
The year 1889 marked an epoch in the history of the
stage in this country by the production of certain plays of
Henrik Ibsen for the first time in London. Those who had
the good fortune to witness the first performances of A Doll's
House, in which Miss Janet Achurch took the part of Nora
Helmer, are not likely to forget it. All the characters were
ably presented : Mr. Herbert Waring was Torvald Helmer ;
Mr. Charles Charrington, Dr. Rank ; and the whole performance
was singularly complete, though the charm and spontaneity
with which Miss Achurch acted her part were most remarkable
and delightful. The translation was by Mr. William Archer,
who has done so much to familiarise English readers with
Ibsen's work.
The simple but searching domestic drama, with no aids of
stage effects or conventions, was extraordinarily direct and
powerful, like all Ibsen's, but perhaps more concentrated and
complete and less problematical than most, although it pre-
sented a problem which exercised the ingenuity or the
sympathies of those who saw it, according to their predilections
and prejudices, for a long time after. A souvenir book of the
play with portraits of Ibsen and of the performers in the
Doll's House was afterwards published by subscription by Mr.
T. Fisher Unwin.
^ At the private view I recall meeting for the first and only time Mr. Grant Allen,
whose Physiological Aesthetics I had read long before, on the recommendation of
my old friend Wise. Mr. Grant Allen was more known, however, for his brilliant
Darwinian essays and expositions of natural history, and latterly for his novels,
more especially for The Woman who Did, which made a considerable sensation and
had many imitators. He struck me as a quiet, observant man, of distinctly Scottish
aspect. Mr. John Burns was also present on the same occasion.
336 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1885-90
Mr. Grein did excellent work, too, by means of his
Independent Theatre, by giving other plays of Ibsen at
different places, and under, it must be confessed, often disad-
vantageous circumstances. Ghosts was one, in which Mrs.
Theodore Wright gave a wonderful performance as the mother,
and I remember Miss Elizabeth Robin's fine rendering of
Hedda Gabler.
The Stage Society, founded later, also gave several of
Ibsen's plays, though its principal work has been the introduc-
tion of Mr. G. Bernard Shaw as a dramatist to the English
public. The performances both of Mr. Grein's Independent
Theatre and those of the Stage Society attracted not only
members of the dramatic profession but also Socialists and
people of advanced views, and the audiences were generally
quite as remarkable as the plays.
The unflinching way in which Ibsen deals with modern
life and tears the masque from the shams and conventionalities
of middle-class existence and bourgeois morality in so many
of his dramas, over and above his power as a dramatist, no
doubt interested all kinds of social reformers, and especially
Socialists of all schools, as bearing upon the very questions
with which they themselves were concerned. Both from this
point of view and in relation to the ordinary stage conven-
tions a drama by Ibsen had something the effect of moral
dynamite.
The dramatist shatters and destroys, too, without any
definite hints as to reconstruction. People are left to draw
their own conclusions. Ibsen's dramas belong to a revolu-
tionary epoch — an epoch of social upheaval and change.
With social reconstruction under new social ideals, people will
not be satisfied with destructiveness alone, or the exposure of
social degradation. They will want other sides of life and
humanity — the search for a new harmony, a higher sense of
beauty must be satisfied, and there must be room for humour
— even beneath the tragic compulsion of inexorable destiny.
I remember being greatly impressed by the power of
Salvini. I do not remember what year it was when he
visited London and gave, I think, a series of performances at
the Lyceum. I saw him in Othello, and he seemed to fill the
1885-90] ART AND SOCIALISM 337
part so completely that it is difficult to think of Othello as of
any other type than that which he presented, and so completely
realised that one really did not want to see the play again.
The Elizabethan Stage Society, under the able and
sympathetic direction of Mr. William Poel, too, must be noted
as having done very remarkable work in presenting the plays
under their original condition. To my mind this treatment
seemed to throw quite a new light upon them. The simplicity
of the stage arrangements, and the absence of scene-shifting
and the distractions of realistic landscape backgrounds, threw
into stronger relief the individual characters, and concentrated
the attention upon the real drama.
The spectacular interest is a distinct interest, but the
more elaborate the scenery and mounting of a play the more
the attention is divided ; and if the dramatic interest is strong,
the less it seems necessary. It is like the difference of artistic
interest between a landscape and a figure picture. The scenes
in a Shakespeare play mounted in the modern way and on a
large stage have the effect of landscapes or interiors with
figures, but as presented by Mr. Poel with an inner and an
outer scene simply draped with tapestry, with two entrances
or exits and a gallery above, as it might have been performed
in an Elizabethan or mediaeval hall, the figures loom large, and
one can study their action and speech.
I remember one of the first performances was given in the
hall of Gray's Inn — The Comedy of Errors — in the very
place where the play was first performed in Shakespeare's time,
and very interesting it was.
I recall a little incident which happened afterwards. The
audience lingered, talking together, and people made their way
over the chairs to join different groups of their friends. The
chairs, I think, were held together in rows by strips of wood.
I was talking to some friends when Mr. George Moore passed ;
he tripped, and had fallen but that I caught him by the arm,
not seeing who it was till he looked up. I had no acquaint-
ance with him, and I remember the peculiar expression on his
strange white face as he recognised me.
We had recently been carrying on a war in the papers
about a picture by Degas, in which Richmond and I had been
338 AN ARTISrS REMINISCENCES [1885-90
among the attacking party, Mr. Moore stoutly defending in
rather a personal way, and I had no reason to suppose there
was much sympathy between us, so it seemed curious I should
have been the means of saving him from a fall.
Mr. Poel and his company afterwards gave many other
interesting performances at several of the old city halls and
elsewhere, presenting different plays. One being Marlowe's
Faustus, which, perhaps, was more remarkable and interesting
than any, showing a combination of drama and masque.
With the old morality play of Everyman^ Mr. Poel, how-
ever, achieved a really popular and universal success. It was
remarkable how the simple pathos of the allegory appealed to
all kinds of different minds.
We saw it first of all under most favourable and appro-
priate conditions, though those conditions were a severe test
of the quality of the play and the manner of its presentation.
It was on a summer afternoon in the old court or quad of
the Charter House, and was a most impressive and moving
performance.
Everyman has since appealed to every man all over the
kingdom, and in every sort of theatre, but always seems
to have won its audience. Its success is evidence that the
symbolic poetic drama concerned with real human interest
has not lost its power of appeal among our people.
CHAPTER IX
BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA, 1890-92
IN the spring of 1 890 we were at the delightful old town of
Winchelsea, with our children. The old church with its
Edwardian monument, its venerable historic associations of the
place, with Rye, its neighbouring cinque port, and the pleasant
country, were all full of attraction for us.
Later, I joined Mr. James Baker and another friend on a
trip to Bohemia. Mr. Baker had been in that country before,
and was an excellent guide and indefatigable in seeking infor-
mation and discovering fresh routes, and as he spoke German
with ease there was no difficulty on that score.
We went by the Hook of Holland, and stopping a night
at Hanover, went to see the old palace and famous stud from
which our royal cream-coloured horses are derived, which
delight the London people on State occasions with a piece of
antique pageantry.
I remember being struck by the ingenious and effective
way in which the German colours, black, white, and red, were
displayed in their proper order in the flower-beds in front of
the station at Hanover — very dark pansies doing duty for
black.
We made for Dresden (where the chimney-sweeps look
quaint in tall black hats), and after enjoying the Rembrandts
and the Raphaels at the gallery, took steamer up the Elbe to
the Austrian frontier at Tietschen, after stopping a night at
Pirne, and noting the curious eye-shaped dormer windows in
the steep tiled roofs, and the long rafts of timber with little
huts upon them, which are very cleverly steered down the
swift river by the men with long oars, three at each end of the
raft.
889
340 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1890-92
The banks often rise to steep and fantastic black crags of
a basaltic character, taking all manner of shapes ; sometimes
we passed walled towns cresting the hills, such as Konigstein,
looking inaccessible enough. On the road along the bank
could be seen the long narrow boat-shaped wicker waggon of
the peasantry, drawn by a horse with a high peaked collar ;
and here and there and everywhere women bearing deep
baskets on their backs.
Deep draughts of iced lager on board the steamer acted
as an appropriate solvent to the varied and fantastic scenery,
especially in the hot sunshine of a May morning on deck.
We saw, too, an actual Maypole hung with garlands and
surmounted by the German flag, on a little green knoll, by a
quaint, half-timbered cottage, and near the same spot one of
the queerest little head-dresses or sunbonnets imaginable, worn
by a little girl.
At Tietschen there is a big schloss with a slender minaret
of the type often seen in the village churches on the Elbe ;
and a big iron suspension bridge takes one across the river
into Bohemia. We took train to Niemes, our first Bohemian
village, and at the hostelry found the public room crowded
with the village worthies drinking lager and playing dominoes,
cards, etc. We were taken for Frenchmen, as I suppose either
Englishmen were comparatively rare in these parts, or that we
lacked the typical John Bull characteristics.
Niemes was a pretty village of neat comfortable-looking
cottages of timber, and a stream flowing through. The women
wore bright-coloured kerchiefs on their heads of all sorts of
colours, and these were often set off by a black velvet bodice.
A gay-coloured print skirt and white apron completed the
costume.
At Niemes we hired a carriage and pair, and started
through a part of the country unknown to railways, a de-
lightful undulating country varied by woods and mountain
distances. Our first stop was Wastenburg. Then we got to
Dewin ; on a height stood the ruins of an ancient castle com-
manding a fine prospect. Below was the village of Hammer,
the birthplace of Gabriel Max, the distinguished painter, whose
house — a characteristic Bohemian timber country dwelling, with
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 341
wooden shingle roof and overhanging balcony — was shown to
us. From Hammer we drove on through the pleasant country,
reaching Bohemisch Aicha in the evening- — a small town with
a central place and a monument (to the Virgin and saints).
The ceremony of blessing the fields took place the next
morning — a picturesque procession of the townsfolk, chiefly
women and children, following a priest, in full canonicals, out
from a church decked with garlands and candles, to the open
country.
Continuing our drive, we visited a rather important hunting
seat — royal or ducal, if I remember aright — but modern, and
plentifully adorned with hunting trophies and antlers, but not
architecturally interesting ; and so on we went over undulating
plains and rye fields and woods, resting by the way at a char-
acteristic Bohemian peasant's cottage, with its large tiled stove,
racks for clothes overhead, and quaint tables and chairs. At
one of the villages, too, we saw a waggon from Saxony, in
which a band of students travelled through the country, drawn
by oxen. It was very long and narrow, and for seating had a
plank suspended down the middle, extending the whole length
of the waggon, and hung from the rail which closed each side,
from which hung charmingly made garlands of flowers. In
the evening we reached Turnov, a more important town, where
the principal industry seemed to be the cutting of precious
stones — a curious process, the stones being enclosed in a sort
of thick pencil of wood fixed in a circular horizontal wheel and
guided by the hand of the worker round and round upon a
grindstone, the pencil being slanted from time to time at
different angles to obtain the different facets. There were
other small industries, such as button-making and tape-weaving.
Water-power was a good deal used in the factories. Where
there are factories there is always a labour question, and there
had been strikes at different places, and we saw a body- of
soldiers marching into the town from their uncivil warfare with
their own countrymen struggling for their rights.
One was glad to see, however, the young townsfolk and
maidens attending a dancing class in a large upper room at
the hotel. An energetic middle-aged and rather portly dancing
master put them through various evolutions, including some
342 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1890-92
pretty figures, such as the formation of a spiral string of
dancers hand in hand, which gradually wound themselves
around the dancing master (stationary in the centre) and
again unwound themselves. The master called out his
instructions, of course, in the Czech tongue. The young
people, I thought, looked a little anaemic. They were no
doubt indoor workers, and they went through their dances
conscientiously enough, but without any indication of animal
spirits. One would rather have seen them round a Maypole
on a village green. My friends' chief object on this tour was
to see some of the principal famous ancient castles of Bohemia,
and most of these were accessible from Turnov (pronounced
as if it ended with a w) ; so we continued our carriage travel,
exploring first the Kleiner Skal, a ruined castle approached
through wooded slopes perched on very precipitous black rocks,
above a peaceful agricultural country of blossoming orchards
and hayfields in the flush of May-time, and afterwards we
went to the Grosse Skal, a robber-fortress concealed amidst
the recesses of inaccessible rocks, themselves like towers of
strange and fantastic form. The entrance to this fortress
was appropriately named the Mouse-hole (German — Mause-
loch ; Czech — Mysi dira). It consisted of an extremely narrow
defile between the rocks, which only admitted of the passage
of one person at a time, and barely that. From the summit
of Grosse Skal we had a good view of another famous castle
— Trosky, which has a striking silhouette against the sky.
Waldstein was the next castle we visited, much more complete
as a structure.
Returning to Turnov for the night, we started again by
carriage — this time in the pouring rain — in another direction,
making a halt to see Kost Castle, most strikingly placed, and
complete within its lofty ramparts enclosing a turreted keep,
rising above the clustering roofs of a timber-built village. This
castle had more the appearance of a mediaeval French chateau,
its turrets and towers, although angular, being crowned with
pointed spires. On the wall of the keep was carved in a
panel the arms of the family — a boar's head on a shield.
The chapel was very complete and interesting, apparently
of fourteenth-century date, its door was covered with a beautiful
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 343
simple trellis of wrought-iron, and there was a charming two-
light window in stained glass of a knight with the red cross
of St. George on shield and surcoat, facing a figure of the Virgin
and Child in a circular aureole. Beneath the knight was a
Latin inscription on the glass as follows : —
• REGI • AVTEM • SECVLORVM •
• MORTALI • INVISIBILI • SOLI • SA •
• PIENTI • DEO • LAVS • HONOR • JE
• GLORIA • IN • SECVLORVM • SECVLA.
In the course of our journey on this wet day we passed
through the site of the battlefield of Gravelotte, peaceful
enough then, the soft rain falling steadily over acres of
growing crops — among which were to be discerned no dragon's
teeth — and on the long road, lined each side with fruit trees,
which we learned were the collective property of each village
commune.
We made a halt at midday at Sabotka, a small town full
of characteristic Bohemian timber houses, the construction of
which are very distinct in style and interesting. Many of the
houses were arcaded on the street level with round arches,
and plastered vaults, beneath which were small shops.
At the end of the day we reached a larger town, the name
of which has, however, escaped me, but where I remember the
cemetery was full of reminiscences of the Franco-Austrian
War, in the shape of crosses and memorials to soldiers who fell
during the fighting in that neighbourhood. Here we took the
train to Prague.
We found Prague very full and lively, with a very modern
heart in a very ancient frame. The contrasts of old and new
were very striking. Through the plate-glass windows of a
modern cafe one could see figures of peasants which might have
come out of the fifteenth century. It was the time of the
celebration of the feast of St. John of Nippelmiick, the great
Bohemian saint and martyr. Processions of peasants in their
quaint costume, carrying banners, marched through the town, and
thronged the old bridge, whereon a shrine and altar to St. John
was erected to mark the scene of his martyrdom. A continuous
344 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1890-92
stream of people, peasants, citizens, and spectators, passed over
this bridge to the big church on the hill on the other side of
the river, where homage was done to the silver head of the
saint, and innumerable candles burned in his honour. The
press was so great that a wooden partition was erected to
divide the stream of folk going to and those coming from the
church. It was an extraordinary scene.
The mediaeval Jewish synagogue at Prague is one of the
most remarkable buildings, and here one might see the nine-
teenth-century Hebrew in his tall hat, with the white shoulder
cloth (Tallissim) over his frock-coat, praying after the ancient
custom of his race.
The cathedral (Tien Kirche) is also very mediaeval and
German in the character of its Gothic, having two western
towers with the elongated gable spires and corner turrets
which seem to flourish in Prague, It is approached from the
square through a narrow alley of ancient houses and shops.
I have a note of the font, which is an unusual one in bronze,
circular in plan and resting on a tripod, and in design is a
curious blend of late Gothic and Renascence feeling.
We made the acquaintance at Prague of M. Borowsky,
the curator of the Museum (Rudolphinum). The gallery there
had a collection of modern pictures of Bohemian artists. The
most interesting things, however, to us were Bohemian peasant
costumes, of which there was a fine collection. Many of the
peasant women's head-dresses were wonderful, embroidered
with gold and silver, and the dresses also embroidered. The
peasant women still embroider their own dresses, and the
national costume is kept up, and the peasants come out in
their bravery, though it is true one heard that they did not
like being stared at by the townsfolk. They certainly seemed
to belong to another race, and made a striking contrast in the
streets to the ordinary citizens in the unromantic garb of
modern business and town life.
Through the kindness of M. Borowsky, who induced a
group of country folks in their costume to submit to the
process, I was enabled to get a sketch of a typical group who
happened to be wandering through the Museum.
The lady was remarkable for her daring arrangement of
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 345
colour. A red kerchief, curiously folded, covered her head,
showing a long plait of hair, to which was attached a big bow
of pink ribbon edged with lace. Her jacket was bright purple,
elaborately embroidered and braided, and her skirt was a
vivid print, in vertical stripes of red and yellow, bearing floral
patterns. Striped stockings (red and white) and (alas !)
modern kid boots completed the costume. She held a little
rosary in her hands as she stood for me.
The men were quieter in their colours, and more or less
a la postillion and Hungarian in style with riding-boots, and
embroidered breeches, and full and ample shirts, on which in
some cases their names were prettily embroidered in red —
a decorative mode of marking linen which our housewives
might adopt with advantage.
One man had a black velvet waistcoat worn open, with
many small buttons, and relieved with huge orange tassels
at the neck.
Some of the women wore high riding-boots like the men,
but of red leather.
A bazaar was going on, on the island in the river, and
modern young ladies as stall-holders had got themselves up in
national costume, boots and all, and very bewitching they
looked.
From Prague we went to Tabor — a most interesting
mediaeval town enclosed in walls, which, however, had been
extensively restored. The central square was very interesting
with its strange and varied gables, a fine old Gothic Rathaus,
and a striking fountain in bronze, Gothic in spirit, but
Renascence in detail.
From Tabor we visited the ruins of the mediaeval town and
Castle of Prebenic, beautifully situated on a hill at the bend
of a river, but a thick wood had grown up, and almost con-
cealed the scattered and fragmentary ruins ; only bits of old
walls and pieces of Gothic mouldings peeping out here and
there among the trees.
Malisic was another village we visited. It was Sunday,
and there was a festa at the little white church with the
copper bulbous minaret. A stream of gay colour poured
out of the main door in the form of a procession with banners,
346
AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1890-92
which wound its way to an image of St. John of Nippelmiick,
in the midst of a grove of chestnut trees. Here a service
was conducted. The worshippers were all women and girls,
and every woman wore a gay-coloured kerchief over her
head. They all knelt on the grass around the image, and
the scene was a wonderful feast of gay colour, framed in
green.
I never had such a crowd around me as on this occasion
when I sat down to make a little sketch of the church. It
was like sketching in the midst of a public meeting. When
SKETCH AT MALISIC, BOHEMIA (1890)
finished, I had to hold up the sketch to show I had done
in order to get through.
We next made our way to Budweiss, a town with shops
under white arched arcades. A market going on and many
country folk in the square.
From Budweiss we took carriage to Pracatic, a remarkable
mediaeval town with a fine embattled gate, over which was
painted in fresco a knight of the House of Rosenburg, on
horseback in full charge, with his sword drawn. The fronts
of the houses were largely decorated with black and white
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 347
sgraffito, and the Rathaus had a whole Bible history upon
its facade. The church had the steepest roof we had yet
seen. We were now in the district known as Saxon
Switzerland. From Pracatic we drove to Winterburg, passing
on the way Husinec, a village famous as the birthplace of
John Huss, the religious reformer of the fourteenth century —
a sort of Wyclif of Bohemia — which in the Middle Ages
appears to have been celebrated for its struggles for liberty
of conscience in these matters, and nourished many different
sects of a more or less protesting order, anticipating Western
forms of dissent by a century or two. This independence
and non-conformity in religious thought and life has probably
given rise to the expression " Bohemian " as applied to
unconventional life and habits generally. The Adamites
seem to have been the most original of the Bohemian sects,
as they returned to the costume of the Garden of Eden —
for which, if one could only be more certain of the temperature
(and exclude Mrs. Grundy), there might be much to be
said. Even in chilly England, William Blake and his wife
were known to have followed the fashion of " Adam and
Eve, you know " — at least in private.
The house of John Huss, facing the village street,
bears a medallion of the reformer with the following in-
scription beneath : —
' ' V tomto dome
spatrel sveilo sveta
MiSTR
Jan Hus
due 6 Javne 1360."
At Winterburg we encountered a heavy thunderstorm,
and the stream which flowed through the town from the
mountains soon became a raging torrent and spread into
a sudden flood over the meadows below. There was the
usual protective schloss on a height above the town, a cluster
of huddled roofs, dominated by two church towers below.
Our tour in Bohemia came to an end at Eger, a most
interesting town which still retained to a large extent its
mediaeval walls and turrets, and even the wooden roofed
gallery inside where the warders walked. An interesting
348 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1890-92
relic, too, was the Black Tower, said to date from Roman
times; and memories of Frederigo Barbarossa (1180) were
associated with the ruins of his castle on the rock overlooking
the town. The chapel of the castle (1295) was complete,
and a very good example of Romanesque work, on a small
scale, with much variety in mouldings and carved detail in caps
and bases of shafts.
We made our way homeward towards the end of May,
stopping at Nuremberg, which I saw for the first time,
and greatly delighted in. Its own beauty and treasures of
art, its marvellous churches, its variety and mediaeval character
and interest were enough to enchant one, apart from its close
association with the life and work of the great German master
Albert Diirer, whose work, I may fairly say, had been a potent
influence with me from my earliest sight of " The Great Horse,"
and other reproductions from his famous engravings in the
early art journals in my father's studio. One of my first
purchases as a student in London, too, were photographic
reproductions from his " Ritter Tod und Teufel," "Melencolia,"
and "St Hubert" (which I bought, by the way, from Mr.
C. W. Dowdeswell, who then (1865) kept a little frame-
maker's and print shop in Chancery Lane, long before his
name became known so well in the picture-dealing connection
and Bond Street galleries).
This year I heard, though quite indirectly through a
newspaper cutting, of the death of my old friend John R. Wise,
the author of The New Forest. I last heard from him
in 1882, when we left our home and went to Italy. I wrote
from Rome, but never heard again from him. He seems
to have gone back to his old haunts in the New Forest,
and found there his last resting-place, being buried at
Lyndhurst.
Our Society opened its third consecutive exhibition in
the autumn of this year, again at the New Gallery. I still
remained president, and Mr. Ernest Radford secretary. Our
supporters among the public remained remarkably steady,
if they did not rapidly increase ; but our expenses were very
heavy, and one year we had reluctantly to call on our
guarantors, but were ultimately enabled to return them their
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 349
money again. Our exhibition was never run for profit, and
our only object was to pay our expenses while enabling
designers and craftsmen to show their work, and at the
same time to endeavour to maintain a high standard of taste
and accomplishment in all the arts of design. The organisa-
tion of an exhibition of this varied character is always a
work of great difficulty, and our committee were all busy
men in their different ways. The preparation of the show,
including selection arrangement and hanging, meant at least
the giving up a fortnight's time, and this naturally put a
considerable strain on the active members. We considered
that hanging a picture show was child's play compared with
the complexity of an arts and crafts exhibition. When the
arrangements were practically complete, I was glad of the
opportunity of a rest and change afforded one by an invitation
we had from our early Roman friend Mr. J. W. Swynnerton,
the sculptor, and Mrs. Swynnerton, the distinguished painter,
to spend a few weeks with them at a villa near Carrara
and see the vintage.
So about the end of September my wife and I found
ourselves once more in Italy. We went vid Paris and the
Mont Cenis route, but at Culoz, by some curious misadventure,
we got into the wrong train and were carried " way down "
to Grenoble, and only managed to get on to the main line
again and to reach Turin after great industry and long waits.
This delayed us some hours, but in due course we were
landed at some small wayside station near Carrara, extricating
ourselves and our baggage from the crowded express with
some difficulty ; but our host met us, and conducted us to the
villa among the vine-clad hills.
It was an extremely interesting sight to watch the whole
process of wine-making, from the plucking of the grapes to
the treading of the wine-press.
The vines were trained on trellises upon the tops of
low banks, terraced one above the other on the hillsides,
each bank having a path between, and the grapes were
gathered from both sides, mostly by girls and women, one
on one side the trellis, and one on the other. The grapes
were piled in round baskets and borne on the girls' heads
3 so AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1890-92
down to the villa, and there, at the cellar door, an expert
selected the grapes, putting the best together for the first
quality of wine, and so on.
The grapes were then put into great vats, which had spouts
to them, and the man would get in and tread them down
with bare feet (I had a turn at this work myself to see
how it felt), when the result would be seen in a red stream
gushing from the spout into a deep oval-shaped tub called
a " Bergunza." When this was full two men would lift it
up and pour it into a hogshead, standing on end and open
at the other.
Any grapes that had escaped the treading floated to the
surface, and were squeezed by the fingers of a contadina or
contadino, who sat on the edge of the open vat. There
were various minor processes of the kind, and the scene in
the cellar — not, by the way, an underground one — was always
interesting, especially at night with the quiet little flickering
lamp used. Other implements were curious, too, such as a
ladle made out of a gourd.
The wine was left to ferment, rising in a tremendous dark
froth during the process, and was finally drawn off into huge
demi-johns of green glass enclosed in wicker. An experienced,
aged peasant superintended the operations throughout. We
had another glimpse of wine-making on the hills near Fiesole,
where an Englishman (Mr. Morgan) had a vineyard, and was
introducing French methods, the grapes being crushed by
mechanical means, and as the wine ran down a shallow shoot
of new wood the skins and stalks were taken out. The
process was doubtless cleaner, but not so picturesque. The
most beautiful accessory was the ox-waggon which brought in
the grapes from the vineyard.
Mr. Morgan's wine was a red wine resembling a very light
French claret, not nearly so strong as the wine they were
making at Carrara, the best there being a white wine of a
Falerno-like colour and quality. One sometimes tastes wines
at an Italian villa which are never heard of in the market, rich
and strong as Spanish wines and soft as liqueur.
While with our friends the Swynnertons we made an
expedition to the summit of Monte Sagra, the highest peak of
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 351
the Carrara range. Starting before dawn we passed through
silent villages, and up through the snow-like slopes of the
marble quarries. The peak was not in the snow region, of
course, but was very slippery, owing to the sun-burnt short
grass which covered its sides. We had a fine mountainous
view from the top. Descending, we saw more of the marble
quarries, and the methods of raising blocks, and of lowering
them down the slopes when quarried. Splendid teams of the
dark-eyed, stone-coloured Italian oxen brought the blocks of
marble down to the town and the railway, but the railway
now has climbed the mountains, and takes the marble down
instead, very largely, so that their yoke is lightened.
The trade in marble at Carrara seemed very flourishing,
and anything in marble could be had ready made there from
a table-top to a tombstone. There was a handsome church in
a kind of mixed and florid Gothic, and at a neighbouring town,
Massa, there was an interesting bit of Delia Robbia work,
an Annunciation decorating the front of the church.
While at Carrara I had news that my early patron, Mr.
Brown of Selkirk, had died, and his brother wrote to ask one's
advice as to disposing of the early pictures of mine which he
had left. I offered to buy them back at the original prices,
but I never had a reply. Some years afterwards one of them
turned up at a dealer's at Llandudno, but I never heard what
became of the others.
Mrs. Swynnerton at Carrara commenced an important
picture of St. Catharine, and her model was a fine-looking
peasant woman, whom she posed in a white monastic habit
upon the top of one of the pedestals of a pergola, so that the
figure was relieved against the luminous sky. The effect of
the warm white robe and deep-toned flesh against the blue in
the full Italian sunlight was very striking and beautiful, and I
made a study at the same time, which I afterwards exhibited
at the R.W.S. under the title of " Madonna of the Vineyards."
From Carrara we went to Florence, having had an invita-
tion from Mrs. Ross of Poggio Gherardo to stay in her fine
old castle below Fiesole. Very delightful we found it, with
tempting subjects for studies in every direction.
Mr. and Mrs. Ross were very hospitable, and among their
/
352 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1890-92
guests one day at luncheon Lord Leighton appeared.
Curiously enough, he came over by the same boat as ourselves
to Calais, where I met him on the platform, and now we met
again. It was his custom, however, to visit Italy every autumn,
and he generally touched at Florence.
We paid a visit to the Spencer Stanhopes at their
delightful Villa Nuti, at Bellosguardo. In the country around
Florence one seems to live in the landscape backgrounds of
Benozzo Gozzoli, so full of local colour and character. The
terraced hills, the trellised vines, the blue mountains, barred
here and there by the tall, thin, spire-like cypress trees.
One would hardly be surprised to have met on the winding
hillroads the hunting party of Lorenzo the Magnificent, in all
their bravery and golden array out of the Riccardi chapel.
Indeed, from the first I had been greatly struck with the
truth of the landscape backgrounds of the early Italian
painters, both Venetian and Florentine, always introduced so
lovingly, as it seemed, behind the Virgin and Child, or other
sacred or saintly personages, which I had known and loved in
our National Gallery, to find their prototypes afterwards in the
country of their birth.
After Florence we went to Venice, staying with our old
Roman friends, Mr. and Mrs. Benson, and their daughter. Miss
Fletcher (George Fleming, the novelist). We found them in a
beautiful apartment in a fine old palazzo (Capello) on the
Rio Marin, not a long distance from the station. There was
a charming garden, too, — an unusual luxury in Venice, — and
our friends had gathered around them many beautiful things
during their long residence in Italy, and it was a joy to renew
one's acquaintance with the old glories of art in that enchant-
ing city, and to glide along its water highways once more.
During our stay we paid visits to the house of Sir Henry
Layard, who showed us his fine collection of Italian Masters ;
also the palace inhabited by the son of Robert Browning,
himself a painter and sculptor. Here there was a fine
ceiling by Tiepolo.
It was the beginning of November before we turned
homewards, and the cold had descended. Snow had appeared
on the mountains at Florence before we left, and snow now
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 353
covered the Friuli mountains, and the air over the canals had
a peculiar penetrating chill, which one had never experienced
there before.
The time had come for our return, and we travelled
straight back by the Basel route without any incident of note
that I recall ; but I remember that, arriving at Victoria at a
very early hour in the morning, we tried a cup of coffee at a
stall, which we did not find a very potent or cheering beverage
on which to begin the day — but it was Hobson's choice, as it
probably is with the early workers of London.
We were glad to get back to our children, and had only
to regret the loss of a little pet dog which had disappeared in
our absence.
Shortly after we returned, hearing of the death of Mrs.
Ford Madox Brown, my wife wrote to convey our sympathy
to the artist, whom Mr. Charles Rowley of Manchester first
brought to our house, and we had visited the artist and his
wife at St. Edmund's Terrace, from which he wrote the
following : —
I St. Edmund's Terrace, Regent's Park, N.W.
November 7, 1890
" Dear Mrs. Walter Crane, — I am exceedingly grateful
to you for your kind letter on the great loss I have so recently
sustained.
" Your name in any cause or object will always bear great
weight with me, having, as I have, so great an esteem for your
husband's genius and character. — Ever sincerely yours,
" Ford Madox Brown "
In 1 89 1 I published, through Mr. Elkin Mathews, a little
book of verse entitled Renascence^ which I decorated with
headings, a frontispiece, and other devices. The edition was
limited to 350 copies, and a few large paper copies on
Japanese paper in addition, which were soon sold out.
Mr. Elkin Mathews also published Dr. Todhunter's
Sicilian Idyll, for which I had designed a frontispiece. The
Idyll was very prettily performed by an amateur company
at Bedford Park. Other frontispieces for Mr. Mathews'
publications were, one for a little book of verse of Mrs, De
23
3 54 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1890-92
Gruchy's ; for In the Fire, by Miss Effie Johnson ; and for Mr.
Radford's Chambers Twain, elsewhere mentioned.
I was also busy with a new floral book in colours on the
same scale as Floras Feast, which had been published in 1889
by Messrs. Cassell, and had been, as it still is, in considerable
demand. This was Queen Summer, which appeared in the
autumn. The verses, as in the case of Flora's Feast, being
written by myself.
Besides this I had in the press a collection of papers and
essays, written or delivered as addresses on various occasions,
which I entitled The Claims of Decorative Art. These
mostly dealt with the revival of and the importance in their
bearing on life of the arts of design and handicraft, and was
an endeavour to restore them to their true place in relation
to pictorial art and architecture, in opposition to artificial
classification and academic and arbitrary divisions. This
book was published by a newly formed firm of publishers,
Messrs. Lawrence & Bullen, who took much pains with
their publishing, but who have since given up business. The
book was printed by Messrs. R. & R. Clark of Edinburgh, and
a set of headings originally designed for use in books printed
by that firm were used as decorations throughout.
The book was translated into German and Dutch, and
had a considerable circulation.
This year, too, was issued the large wood-engraving I
designed for Labours May Day. It was suggested by Mr. Henry
Scheu, who undertook the engraving, and who at that time
was doing work for the Graphic. The design was named
" The Triumph of Labour," and represented a procession of
workers of all kinds, both manual and mental, marching out
to celebrate the International May Holiday, and bearing banners
and emblems declaring their ideals, such as " The Land for the
People," " Freedom, Fraternity, Equality," " Wage Workers of
all Countries unite," " The International Solidarity of Labour,"
" Labour the Source of Wealth." As the print was to be
issued simultaneously in different countries, I re-wrote the
mottoes in French and German, and I think Italian also.
William Morris told me he thought it " the best thing I had
done."
356 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1890-92
At the suggestion of the Fine Art Society of Bond Street,
I had a " one-man show " at their Galleries in the course of the
season, which included work in black, white, and colour, mostly
original drawings for my illustrated books, decorative designs,
and pictorial work in oil, water colour, and tempera. I undertook
to write the " prefatory and explanatory notes "to the Catalogue.
There were 139 frames of designs altogether, including works
of each class.
Among the pictures was " The Bridge of Life."
A curious mistake happened in regard to the authorship
of this picture some few years later, which it will be convenient
to mention here.
The journal Black and White published an illustrated
article upon the work of G. F. Watts, and among the illustra-
tions appeared a reproduction of " The Bridge of Life," which
was ascribed to Mr. Watts. I received the following kind
letter from Mr. Watts in regard to this : —
" LiMNERSLEASE, GuiLDFORD
November 22, 1896
" My dear Mr. Crane, — In a number oi Black and White
sent to me I find a design of yours, ' The Bridge of Life,'
attributed to me. I only wish I could claim it, for I think it
very beautiful indeed, and if it is photographed on a good
scale, as it ought to be, I should like to have it. Tell me,
please, if I can get it ?
" I am sorry for the extravagance of the Black and White
article ; but no one who knows me will believe me to be in
any way responsible or gratified. I regard extravagant con-
temporary estimation as a very bad omen for the future. I
hope you are all well. — Very sincerely yours,
" G. F. Watts "
The art editor of Black and White also wrote expressing
his regret for the error, and saying that —
" A letter received from Mr. Watts has advised us of the
error in the following terms, namely, * In a number of Black
and White which has been sent to me I find ascribed to me
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 357
a very fine composition (" The Bridge of Life ") by Mr. Walter
Crane, a beautiful and comprehensive design far more com-
plete in illustration than the intention of my work. Of course
you will set the matter right,' and I hasten to inform you of
our unintentional blunder.
" I should like to mention that the reproduction of Mr.
Watts's pictures, as that of yours, was prepared quite in the
early days of Black and White, and that the proofs of the
same have been kept together ever since ; unfortunately, the
proof of your picture appears to have been put with those of
Mr. Watts's, and doubtless led to the mistake.
" It is also perhaps only fair to add that the personnel of
the Editorial has been entirely changed since the arrangement
with regard to these pictures was made and the proofs put
together.
" We are publishing an explanation and apology in our
issue of this week, and I can only again express our deep
regret for having made such a mistake."
Could an editor do or say more? — and I could certainly
not regard such an erroneous attribution as other than
complimentary, however unlike our respective work might
be, and the generous expression of appreciation from so great
an artist was of course gratifying.
This picture, " The Bridge of Life," was afterwards
purchased by Herr Ernst Seeger of Berlin, in whose collection
I believe it still remains.
A story connected with this picture was recently related in
the Liverpool Daily Post, where, however, the title is erroneously
given as '* The Golden Bridge." It is said that Mr. John Burns,
in one of his speeches in the Dock Strike days, spoke of a steve-
dore of his acquaintance who visited the Whitechapel loan
collection at Toynbee Hall, where the picture then was, and
said, " I wish I hadn't come here ; my house '11 seem a deal
more squalid and dreary now that I have seen a picture like
this."
It was at one of the meetings of the Council of Management
of the South London Fine Art Gallery, held at Lord Leighton's
studio, that Mr. Watts first asked me to give him sittings for
358 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES. [1890-92
a portrait which he painted of me this year (1891), saying
he " had so few artists in his collection."
The members of this Council included himself and Mrs.
Watts, Lord Leighton (President), Sir James Linton, Sir
Edward and Lady Burne-Jones, Sir Wyke Bayliss, and
myself and several others, but those named were the active
members.
The South London Art Gallery had been founded by
Mr. W. Rossiter, commencing in a small shop in the Camberwell
Road, which he threw open free on Sunday evenings, inviting
the passers-by to inspect a collection of curiosities and a few
pictures he had induced various artists to lend. He gradually
extended his operations, and obtaining both personal and
monetary help from others he had interested in his scheme, a
house was taken in Peckham Road, and a Gallery for the
loaned pictures built. The Committee or Council of Manage-
ment was appointed as named above. There was a formal
opening of the Gallery, for which I had given a design for an
inlaid floor for the centre. Shortly afterwards Mr. Passmore
Edwards gave the money for a Library to be attached to the
Gallery, and Mr. Watts laid the foundation-stone. Afterwards
the buildings were extended to include the Arts and Crafts
School of Camberwell, and finally the whole institution was
handed over to the Mayor and Corporation for the benefit of
the people of the district, so that it is now public property.
The institution was the first of its kind in South London, and
has doubtless been a great influence for good.
Another scheme in which Mr. Watts was interested was
one for commemorating the everyday heroic deeds of the
people, the rescues from fire or water, and all the dangers of
daily life by land or sea — deeds which we read of in newspaper
paragraphs and forget with the names of the heroes and
heroines who so constantly risk or even sacrifice their lives for
the rescue of others. Mr. Watts's idea was to erect a kind of
Campo Santo in the centre of which might be a sculptured
group symbolical of heroism, and upon the walls tablets were
to be placed from time to time commemorating the deeds and
names of those who distinguished themselves in such everyday
heroism — which is a proof of the strength of the social bond
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 359
and feeling of the solidarity of the community when it is a
question of life and death. Mr. Watts's idea has since been
realised in the City, where a site has been found and tablets
placed.
Miss Octavia Hill, when she established her Settlement
in Red Cross Street, Southwark, and raised the money to build
the Hall there, was anxious to have it decorated, and it was
suggested that such decoration might take the commemorative
form in treating the heroic deeds of the common people as
mural paintings. Mrs. Russell Barrington took up the idea
with great enthusiasm, and being a painter of considerable
skill and feeling herself, offered her help in carrying out such a
scheme, if the designs were made.
I drew up a scheme of decoration to scale for the Red
Cross Hall, consisting of a series of mural designs in colour,
treated as large panels along each side of the Hall, embodying
various deeds of heroism, particulars of which were supplied to
me, and including rescues from fire, water, shipwreck, mad dogs,
and furious bulls. The first panel, showing the rescue of children
from a fire at an oil-shop in the Borough by a nursemaid
named Alice Ayres, who lost her life in consequence, though she
saved three children, was duly designed and painted. I made
a quarter-size cartoon in pastel of the subject from my small
scale sketch, and this Mrs. Barrington enlarged on to the full-
sized fibrous plaster panel, which was sent to her studio. I
made some studies from a fireman who was a conspicuous
figure in the composition, and the painting was started by
Mrs. Barrington (in oil on the plaster ground), and I added
finishing touches. A second panel (they were 1 1 feet 6 inches
by 6 feet in size) I painted in my own studio afterwards — an
incident on the railway near Paisley, when two platelayers
sacrificed themselves to save the train.
These two panels were placed in the Hall, and duly
inaugurated at a meeting there. A third panel— a rescue of a
child from a well — I also painted, after an interval, and there
are now three panels in the Hall. The work had to be largely
a labour of love, as very little money was available for such a
purpose, and as other work had to be attended to, and the
busy years roll on, the scheme is still incomplete. The Hall,
36o AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1890-92
however, Is not all one could wish for such a work, and I fear
the use of gas has injured the paintings.
We had a sad sorrow during this year (1891) in the death
of our little daughter from diphtheria (on March 18). She was
born in the summer of 1888, and had been a great joy to us.
(Here is a little sketch of her sitting in a swing holding a
hunting-crop, which suggested the name " Baby Bunting.")
This cast a shadow over our home, and we decided to leave
it for a time at least. We had already been rather unsettled
by the prospect of the Central London Railway scheme swallow-
ing up our house and garden. Our thoughts turned towards
America, which my wife had a great wish to see. Other
things, too, tended in that direction.
Mr. Henry Blackburn — the pioneer of illustrated exhibition
catalogues and the terror of artists, from whom he demanded
black-and-white sketches of their own works — at the time of
my exhibition in Bond Street strongly advised me to send it
to the States afterwards, assuring me that it would be welcomed
at the Boston Art Museum, the Director (General Loring) of
which he knew, and to whom he gave me an introduction.
Although many works found purchasers at the Fine Art
Society's, I had a considerable collection left, and I decided to
take Mr. Blackburn's advice. He very kindly gave me every
information in regard to Boston, having been on a lecturing
tour in the States himself. I wrote to General Loring, and
received a cordial invitation in reply to send the collection,
the cost of insurance and transport being defrayed by the
Museum, and for exhibition there the works would pass the
customs duty free.
This removed all difficulties, and so the collection on
leaving Bond Street was packed and duly forwarded across the
Atlantic.
We arranged to go ourselves early in October.
In August — it was on Wednesday the 19th, to be precise —
I commenced to sit to Mr. Watts for my portrait, as he had
requested. He used to begin at eleven o'clock in the morning,
and I sat till one o'clock. I gave him eight sittings altogether,
the first two on consecutive days, then on the 22nd and
the 24th, and not again till the 30th of August, and after
1890 92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 361
that not till the 6th September. Then there was another
interval, during which he went into the country, and I did not
sit again until Sunday, September 27. Then he asked for
" five minutes " more, and I gave him a final short sitting on
Tuesday, October 6, just before leaving for America,
At the first sitting, just as he was about to commence, he
said, " Now I am going to show what a fool I can be ! " but at
the first laying in he got the likeness and the general effect.
He gradually worked into it, getting solidity and modelling,
and towards the last moved up his easel nearer, until he was
quite close.
I remember he asked me which was my ideal of a portrait
in the National Gallery, and when I mentioned one of Holbein's,
he said his favourite was Vandyke's " Gevartius," which he
thought a marvel.
Watts's portrait of me was exhibited at the New Gallery
the following year, and has been generally pronounced one
of his finest portraits — the critics being apparently agreed for
once.
Thursday, October 8, found us at Liverpool, where we took
passage by the ss. Cephalonia of the Cunard Line to Boston.
My collection, as it happened, was shipped by the same steamer.
Our party consisted of my wife and myself, and our daughter
Beatrice, and second son, Lancelot. Our elder boy had previ-
ously gone to Florida, where he had been with friends for some
months. We none of us had much confidence in our powers as
sailors, and did not contemplate the Atlantic altogether without
apprehension ; but St. George's Channel treated us gently, and
the stop off Queenstown was an interesting break. It was
amusing to see the Irish vendors of bog-oak souvenirs who
came aboard to find a market among the passengers.
But we were soon away again, and making for the open
Atlantic, were met by head winds and lifted on waves of such
power, that the decks and dining-saloon were rather rapidly
cleared. In fact, we encountered a good deal of weather, so
much so that one night life-belts were put ready outside the
state-rooms. It was not until the 15th that the weather began
to improve. Our Captain (Seccombe) was very kind and made
us welcome in his room on deck, where he had quite a choice
362 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1890-92
little library. He was an admirer of Carlyle and Browning,
I discovered.
Among our fellow-passengers was Professor Edward
Robinson, the head of the Ancient and Classical Antiquities
Department of the Boston Museum, who, with his wife, proved
valuable friends in Boston when we arrived. Miss Chase,
also, a sister of Colonel Chase of Boston, was most kind and
friendly. We encountered much fog off " the Banks " (of
Newfoundland), which set the " buzzer " sounding, as there was
always danger of running down fishing-boats in these waters.
We hardly saw any vessels, however ; we might almost have
been voyaging with Columbus in the Santa Maria for all the
company we met on the Atlantic, and except for an occasional
school of porpoises, and {once) the spouting of a whale at a re-
spectful distance, the voyage passed without exciting incidents,
apart from the equinoctial gales. Sable Island was sighted on
the 1 7th, the pilot came aboard on the 1 8th, and the main-
land was sighted on the morning of the 1 9th, all the passengers
clustering on deck to catch sight of the gilded dome of the
Boston State House, which looked like a golden bubble floating
above the harbour. To a young American lady, who had
suffered rather from the weather on the voyage, the sight
seemed particularly welcome, and she said, while it was dimly
discerned in the distance, " Now, do let me see it again ! " and
having done so, added, " There, that's all right ; now I feel that
the world goes round again," — a delicate tribute to the city
which has been termed, in the moderate language of enthusiasts,
"The Hub of the Universe." We landed at Boston on
Monday the 1 9th October — the eleventh day from Liverpool.
The ordeal of landing and passing the customs is a
severe one for the stranger to U.S. ports. To begin with,
there was a sort of religious ceremony or solemn parade of
all the passengers before certain officials on board, when a
kind of oath w^as taken that nothing excisable of any con-
sequence was concealed in their baggage ; but this did not
prevent the wild scene on the custom-house wharf which
followed, when the heavy baggage began slowly to slide
down the planks, and the passengers gradually collected their
belongings, and after a long wait, their treasured worldly
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 363
goods were ruthlessly exposed to the eagle eyes of the U.S.
custom-house officers. I saw a handsome new bicycle lying
comfortably on the top of a clothes' trunk, and one lady was
discovered to have an outfit of no less than twenty-five water-
proofs, a supply which perhaps might not have been considered
excessive if she had been landing in England — although, as
it happened, it was a wet day in Boston,
Our case was rather complicated, as the patent lock of the
biggest trunk had got hampered, and a locksmith had to be
sent for before the officials could be satisfied, as unless the
voyager can prove
he carries only q~
clothes that have ~
been worn, he is
liable to pay duty.
A water-colour
sketch I happened
to have in a roll
was promptly seized,
but was eventually
passed with the rest
of my collection duty
free for exhibition.
Kind friends as-
sisted in our rescue
from the customs
wharf, and we were
presently landed in
the comfortable "Brunswick," where we made the acquaintance
of the negro — the hotel being manned by black servants.
The negro is of course " free " in the States, but he seems
to do all the waiting. The "Brunswick " was at the west end of
Boston, close to the Art Museum and to Richardson's famous
church, and the new Library, then in course of building.
Our first impressions were a little damp and dismal, as
we arrived in a heavy downpour of rain, which kept us in
the hotel the rest of the day. The aspect of the streets
and the character of the buildings struck one at first as very
un-English. There was just a faint suggestion of Piccadilly
364
AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES
1890-92
and the Green Park (on a quiet Sunday) about Mount Vernon
Street and the Common, with a touch of Bloomsbury here
and there about the older houses, but it was soon lost among
the electric trams — " the broomstick train " of Oliver Wendell
Holmes — and the " sky-scrapers " of the business end of the
town. Fanueil Hall, an eighteenth-century building with a
little cupola, rather like a Wesleyan chapel, now an interesting
historical Museum of the town (where all sorts of relics and
records may be seen of the old days of the Tea Tax and the
Georgian war, as well as Benjamin Franklin's printing press),
looks like an antique toy-model among its modern neighbours,
the tall elevator buildings and many-storeyed fortresses of
business.
General Loring and his
family were most hospitable
and courteous, and through
them and the Robinsons we
made our bow to Boston
society, whose members ex-
tended their friendly hands in
large numbers at different
receptions held in our
honour.
I was made free of the
leading Clubs, and duly plied
with " cocktails " — which cer-
tainly deserved their name.
Some sections of Boston society, however, took offence at my
having expressed sympathy with the Chicago anarchists,
whom Socialists and friends of Labour generally considered
to have been wrongfully put to death. I have already
mentioned the feeling in England at the time (mainly with
the English Socialist and Labour parties, that is to say, for
I do not think other sections of society could be said to
have shown more sympathy with their case than in America).
The affair at Chicago was part of the industrial warfare
always going on under the capitalistic system. My views
as a Socialist were well known, and I was earnestly invited
to attend and speak at a memorial meeting on the anniversary
MY FIRST COCKTAIL
1890-92] BOFIEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 365
of the death of the Chicago men, who certainly had fought
hard for the cause of the workers generally, and were regarded
as martyrs. The meeting took place at Paine Hall. A
prominent speaker was Mr. Tucker, the well-known publisher
of advanced literature at Boston. I was asked to say a few
words by the chairman, and shortly explained my views to
the meeting, expressly stating that I sympathised with the
struggle of the workers for improved conditions at Chicago
as everywhere else, but not with the use of explosives, and
that, in common with English Socialists and other lovers of
freedom and justice in England, I considered the men had
been done to death wrongfully, and others imprisoned for
their opinions, which was a sad thing to think of in " free "
America, and I concluded by reading this sonnet, which had
appeared in my recently published book of verse. Renascence : —
FREEDOM IN AMERICA
Where is thy home, O Freedom ? Have they set
Thine image up upon a rock to greet
All comers, shaking from their wandering feet
The dust of old world bondage, to forget
The tyrannies of fraud and force, nor fret,
When men are equal, slavish chain unmeet,
Nor bitter bread of discontent to eat,
Here, where all races of the earth are met?
America ! beneath thy banded flag
Of old it was thy boast that men were free
To think, to speak, to meet, to come and go.
What meaneth then the gibbet and the gag,
Held up to Labour's sons who would not see
Fair Freedom but a mask — a hollow show ?
October 7, 1887
The meeting was a crowded one — earnest, but perfectly
quiet and orderly. It was termed a memorial " service " on
the bills.
Henry D. Lloyd, the able editor of the Chicago Tribune
and author of Wealth against Commonwealth^ an exposure of
the " Trusts," espoused the cause of the Chicago men at the
time with one or two other citizens, and ultimately a change
of feeling took place as the facts of the case became known.
366 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1890-92
and not long afterwards the sentences of the three men who
had been imprisoned were remitted by the Governor of IlHnois,
and they were released.
Since those days considerable light has been thrown upon
the conditions of labour in Chicago — the terrible disclosures,
for instance, made by Mr. Upton Sinclair in The Jungle.
The revolting facts about the meat-canning business and the
stock-yards, which the author has really under-stated, have,
however, rather diverted public attention from the frightful
conditions of labour, to draw attention to which was, how-
ever, the main purpose of the book.
On returning to my hotel I found a letter from a very
kind Bostonian lady, intended to be a warning, conveying
to me that if I attended that meeting I should hopelessly ruin
my social and artistic prospects in America. This seemed
strange in what I had supposed was a free country.
One of the Clubs had previously invited me to dinner, and
the announcement of this was posted in the Club, to which
members who wished to be present added their names. So
many now removed their names that the dinner was " post-
poned." This led to the remark among the more friendly
that they supposed " Mr. Crane was not hungry."
The Boston press had reported the meeting, and made
rather a sensation about it. I had visits from various inter-
viewers — misstatements were made and contradicted ; and
my conduct was so freely commented upon, and so often
misunderstood, that I felt obliged to write a letter to the
press, in which I explained that I really intended no affront
to the American people or the Bostonians, from whom I
had received a friendly welcome, but that I could hardly
be expected to change my views when I, temporarily, changed
my abode.
If I lost one dinner, however, I gained others. If I
offended one section of Bostonians (the " gold-topped "), I
gratified and received the friendly support of another — the
old guard of Freedom of the anti-slavery agitation days, as
well as the young " Nationalists," or followers of Edward
Bellamy, rallied in a most friendly way to my support.
Mr. L. Prang, one of the veterans of '48 in Germany,
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 367
who had emigrated to America in consequence of the troubles
at that period, and who now was a most prosperous citizen
of Boston, being the head of a very large printing establish-
ment at Roxbury, was most kind and friendly, and promptly
called upon me and invited me to a dinner, at which I met
Mr. Edwin T. Mead and other sympathisers.
Colonel Chase, the brother of one of our fellow-passengers
on the Cephalonia, and one of the first to welcome us to
Boston, — as a counterblast, I suppose, to the abortive Club
dinner, — gave me the entree to all the leading Clubs of Boston,
and the Nationalist party, led by Edward Bellamy, as I have
said, invited me to a dinner, where I met a large number of
supporters and sympathisers.
Edward Bellamy's well-known book. Looking Backivard,
had had an immense circulation both in the States and in
England. Under the form of a romance it gave a detailed
picture of a sort of socialist Utopia, worked by the modern
machinery of business in production and distribution, but
on a greatly extended scale, and under collective control. An
extremely complete but rather mechanical system, under which
every citizen passed through certain stages of education and
service to the community in different industrial corps, retiring
about the age of forty-five to live happily ever after. The
rigidly systematic machine-like and ordered character of
this vision of regenerated society, on Socialistic principles,
had been a good deal criticised, even by Socialists. The
book, however, made a great impression, and Mr. Bellamy
knew the American public, and was fully aware that unless,
when you are introducing a new idea, you could show them
something like a practical working model, it would be difficult
to interest them, and so he had worked out a system of
Socialism rather upon the framework of the modern American
manner of life, only more so, carried a good deal farther, and
gilt and decorated.
I had an interesting conversation with him in his office,
where he conducted his journal. The Nationalist, at that time,
and I found that he himself was not at all wedded to the
particular form of Socialism he had described. He put it
forward experimentally, and as a working illustration of what a
368 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1890-92
Socialistic system might be, and as a demonstration of the
principle of collective ownership, of which it seems so difficult
to grasp the meaning in some minds.
The most striking part of the book was the introduction,
in which the author has a fine passage, picturing, under the
image of a coach and horses, the present system of society
and the fierce inhuman struggle for existence caused by
monopoly and private and absolute ownership of the means of
subsistence.
Whatever the effect from the society point of view of the
incident I have related, there was no doubt about the effect on
the attendance at the Art Museum, when my exhibition
opened, as regards the general public. The stir made by the
newspapers over the Chicago affair, at all events, filled people
with curiosity as to my work, and crowds flocked to the
Galleries, and I had no reason to be disappointed at the
reception given to my collection. The sales, too, were good,
though mainly of the smaller works and book designs, the
favourites being the fanciful designs made for " Flora's Feast,"
but " Pandora" also found a home in Boston.
The historical collection at the Art Museum was small but
well arranged, and good use was made of large photographs
to fill gaps or to explain the relation of Egyptian or Greek
sculpture to architecture, the classical section being well
looked after by Professor Robinson.
There was an interesting collection from the Philippine
Islands, including native warriors' armour, which might very
well have served for Trojan heroes, being remarkably similar
in form and construction to the Greek cuirass with its shoulder-
pieces, though the plates were of horn.
The Museum was richest, however, in its Japanese
collection, which was quite remarkable. This was due largely
to the zeal of Professor Morse and Professor Fenelloza. The
latter had spent twelve years in Japan, and had formed a
very choice collection of Kakimonos.
In the permanent Picture Gallery there was a collection of
Copley's works, and modern American painters, including
Sargent, in other rooms.
During our stay at Boston there was a Congress of architects.
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 369
who came from all parts of the States, and I was invited to
a banquet to celebrate the occasion. A point of much interest
was the new Library in course of erection from the designs of
Messrs. Mackim, Meade, & White,^ of New York.
It was Lombardic in style, long and low in proportion to
its height, with a low-pitched 'roof The building was of white
stone, very simple and broad in treatment. Almost the only
external ornament appeared to be the series of printers*
marks inlaid in black, in circles, above the range of round-
headed windows ; among these one discerned the device of
William Caxton. Unfinished as the building was, however,
an exhibition of architectural designs was held in the great
reading-room on the first floor.
Richardson's church, near by, too, was a striking building,
very massive, on the plan of a Greek cross, with a central
tower. There were windows designed by Burne-Jones and
executed in Morris's glass inside, and others by La Farge. The
English glass looked a little flat and thin in colour beside the
deep tone and more pictorial effects, thick glass and heavy
plating of the American, and the light being so much stronger
than we are accustomed to, seemed to penetrate the colour
and dilute it.
While at Boston we received a cordial invitation to pay a
visit to Dr. and Mrs. Edward Emerson at Concord, and a very
pleasant one we had. It was most interesting to see the home
and neighbourhood where Ralph Waldo Emerson lived and
worked. The house was modest but comfortable, close to a
charming wooded reach of the Charles River. Our hosts drove
us (in two-wheeled hooded buggies, which bounded over logs,
young trees, or any obstacle on the rough woodland tracks, in
apparently the most reckless way) to the scene of Henry D.
Thoreau's self-imposed exile in the Walden woods, where he
wrote his delightful book Walden, in which he proved, among
other things, that a man, for his own support, needed not to do
more manual labour than would occupy about six weeks in the
year. These were the woods, golden now in the autumn, and in
^ It was Mr. White of this firm who was shot in a New York restaurant by Mr.
Thaw — a case which has excited such extraordinary interest on both sides of the
water.
24
370
AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1890-92
a hollow covered with leaves was pointed out the spot where
his hut once stood, but which, bit by bit, had been taken away
as the planks were found useful by the neighbouring farmers
(who had more practical than historic sense), and not a vestige
remained. Walden pond, however, was there still, though the
railway skirted it on one side. Altogether, the spot gave one
the impression of something less wild and remote than that
described in Thoreau's book. Probably the neighbourhood
had progressed since, although Concord itself looked a simple
New England village enough, which might have come out of
one of Longfellow's
poems. But it had a
war-memorial in Mr.
French's statue of
" The Minute Man."
We visited the primary
school, and saw a
clever, alert young
schoolmistress instruct-
ing her class, making
good use of the black-
board, upon which I
afterwards left as a
souvenir a picture of
" The House that Jack
built " and its inhabit-
ants.
Some years ago in England I had had a correspondence
with a Mrs. Emerson, the wife of a cousin of the great essayist,
a Boston architect of taste and distinction. They had visited
us in London once, when over on a European trip. They
were friends and admirers of William Hunt, a Bostonian
painter of some renown, who is known for a book of studio
aphorisms which contain much pith and point. This Mr. and
Mrs. Emerson, however, were not in Boston at the time of our
arrival, though we saw them later ; but Mr. Emerson sent his
pupil, Mr. Nichols, to meet us at the wharf, who placed himself
very kindly at our service.
Eminent Bostonians I had met in London were James
THE ONE-HORSE SHAY IN WALDEN WOODS
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 371
Russell Lowell and Oliver Wendell Holmes, distinguished
members of the brilliant group of New England writers now,
alas ! no more.
Among the literary people at Boston I met Mr. Horace
Scudder, who edited the Atlantic Monthly, and he promptly,
apropos of recent incidents, asked me for an article to throw
some light on the relation of Art to Socialism, which I after-
wards sent him under the title " Why Socialism appeals to
Artists."
We also met Mrs. Julia Ward Howe — a well-known name in
connection with the anti-slavery cause and the claims of women
to higher education and to political rights, and her charming
daughter, Mrs. John Elliott; herself an accomplished lecturer ;
Mr. Bayley-Aldrich the poet, Edmund Clarence Steadman the
novelist, and Mrs. Margaret Deland, the novel-writer and
poetess ; others, too, of the old days of the anti-slavery
agitation — the Garrison family, and Mrs. Fairchild, who
presented me with a portrait of Dr. John Brown of Harper's
Ferry, framed, with a printed copy of his last speech ; Mrs.
James T. Fields, with her wonderful library, and interesting
literary records, portraits, and relics.
There was a cultivated group of young men I met, also,
who had been inspired by the recent English revival of
printing and book decoration and the higher forms of art
generally. They worked on similar lines to those of the Century
Guild and the Hobby Horse, and issued a nicely printed
quarterly, named The Knight Errant, with a tasteful cover
design by Mr. Goodhue. Mr. Francis Watts Lee, of the
Elzevir Press, Boston, was the printer.
Mr. Winthrop Scudder was a member of the well-known
publishing firm of Houghton, Mifflin, & Co., and he, I remember,
took us to the State House and introduced us to the Governor
of Massachusetts. Shortly after, Captain Seccombe invited us
to meet him at a luncheon on board the Cephalonia, before she
departed on her return voyage to England, and about the
same time I made him a little drawing of his room on deck
with his books and instruments about.
We visited Cambridge (Mass.) and Harvard College, and
were duly impressed by its extensive buildings and educational
372 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1890-92
arrangements, though it lacked the historic charm and green
seclusion of the Cambridge on this side the water.
Mr. Scudder introduced me to the Riverside Press, the
home of his firm near Cambridge, and commissioned me to
illustrate Nathaniel Hawthorne's Wonder Book, which I com-
pleted the following spring.
We had heard much of the wonderful autumn tints of the
foliage in New England, and found that they were fully up to
their reputation. In Franklin Park and the neighbourhood
of Boston there was some gorgeous colouring in October and
November. The sugar-maple seemed to be the source of
most of colour, ranging in different stages from golden yellow
to deep crimson. The sumach added a deeper red, but in
New England woodland landscape there is generally visible
some dark green of pines as a contrast ; there is an absence
of mystery in the thin dry air, and the autumn pageantry
seems a gayer and brighter affair, and without much of the
pensiveness and melancholy haunting the time in the Old
Country.
Winter, too, is apt to come in unannounced. We had
experience of this in a sudden frost of great severity before we
left Boston. We found, however, the high temperature generally
maintained in the hotels very trying — 75 degrees Fahrenheit
being the usual thing, and the steam heat seemed peculiarly
baking. This could in one's own rooms be regulated, of
course.
Before leaving Boston we paid a visit to the comparatively
old-fashioned and rather Quakerish eighteenth-century-looking
town of Salem, with its quiet streets of timbered houses, trim
gardens, chapels, and queer tombstones.
Here lived Mr. Ross Turner and his family. He was the
Bostonian water-colour artist of much repute who had asked
us to spend the day. He worked in a broad and effective
way in transparent colour.
Early in December I was invited over to New York by a
Mrs. Young to give a lecture in her house, and I agreed, so
that I had a first and flying visit to that city. She had
invited a large number of guests to hear me, and the lecture
was given in a sort of drawing-room studio. I gave one of
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 373
my Arts and Crafts addresses with illustrations — " Design in
^ Relation to Use and Material."
I I did not, however, come to America with any serious
intention of lecturing. It is true that Mr. John Lane, the
publisher (who, proposing a re-issue of my picture-books, had
a sort of speculative interest in me), had urged me to see
Major Pond, the late chief organiser of lecturing tours, and had
introduced me, but I doubted whether the subjects I usually
dealt with were of sufficiently wide or popular interest to suit
a regular lecturing campaign, even if I had felt I could stand
such an experience — and I am sure Major Pond had his doubts.
I had no golden offers to tempt me, and so, beyond an
occasional lecture here and there, I did not go.^
I had a very rapid impression of New York, but was not
charmed by the effect of the interminable perspectives of the
streets crossing the avenues at right angles, with no suggestion
of any historic past among the buildings, which seemed for
the most part to belong to either the mean or the pretentious
class of nineteenth - century architecture, and to vary from
frowsy respectability in some of the residential quarters to the
most pushful commercialism in the business streets, while the
overhead railway cast a squalid gloom and ruined the archi-
tectural effect (if any) of every street it ran over.
I had arranged to repeat the lecture at a private house
(Mrs. Williams's) at Hartford, Conn., and stopped on my way
back to Boston for this purpose, and found a very friendly and
sympathetic audience.
We also had a glimpse of Newport, R.I., during our stay
at Boston. I have already mentioned the frieze I painted a
few years previously for Miss Catharine Wolfe's house at
^ With regard to Mr. John Lane, he was very keen on the re-issue of my picture-
books, and starting with TJih Little Pig, quite a large proportion of the old sixpenny
series were re-issued three at a time, from Vigo Street.
It was gratifying to think that these books, published by Routledge a quarter of
a century ago, should still appeal to a newer generation. I cannot say, however,
that it has been a profitable undertaking, as far as I am concerned.
I first met Mr. Lane at the " Odd Volumes." He used to have little gatherings
of artists and authors at his rooms and afterwards at Vigo Street. On one of these
occasions I remember meeting Richard Le Gallienne before he was known to fame —
a remarkably poetic-looking, handsome young man, with a fine head of hair and
reflective eyes.
374 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1890-92
Newport. The lady, who visited my studio when the frieze
was completed in London, had since died, and the house,
•' Vinland," had been left to a relative, a Mr. Lorillard. The
architect, Mr. Peabody of Boston, kindly proposed to show me
the house and the frieze in situ. Accordingly, the visit was
arranged, my wife and I being invited to accompany Mr.
and Mrs. Peabody on the excursion, which only involved a
moderate railway journey and a day's outing.
We received no typical American hospitality at " Vinland,"
however, as we were requested not to come at the luncheon
hour (!), and I do not remember seeing the owner at all. I
merely record this as a most extraordinary exception in so
hospitable a country.
Mr. Peabody, however, entertained us at a restaurant in the
town. Newport seemed to be a sort of American Brighton or
Scarborough, where millionaires were quite thick on the ground,
and were then very busy spending some of their surplus value
upon costly villas or would-be palaces, which were rising up
along the coast in all sorts of weird architectural fashions, and
almost with the rapidity of mushrooms. Some of them had
baronial halls with carved oak staircases leading to galleries
above, upon which the bedrooms opened. Louis Seize
drawing-rooms and boudoirs in white and gold were dis-
covered through Gothic doorways. Mr. Peabody told me
that a house of this kind was expected to be finished in nine
months.
I had a glimpse of the way much of the wood-carving
was turned out, as I saw a machine at work which auto-
matically carved out an arabesque panel in relief from a model
— " while you waited," so to speak.
" Vinland " had, intentionally, a Scandinavian character,
with its steep high-pitched brown-shingled roof and spired
turrets. It was very cleverly designed, and bold in line and
mass, and inside was extremely comfortable, and had the look
of an English interior very much, owing to the fact that the
decorations were due to William Morris, whose hangings and
wallpapers were everywhere. A Burne-Jones window was on
the staircase containing the figures of those legendary Norse
voyagers who were supposed to have discovered America some
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 375
centuries before Columbus. (The cartoon of this window is
now in the Royal College of Art, South Kensington.) My
frieze in the dining-room, as I have said, illustrated Long-
fellow's poem, The Skeleton in Armour, and besides this I had
designed a series of stained-glass panels for the windows of
the library^^ — symbolical subjects — and these had been carried
out at Morris's works at Merton Abbey.
I found my frieze, looking rather lower in tone than it
did in Europe, very suitably placed above plain oak panelling.
The ruined tower (or mill) around which Longfellow wove
his story, we saw in the town, railed around in a sort of public
garden.
Mr. Vanderbilt had started a marble palace on a great
scale — a sort of reduced Versailles, I understood — at Newport ;
but to ensure privacy in his own grounds, had to build a
mighty tall wall around them, to defeat the indomitable
curiosity characteristic of his countrymen.
The Bostonians seem to make as much of their festival
of " Thanksgiving Day " (at the end of November) as we do of
Christmas in England. It is in memory of the early days of
the Pilgrim Fathers, when, after a long period of adversity, they
began to feel their feet in New England and their agricultural
toil yielded good crops.
On Monday, the 14th of December, we left Boston for
Chicago, going by the New York and Albany line to Buffalo,
and making a stop for two nights to see the Niagara Falls.
It was a rainy evening when we got in, and quite mild,
but not arriving till midnight, there was nothing to do but to
go to bed. We could hear the Falls if we could not see them.
During the night there was a change, and the thermometer fell
no less than 30 degrees, and everything was frozen.
The Falls had a fringe of ice, and under a wintry aspect
were very wonderful. The glimpses we had had of the country
from the train above the Falls were not striking as far as could
be seen through the driving rain and mists of the evening —
mostly flat and green, with small trees. Fir trees of not large
growth fringe the rapids above the Falls ; but the Falls them-
selves are certainly stupendous, viewed from either above or
below. On Goat Island, which divides them, one is surrounded
376 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1890-92
with the sound of the rush and roar of the water on all sides,
and one has the impression of standing on a frail floating
scrap of rock and earth which might be swept away at any
moment. The Falls form a solid-looking white wall of falling
water, but without its sound and movement it is difficult to
convey pictorially an adequate impression of the wonder of it.
The surging and boiling torrent below, half veiled by floating
clouds of spray and sometimes wreathed by broken rainbows,
and the rushing rapids between the narrow rocky channel
beyond, form indeed a striking drama of the force of water.
The work of man here looks frail and insignificant enough.
The thin suspension bridge, like a spider's web, connecting the
Canadian with the American side ; the flimsy-looking hotels,
and temporary makeshift look of most of the buildings on
either side of this great natural wonder, do not form a becoming
framework ; though, in any case, the scale of the Falls is so
large that even Cyclopean building would look insignificant.
As it is, the manufactories huddling to make use of the water
as a motive power for their machinery, the endless notice-
boards announcing " the best points of view " to the traveller,
the little stalls of tourist souvenirs, all seemed impertinent.
Two of my wife's brothers settled in Canada met us here,
and we had a pleasant day together, before going on the next
day to Chicago.
Leaving Niagara in the morning, we arrived at Chicago at
nine at night, and were met at the station by our host, Mr.
William Pretyman, an Englishman, who lived about seven
miles out, at Edgewater. Mr. Pretyman had been settled here
some time, and had married a New York lady and built him-
self a charming house and studio on the lake shore. He was
a decorative artist, and I had done designs for panels in
various schemes of decoration he had in hand, while I was
in England. He and his charming wife now welcomed us
in the most hospitable way to their home, so that we had
an English welcome in the great Western city instead of the
cold comfort of an hotel. The Pretymans even had English
servants, which were very rare in America. We spent
Christmas at Edgewater, and kept it up with masquerading
in old-fashioned style.
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 377
The only cloud over a very pleasant time was the unfor-
tunate illness of my wife, who caught a fever of some kind.
It seemed to me that the soil by the lake might have been
malarious. However, after an anxious time, by dint of good
doctoring and careful nursing, she recovered.
Mr, Pretyman was interested in the preparations for the
approaching World's Fair — the commemorative Columbian
Exhibition in 1893 — ^"d was on the committee in charge of
the arrangements and decorations, over which Mr. Burnum
presided.
With my host I paid a visit to the grounds, passing the
night in a temporary building erected as a sort of club for
the officials. After a characteristic American breakfast (which
included steaming piles of buckwheat cakes, to be eaten with
maple syrup — a kind of food calculated to take the zest out
of the heartiest appetite, though I never somehow took to
them as I ought to have done), our party was driven round
the grounds in a brake. It was intensely cold — about 10
below zero — with a wind which made one wonder how to keep
one's ears from being frozen, although the sun was shining.
Many of the buildings were well advanced, and great skeletons
of lath and plaster were rising up in all directions. There
had been a council of architects to arrange the planning
of the grounds and the design of the buildings ; the dead
level of the site by the lake was to be made as interesting and
attractive as possible. The buildings included a permanent
gallery for works of art, which was to become the property of
the city afterwards.
Residents in the immediate neighbourhood and outlying
residential suburb of Chicago did not look forward with much
enthusiasm to the time of the Exhibition, however, I fancy. I
heard one anticipatory remark to the effect that " we shall
be knee-deep in banana skins and pea-nut shells next year,"
such trifles being the inevitable deposit of an American crowd.
The modern type of business or " elevators " building seemed
to have a more unchecked development in Chicago than
we had seen anywhere before. One building was stated to
have reached the height of twenty-two storeys — but one only,
and it appeared the insurance offices refused to speculate in
378 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1890-92
anything nearer to heaven, so that these modern Towers of
Babel would seem to have a natural (or perhaps artificial)
check upon their growth.
Such "sky-scrapers" certainly made very unpleasant
streets in winter, the freezing winds sweeping down them as
through a narrow, draughty passage, and making a plaything
of the unwary pedestrian at the street corners. The Chicago
coachmen might well wear fur caps with ear-pieces.
As a sidelight on labour conditions, and as evidence of
a certain brutality, I was struck by the common inscriptions
put up outside the temporary doors in hoardings while building
operations were in progress, which, instead of our mild but
firm " No admittance except on business," took such emphatic
forms as, " No carpenters wanted. Keep out ! " " Keep out !
This means you!"
After leaving our friends at Edgewater, we took up our
quarters at the Auditorium — a vast new hotel near one of the
termini — comprising under its roof an opera house, so that
guests could walk through after dinner and take their stall or
box as it liked them.
The electric light was freely used, and to us in a novel
way, being carried across the spans of the arched roof in
successive lines or chains of light, which had rather the
effect of brilliants strung on a bow, but was rather dazzling.
At Edgewater, on the long straight suburban roads, gas
lamps were used, but lighted in a novel way by a mounted
lamp-lighter, who trotted from side to side, charging with his
illuminated pole at each lamp-post on his long course — with
a far-away, odd suggestion of a sort of municipalised Don
Quixote, whose tilting tendencies towards common objects
were turned to practical use.
At that date the telephone too, which, like the electric
light in England, had at first a somewhat shy and timid
existence, was in America in full swing, and was in common
domestic use and installed in private houses. By means of
these, ladies were accustomed to give their orders to the local
tradesmen, and might scold their butchers to their heart's
content — at least, until switched off! In the halls of the
hotels the deep monotone of the negro official at the telephone
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 379
chanting the refrain, " Are you there ? " — " Yaas " — " Who is
this ? " etc., came in as a kind of antiphone to the cackle, the
noise and bustle of arriving or departing guests, or the talk
of the row of smokers, who usually occupied seats in front
of the plate glass windows to the street. Our outlook from
a lofty window in the Auditorium was over a crowded mass
of roofs and gaunt square factories and chimneys spouting
smoke and steam over the half-melted masses of snow, and
included a bird's-eye view of the street with its tram lines,
upon which crawled,
like Brobdingnagian
beetles, the electric
cars.
The weather was
wintry enough for
us to enjoy a sleigh
drive over the snow
in Lincoln Park,
where stands a strik-
ing bronze statue of
the great President
by St. Gaudens, who
has represented him
in a rather original
way as having just "^
risen from his presi-
dential chair to
speak.
Along the Lake Shore drive were the mansions of the
millionaires, in striking contrast to the squalor of the indus-
trial parts of the city.
As to the stock-yards and their horrors, we avoided them
altogether ; but I was struck with the huge grain elevators,
like vast Noah's Arks seen beyond the barges which fed them
with their golden stores of maize.
A huge police fortress had been built since the days of
the anarchists' agitation, to enable a large body of men to be
poured out at a moment's notice. The vast gatehouse was
closed by wooden doors, with the usual mouse-hole for every-
^ jM^lM^m^
THE BUTTON-PRESSER — FANCY PORTRAIT OF
THE MAN OF THE FUTURE
38o
AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1890-92
day use. It looked a threatening monument of the power
of the capitalists, and reminded one of the warlike character
of the industrial struggle in the States, where armed forces can
be hired by owners of works to quell strikes on occasion.
My collection followed me from Boston like my shadow,
and was duly unpacked and exhibited at the Chicago Art
Institute, where an art school and museum were under the
same roof. Here also I was induced to give a lecture on Art,
which I illustrated by charcoal sketches on paper.
THE ROUND TABLE AT WINETKA
(H. D. LLOYD'S FAMILY PARTY)
I also gave an address on " Art and Modern Life," at the
invitation and to the members of the Twentieth Century Club.
There were many dinners and receptions. The decorators
of Chicago entertained me, and I was introduced to the
Socialist circle. Mr. Henry D. Lloyd, then the editor of the
Chicago Tribune (who had shown much sympathy with the
cause of Labour, and had tried to save the condemned anar-
chists in 1887), whose acquaintance I now made, invited us to
stay at his pleasant country abode at Winetka, some five-and-
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 381
twenty miles out along the lake, and there we met his kindly-
family circle and interesting guests — of whom, gathered at
the round table of our good host and hostess, I made a fancy
sketch, as a kind of King Arthur's Court, our son Lancelot
and the son of the house being placed at a separate table for
want of room at the big round one.
From Chicago my collection was invited to St. Louis, and
towards the middle or end of January we went on there, a
journey of some three hundred miles farther south, for the
most part through a flat agricultural country of maize fields,
which spreads west and south of Chicago — a great grain centre.
At length we reached the big rivers Mississippi and Missouri,
at the junction of which is the city of St. Louis. A tremendous
bridge in three tiers crosses the river, carrying the railroad, a
road for ordinary traffic, and a footway. There was a sort of
rivalry between St. Louis and Chicago as to which should be
considered the premier town. Kansas was, I believe, also in
the running at one time, but has been knocked out by the
enormous commercial progress of its bigger and more advan-
tageously situated rivals. St. Louis was in many ways more
pleasantly situated than Chicago, being on a rising ground
with a fine wooded country towards the west. As regards
planning and architectural character and general aspects,
American towns, however, suffer from a certain sameness as
well as the want of historic background. Everything which
is not of the moment seems to belong to yesterday, or at most
to the day before.
St. Louis suggests by its name French characteristics, but
it cannot be said that any relics of this kind were traceable,
except perhaps in the name of one of the hotels, which was
called the " Richelieu," and had a kind of faded, frowsy, far-
away, and out-of-date Parisian aspect about its gloomy bed-
rooms, from which we were glad to escape to more modern,
cheerful, and breezy quarters westward.
At each town when my collection arrived, it had to be
unpacked in the presence of the custom-house officers, and
each item carefully checked off" on the list ; and to get through
this rather tedious business, my presence became necessary.
The exhibition was opened in the Art Institute, which, as
382 AN ARTISTE REMINISCENCES [1890-^2
at Chicago, included an art school. We had again at the open-
ing reception the privilege of shaking hands with a thousand
or so of the great American public. I also lectured in the
theatre of the school.
The head of the art school was an Englishman, and we
were introduced to a very pleasant circle of friends in St. Louis.
There was a Congress of the master painters and decorators
of America while we were there, and they made me an honorary
member, investing me with the order of the paint brush — in
miniature model suspended by a red ribbon.
I do not think the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition was
then thought of Possibly after the Chicago World's Fair it
became necessary for St. Louis to see what she could do in
that way, in which she seems to have scored so success-
fully in 1904. We visited the house of Mr. Ives, who acted
as European commissioner for that exhibition, but he himself
was then in Europe.
From St. Louis we turned our faces westwards, and in
February started op the long, long journey to Southern
California, which involved four days and five nights on board
the train, in a Pullman car. Kansas City was our first stop,
where I think we had an hour or so to wait, or at anyrate time
to wander a bit and have a look at the place. It had a strange,
unfinished look, as if the town had been begun here and there,
and left off again. One would see in the streets a low ram-
shackle timber hut, next to a tall brick or stone building with
architectural pretensions. The roadways were very rough, and
some of the footways were paved in a peculiar way by stumps of
trees cut in cross sections and pressed into the earth as close
as might be. On we went, by the Atchison, Topeka, and
Santa Fe Railroad, over miles and miles of brown prairie, varied
by streaks of snow lingering here and there, until across the
vast plains the blue peaks of mountains began to peer ; the
Spanish peaks of New Mexico, and the great range of the
Rockies visible a long while on our right, their summits snow-
covered and often veiled in storms ; past little towns and
mining settlements here and there, which the railroad seemed
to have originally taken out ready made and dumped down on
the open prairie ; and on through strange wide valleys walled
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 383
by queer, square-cut red bluffs receding in regular lines like
the cliffs of some forgotten seashore, long dried up; and so
onwards across the great American desert of Arizona, the red
ground dotted with the little dry bushes of sage-brush, the
plain sometimes varied by an occasional deep volcanic-looking
cleft or canon. A few cattle might sometimes be seen, and a
cowboy riding away after them in the distance, though how
life could be supported on such pasture as was visible was a
wonder, and in places the side of the line was strewn with the
horned skulls and bones of cattle, though whether the remains
of those destroyed by the trains or otherwise, did not appear.
It was a curious sensation to stand at the lookout at the
end of the train and watch the windings of the single line of
rail we had travelled over disappearing in the distance, the
only thread of connection between the far-apart settlements in
this strange desert country. Our journey was only broken by
stops of about twenty or twenty-five minutes at what were
called " meal-stations," where the passengers turned out of the
train to the sound of gongs beaten by negroes, and snatched a
hasty dinner ; often, however, consisting of a number of courses,
but served one after the other in the quickest possible succes-
sion, and — on the same plate !
On the afternoon of the third day the snow peaks of the
San Francisco mountains appeared beyond the plains to the
westward, and cedar groves and a curious kind of stunted
palm tree varied the sage-brush of the desert.
We were soon among the mountains crossing the snows,
and at last descended through a very fine pass of the Sierra
Madre range and entered a smiling land in the first flush of
spring with her lap full of flowers.
Los Angeles, where we made our first stay in South
California, showed a strange mixture of elements — American,
Chinese, Spanish — though the American, of course, prevailed ;
and the main street was of the usual type, decked with tram-
cars, overhead wires, and hotels.
The Chinese quarter was quite distinct, with its native
shops, vertical orange labels, lanterns, and pigtails.
The country around was green and undulating: rounded
hills, varied by groves of eucalyptus trees, prickly pears, and
384 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1890-92
orange plantations ; and beyond, the fine range of the Sierras.
Numbers of Httle grey squirrels were to be seen on the green
open prairie, skipping in and out of their burrows in the ground,
where they appeared to live very much like rabbits.
There was a public garden in the town with some fine
date-palms and banana trees — the latter in flower — a magnifi-
cent purple pendant affair, and many of the better dwellings
in and around the town were surrounded with pleasant gardens,
in which palms and magnolias were conspicuous features, the
white houses with verandahs or " piazzas " having rather a
Riviera look.
The hotels usually had a series of continuous covered
balconies along the front, upon which the rooms opened through
French windows. Along these the guests sat in rows — mostly
men in slouch hats, and all smoking. The mule carts lent a
Spanish touch to the streets.
We saw an ostrich farm, the queer hungry-looking birds
stalking about a yard, like domestic fowls of gigantic growth.
The proprietor did not scruple to pluck a feather or two,
as a souvenir for the ladies, from one of his brood ; but poor
" Lizzie," as he called his victim, did not part with them
willingly, or without a squawk.
From Los Angeles we went on to Santa Barbara, which
brought us close to the Pacific in a beautiful bay enclosed by
rocky islands, the town trailing away from the sea in a long
wide street of scattered houses and hotels. On a rising ground
inland stood the old Spanish mission-house, an eighteenth-
century monastery, and a church with two towers which might
have been brought straight out of Spain and planted there.
This building gave an unusual distinction to the place, and
supplied the touch of historic interest so often wanting.
There were of course, as in all Californian towns, a Spanish
quarter (as I was making a sketch the little cluster of children
who came around me to look were chattering Spanish) and a
Chinese quarter, and Chinese servants instead of negroes in the
hotels. There were a few adobe buildings, and prickly pears
and olive trees were to be seen, but the eucalyptus was being
planted in all directions, and here we were told it became a
shade tree in about two years, so rapid was the growth. In
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY—VISIT TO AMERICA 385
the landscape from a distance the eucalyptus had a dark,
cypress-like effect. There were also plantations of pampas
grass, which was grown in separate clumps on " hummocks "
surrounded by water.
Riding, at which we took our turn, and driving seemed to
be the chief pursuits all day long. The clatter of hoofs was
heard up and down the long street ; all sorts of people riding
all kinds of mounts, or being shaken in all kinds of buggies.
The Mexican style of saddle and horse furniture still prevailed,
and the leather was often highly ornamental with its stamped
and embossed patterns.
We found the Pacific true to its name. A gentle opal-
coloured sea rolled in the smoothest of waves upon the sandy
shore. Soft clouds hung dreamily about the rocky islands,
and silver mists sometimes drifted over the sea and crept
up the valleys.
San Francisco was our next stop, and our farthest point
westward. Again one's impressions were of a city of strangely
mixed elements — a touch of New York, a dash of Liverpool,
a whiff of Glasgow, a strong flavour of opium, and a Chinese
quarter so complete that its influence seemed to be felt all
over the American quarter, giving a quaint touch to the mansard
roofs, the much whittled woodwork porches ; and even the
steep hills, over which the cable cars popped so suddenly, and
the long flights of steps leading up to the terraced dwellings
and gardens with their palm trees, in some parts, might have
been worked into a sort of willow pattern.
We went round China town, personally conducted by one
Cheong Sue, who spoke pigeon-English, and when at a loss
threw in the word " Charlie," and generally, too, ended his
short sentences with it. This worthy took us into a Chinese
temple, where we duly burnt joss sticks, and saw trussed fowls
and other offerings, forming quite a substantial luncheon, placed
on the altar ; and then to a tea-house, where we had tea served
in little bowls accompanied by saucers of candied fruits, the
decorations and the furniture as completely Chinese as could
be, down to the little dwarf pines in china pots. The fold-
ing tables suggested that our type of oval gate-table of the
Chippendale period must have been borrowed from the Chinese.
25
386
AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1890-92
There were tables there of exactly the same plan, though with
double instead of single folding legs to pull out to support the
flap. Our guide even showed us the opium dens and the
gamblers at cards, which were unpleasant, squalid sights
enough.
OUR GUIDE TO CHINA TOWN, SAN FRANCISCO (1892)
There was plenty of colour in the streets owing to the
frequent gay costumes, the prevailing arrangement being blue
and yellow, and the shops were interesting, some decked with
boughs of blossom stuck in blue pots. Another attraction to
us as animal-lovers was Woodward's Gardens — a sort of Zoo
on a small scale.
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 387
San Francisco certainly had the advantage of a fine site,
and one could imagine what a lovely city might have been
made there had it arisen in the ancient or mediaeval age.
The Golden Gate is poetically named, and is a fine natural
opening to the Pacific. The coast and shore is spacious and
impressive, and when the evening sun shines across the great
ocean, rolling in long breakers to the beach, it is striking
enough.
The Seal Rock, viewed from Cliff House Hotel, is a curious
sight. It is only a short distance from the cliff, and the seals
crowding upon it, and sometimes swimming and leaping into
the water, can be distinctly seen. The San Franciscans run
out by train on Sundays to Golden Gate Park or to Cliff
House, much as the Londoners do to Richmond or Hampstead.
The terrible earthquake and the devastating fire which
ruined San Francisco so suddenly in the spring of 1906
invests one's memories of the place with somewhat thrilling
interest, as one recalls the fact that the very hostelry where
we stayed, the Occidental Hotel (where I remember receiving
a charming bouquet, presented by an Art Society who had
heard of our arrival) was entirely destroyed.
One cannot say, however, that there was much architec-
tural beauty to regret, however disastrous the losses to the
inhabitants. "Tis true 'tis pity, and pity 'tis 'tis true" that
such terrible catastrophes, under our wasteful economic system,
are really, commercially considered, benefits, since they are the
occasion of an enormous stimulus to trade and employment.
Certainly such a catastrophe affords an opportunity of
rebuilding the city on more beautiful lines. It is a rare one,
and I should hope that the best architectural skill in the
States will be called into requisition, and there can be no doubt
of the great ability and resource of American architects.
It is to be hoped that the old Spanish mission-house,
which I remember seeing between uninteresting modern build-
ings in a side street, has been saved.
The beginning of March found us on our way to New
York to keep an engagement to stay with friends there. So
we, passing through the fruit-growing region, crossed the Sierra
Nevada through mining camps, and up to the snows, descend-
388 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1890-92
ing through miles and miles of snow-sheds, which are timber
structures forming a roof over the train to protect it from the
snows, but which are as gloomy almost as tunnels, and passed
Salt Lake and the Mormon city, where the snow-clad mountains
formed a fine background, and so through Utah and Nevada,
where, near Elko, we saw Indian wigwams on the snowy
plains, and at the station real Indians in striped blankets and
mocassins, and real squaws with genuine papooses slung at
their backs. Poor things, they seemed timid and shy enough.
A hand-camera pointed from the train to secure a snap-
shot at an Indian waiting on the platform, caused the subject
to suddenly bolt round the corner as if it had been a gun
presented at him.
On we went by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad,
through the Rockies, the rail passing sometimes close to the
waters of the river, winding between great crags and towering
bastions of rock, and once catching a glimpse of some cliff
dwellings as we passed. Gradually the valleys grew wider,
and we would pass over snow-clad plains, dotted here and
there with log-huts, and through pine woods, where often there
seemed a great waste of timber, as it was the practice to burn
the trees away from the borders of the rail — to avoid them
falling across it, I suppose. Perhaps we would see an occasional
sledge bounding over the snow, but there was very little sign
of life anywhere except at the stations.
At Denver we changed trains, and continued our journey to
New York without noteworthy incident.
The chief incident in a railway journey in America is the
entry of the irrepressible vendor — a sort of universal provider
both for the outer and the inner man, and his quick changes
from a walking bookstall and newsagent to a sweet-stuff shop
are as remarkable as the lavish and apparently generous and
careless way in which he will cast literary gems into one's lap
in passing — he is careful, however, to collect them, or their
market price, on his return walk through the cars.
Reaching our destination in due course, we found a friendly
welcome in West Twenty-Second Street.
Our host, the late Mr. J. R. Lamb, was an Englishman — a
Kentish man — who had been settled in New York for many
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 389
years. He was a decorative artist, and with his two sons,
Charles R. Lamb and Fred. Lamb, had established well-known
decorative works, chiefly ecclesiastical, and including stained
glass, mosaic, and church furniture. Mr. Charles R. Lamb
(well known as the energetic secretary of the Architectural
League of New York, and as keenly interested in the recent
municipal movement for beautifying the city) had visited us
in England, and his brother Fred., who had studied in Paris,
also. I had designed a large window for the firm for a church
at Newark, N.J., and Mr. Fred. Lamb had assisted me in work-
ing out the very extensive cartoon, the subject of which was
St. Paul preaching at Athens. This window I now saw com-
pleted and in situ.
While in New York I completed a rather elaborate design
for a wallpaper with an extensive frieze intended as a special
exhibit at the Chicago World's Fair the next year. The
filling bore Columbus's ship, the Stars and Stripes, and other
emblems in a sort of diaper, and the frieze motive was a
line of beaked ships with bulging sails, in each of which stood
a female figure, typifying the parts of the earth welcomed by
America, also standing in her ship labelled Chicago, who joins
their hands.
The Architectural League invited me to dinner and at the
same time to give them an illustrated talk ; so after we " had
eaten and drunk and were filled," I gave some demonstrations
in space-filling, and I met several of their notable artists and
architects at Mr. Charles Lamb's studio, including Mr. John
La Farge and Mr. Will H. Low.
I also made the acquaintance of Mr. W. D. Howells, who
showed himself to be much in sympathy with the Socialist
movement. At that time he was conducting a monthly
magazine, the Cosmopolitan, to which I made some contribu-
tions, both with pencil and pen, at his request, and I remember
a pleasant little dinner with the eminent writer and his sub-
editor and his young wife — Mr. and Mrs. Sears.
Another New York writer whom I met was Mr. Brander
Matthews, who was then acting as lecture secretary to a large
literary and artistic club — the Nineteenth Century, I think,
was its name — and he got me to open a discussion on " The
390 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1890-92
Effect of Modern Social and Economic Conditions on the Sense
of Beauty," or some such title, which enabled me to expound
my views on art and modern life pretty freely. Mr. Matthews
was in the chair, and my opponent was Mr. Simons (an artist
from whom, years ago, when he was staying at St. Ives in
Cornwall, I had had a friendly letter expressing his regret
at the way in which some of my children's books had been
pirated in America). Some amusement was caused by his
remarking that he had had some difficulty in hearing what
I said and that what he had succeeded in hearing he was
unable to follow, and my retort that while I was bound to
say I heard Mr. Simons distinctly I could not discover his
meaning.
It seemed to me that the audience were really on the
look-out for a light evening's entertainment, and were either
unable or unwilling to regard the subject or the discussion
from a serious point of view at all.
Mr, Hamilton Bell (a nephew of Sir E. Poynter), who
was working in New York as a decorative artist, called upon
me, and introduced me to the Players' Club, where, shortly
afterwards, I was a guest at a luncheon given to Mr. Rudyard
Kipling, whom I then met for the first time. I had met his
father and mother some years before at the Poynters' in
London, long before he had made his fame as a writer.
He was very quiet, and spoke in a gentle, rather high voice,
but had a keen, observant look in his quick eyes which glasses
did not conceal.
The menus were passed round for the signatures of the
guests, as souvenirs of the occasion. Having put my rebus
on the cards, Kipling expressed a wish to secure " the biggest
of the Cranes."
While in New York I wrote to my old friend and former
master, W. J. Linton, who was living at Newhaven, Connecticut,
not a long distance down the coast, with the result that a
meeting was arranged at the Century Club in New York, to
which he belonged. I was glad to see Linton looking hale,
though much aged and venerable, with his long white hair
and beard. He walked a little lame, and leaned on my arm
in getting up the stairs and passing through the rooms. He
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 39 f
was bright and cheery, and as revolutionary in his views as
ever, though with an entire absence of bitterness, and evidently
kept his ideal and his vision of the future undimmed. It was
the last time I saw him, as he did not live more than a few
years afterwards.
Among the members of the Club was the veteran landscape
painter of the States, Bierstadt, whose renderings of American
scenery were known in Europe, and had been seen in the
great International Exhibitions. I recall large landscapes
from the Sierra Nevada, and a picture of a breaking wave
with the vivid green light striking through it. He flourished
long before the later French influence and Parisian training
had captured American painting.
The brothers Lamb belonged to the New York 7th
Regiment, and they gave us an opportunity of witnessing a
full-dress parade and inspection in their Drill Hall. The
regiment had an old - fashioned military appearance in a
uniform of an early nineteenth - century type, blue tailed-
coat with white facings, striped trousers, epaulettes, and a
tall shako with a plume. They went through their drill
with much precision under the admiring eyes of a host of
friends gazing from the gallery of the Hall.
We visited our old friends the Moncure Conways at their
New York home, facing the Central Park ; and I recall a
pleasant visit to Mr. and Mrs. Gould and their family, who
had a pretty house on the Hudson River, in a garden on a
steep slope towards the water, and commanding a fine view.
Mr. Gould (who was related to the millionaire, I believe) met
us at the station dressed in the style of an English country
gentleman and riding a good horse.
We experienced the elevated railway, which, with its
universal fare of five cents, glass receiving boxes for the
tickets, and long cars with rattan seats, was the prototype
of what Londoners are now familiar with in the Tube.
Travelling overhead is certainly more agreeable than going
underground, but, as I have before remarked, an elevated
railway ruins the comfort and appearance of the streets which
it overshadows.
New York was great in gorgeous saloon bars, often
392 AN ARTIsrs REMINISCENCES [1890-92
decorated with showy pictures — perhaps of such visions as
might be conjured up after the drinks ! The devotee of the
cocktail and his kinds had the option of standing at the long
brass-bound marble bar, or of an easy seat and a leather-
covered lounge along the wall. The general effect of such
interiors was rather of a curious blend of a German drinking
hall, a French cafe, and an English public-house.
A wonderful new building had been erected for entertain-
ments of the Barnum show and circus order, and it had a
tower copied straight from the Alcazar at Seville, with the
addition of a bronze Diana as a vane on the top, boldly
designed in silhouette by Mr. St. Gaudens.
I had a glimpse of the Metropolitan Museum (over which
Sir Caspar Purdon Clarke has now gone to preside), an im-
portant feature of which was then the De Cesnola collection of
antiquities from Cyprus.
I may mention, too, the sample we had of an American
play, said to be quite characteristic of a then prevailing
popular type — a curious drama with a very incoherent plot
entitled The Last of the O'Hagans, a strange medley of scenes
and characters which followed one another in a bewildering,
inconsequent sort of way, the only principle discoverable
being the apparent intention of the drama to provide some-
thing which every section of the mixed population of New
York could understand, the Irish and the negro element
going strong, the many scenes peppered with prize-fights,
steamer collisions, negro secret society meetings, the interest
maintained by the pranks and quick changes of a queer set
of pantomimic characters, and the dialogue throughout often
so highly seasoned with American slang that it was impossible
for the uninitiated to follow it.
We have become so Americanised in our towns — or is it
that we have developed on the same commercial lines? —
that the amount of advertisement and pushful signs of all
kinds in an ordinary retail business street in New York, which
then seemed remarkable and excessive, may now be no longer
so in comparison with the same sort of thing on our side ;
but many of the inscriptions were very quaint, and outside
the tobacconists' the effigy of a Red Indian took the place
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 393
which used to be associated with the image of the Scotchman
and his snuff-box in London. Otherwise perhaps the shoe-
black, with his extensive " shining-parlours," where men sat in
rows to have their boots polished, was the most clamorous
in his announcements to the passers-by.
At the beginning of April it was getting warm, even in
New York, but we soon had it warmer, as we had arranged
J=2£L
SMOKE
AUD
CHIW
WEST Va
STREET SIGNS IN AMERICAN TOWNS
to go down to Florida to see our eldest son, Lionel, and bring
him back with us, and so we bade farewell to New York, and
took the train down the East Coast, passing Baltimore and
Philadelphia and Washington, to which we intended to return,
and on through Virginia and Carolina, where, at the stations,
the little negro children would run to the windows of the
train offering flowers. The outlook from the train was spoiled
394 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1890-92
and the landscape insulted by horrid posters or bills in staring
yellow letters on black boards at any point of vantage all along
the line, and sometimes painted on the roofs of houses and
wooden palings, the banal announcements of the same firm
pursuing the eye of the traveller for hundreds of miles. It
must be remembered that at that time we had not adopted
this barbarous practice in England, at least as far as our
railway lines were concerned, so that it struck one as a very
objectionable novelty. The scenery, it is true, here had not
that variety we are accustomed to in our own land, which
makes the introduction of the nuisance less excusable in
England.
At last we reached Jacksonville, on the St. John's River,
a curious straggling. Colonial, half-finished sort of town, with
a considerable trade, however, and " on the make," mostly
timber built, and the streets deep in fine sand, which spun in
showers off the buggy wheels as they drove through it.
Here we took steamer up the river. The boat was a
paddle-wheeled steamer of the two-funnelled, double-decked
American pattern, then generally in use on the rivers and
coasting excursions. There was a high saloon deck from
which one could get a commanding view. As the stream
narrowed it had a tropical look, with its palms and magnolias
and tangled mass of vegetation along its banks, where in the
dark waters lurked the mocassin, a yellow water snake of a
dangerous kind, and alligators frequently seen in their torpid
length lying in the sun-lit water, while small turtles could be
seen swimming in the shallows or poking their snake-like
heads above the water. Great flocks of buzzards hovered
about the banks, negroes hung about the landing-stages, and
the scenery all along was something quite new and strange
to us.
We stopped for a short visit to St. Augustine, to which
a light railway took us from the riverside. As the place
where poor Caldecott died it had a melancholy interest for
us, but apart from this the relics of its Spanish origin were
noteworthy. New York, however, had laid her hand upon
it, and it was in process of expanding from quite a small
settlement to a health resort. A firm of New York archi-
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 395
tects had designed a big hotel — the Ponce de Leon — a very
effective and cleverly arranged building in the Spanish Gothic
style, and it included a large block of studios for artists.
There was a fine cortile with fountains and full of palms, and
Venetian masts each side the entrance, with the American and
the Spanish standards flying. A spacious dining-saloon with
a bold frieze of Spanish galleons was also a notable feature.
Beyond an old stone gateway, I do not remember any actual
Spanish relics of the old-time settlement.
After a night here, we continued our journey, taking the
steamer again up the St. John's River to Sanford, a sleepy
settlement studded with cabbage-palms, where we joined the
Orange Belt Railway, and finished our journey at remote
Killarney, a small cluster of timber houses on the sand, by a
lake, half hidden among pine trees, oleanders, and turkey oaks,
and surrounded by orange plantations. The character of
these latter seemed to vary as much as the fortunes of their
owners, for while some were flourishing groves of well-
conditioned trees glowing with golden fruit, others were little
more than rather forlorn clearings in the native forest, with a
few struggling orange bushes here and there to keep up the
name of a plantation, while neglect or adverse circumstances
were leaving the reclamation to wild nature.
A weird and rather melancholy effect was produced by
the Spanish moss, an ashy grey parasitic growth which
covered many of the trees, almost as fine as hair, which it
strongly resembled, hanging from the branches in long
pendulous streamers something like a weeping willow. These
would sway and wave to and fro in the wind, and as it grew
stronger before a storm, a tree hung with this moss would
seem like some weird, witch-like creature swathed in grey
clinging drapery, wildly waving its arms in warning or fear.
The water of the lake was quite warm near the shore, and
alligators could be seen not unfrequently at a respectful
distance, but showed no disposition to interfere with us when
we bathed.
We had to get accustomed to a rather high temperature
— usually about 80 degrees in the shade. This was not
exactly favourable to work, especially book illustration, but I
396
AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1890-92
had undertaken a coloured edition of Hawthorne's Wonder
Book for Messrs. Houghton & Mifflin, and it had to be com-
pleted by a certain date. These designs were done in a
little timber-built cottage at a window looking out on flower-
ing trees of oleander, with the red bird of Florida flitting
among them.
The insect life was very rife, the flies especially
numerous and active, the ordinary and comparatively moderate
Tne-rH£S- OF-
pests of our own country being reinforced here by many new
and ingenious varieties, chiefly distinguished (in the non-
scientific body) by their increased means of torment.
The flora and fauna, too, were of interest. There were
charming little miniature models of doves called "ground doves,"
about the size of sparrows, but of a perfect dove shape. I
noted some curious lizards which seemed to have a chameleon-
like capacity of changing colour, one bright emerald-green
gentleman puffing out a sort of rose-coloured throat ornament.
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 397
Then there were large land tortoises they called " gophers " : we
had one that stumped up and down the boards of the
verandah for a constitutional. People made pets of baby-
alligators, and there were 'coons in the woods.
As to flowers, there were many, but the most unusual
was a peculiar flowering grass found in the woods, having very
delicate purple and sapphire blue blossoms of three and two
petals, but otherwise like our ordinary dog grass.
We saw, for the first time at close quarters, a genuine log
hut — quite different from the rather flimsy wooden-framed
house, clinker-built, of sawn timber, which was the usual type ;
but a house raised from the ground on horizontal logs, the
walls constructed of split pine trees, crossed over each other
at the four corners of the hut, which had bold projecting
eaves, and a roof covered with bark and moss. This dwelling,
built by an actual settler for himself, stood all by itself in
the woods, the hanging grey moss curtaining it around.
The central village street — if street it could be called
which was only a wandering track in the sand — was quite
thick with trees, and these were not without their practical
uses, as in addition to grateful shade from a burning sun they
sometimes acted as brakes. It was related that on one
occasion a pair of runaway mules in a waggon had been neatly
and effectually stopped by one of these trees — one mule
being one side the trunk and the other on the other side — so
that they were pulled up sharply.
I shall not easily forget the tropical fury of a thunder-
storm we witnessed while at Killarney. Heralded by the weird
waving of the moss-covered trees in the rising wind, the grey
curtain of clouds was drawn over the bright day, the thunder
muttered and rolled ever nearer, till the rain fell with a rushing
sound like a torrent, and seemed to be fiercely drunk up by
the thirsty sand, and as night came on, the lightning almost
continuously lit up the scene, flaming and flaring along the
dark ragged outline of the woods, and flashing on the lake,
which was whipped into a mist by the storm.
We found our son Lionel all the better for the eighteen
months of sunshine he had absorbed. He looked brown but
thin, and he had outgrown his clothes.
398 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1890-92
His tutor, Mr. Pocock, had, like many Englishmen, specu-
lated in an orange plantation — not, I fear, very successfully,
and I think our boy had picked up more facts about oranges
and fishing than Greek and Latin. Healthy growth, however,
is the main thing for young people, and we had no reason to
be dissatisfied on this score.
The time came, however, for returning northwards
again.
An arrangement had been made for my collection to be
exhibited at the Art Club of Philadelphia, and after finishing
at St. Louis it went on there, so we decided to make a stay
there also, and towards the end of April we worked our way
back, breaking the journey at Washington. Here we were
introduced to the famous State House, and saw a sitting of the
House of Representatives, which had not the formal and
antique dignity of our House of Commons, but was arranged
more on the French pattern — the seats placed in curving
tiers in front of a tribune, and each member having a desk
in front of him.
The city was much more beautifully planned and laid out
than any American city we had seen, and gained much by
the space given to trees and gardens. The broad avenues
gave us a sense of breadth and ease. The commercial
element so rampant in most American towns was here much
less in evidence. There was more sense of a larger life and
leisure. The classical type of architecture seemed much more
suited to the American climate than to that of England,
needing as it does broad sunshine to give the necessary light
and shade and relief.
It is true we happened to encounter a wet day here, which
rather marred our sight-seeing, but this might happen in the
best regulated climate.
On we went to Philadelphia. Here again the city as
planned by William Penn, its four main thoroughfares con-
necting four great squares, had a certain dignity and
consistency lacking in New York and Boston. A new State
House was being built, and the appearance of the big central
tower with a great staging around it suggested the broad
brim of a Quaker's hat not inappropriately. The historic
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 399
element was supplied by Independence Hall, an interesting and
characteristic eighteenth-century building of red brick, quite
unpretentious, but simple and dignified, with a public way
through it into a pleasant square of trees beyond. Pictures
of the proclamation of the celebrated Declaration which an-
nounced the independence of the United States were to be
seen here, and the full text of that notable document.
Many of the streets in the older residential quarters had
a quiet old-world look also. With white marble steps and
basement storeys and red brick above white window frames
and green shutters, they had a neat and almost Dutch-like
appearance, and suggested homelike comfort within.
The architecture was more aggressive in the business
quarters, and the up-to-date steel-framed elevator buildings
were rising up everywhere, while strange and almost night-
mareish facades astonished the eye, here and there, in which
details of all sorts of styles and periods seemed to be mingled,
with a daring only equalled by the insensibility to scale.
Such monstrosities, however, were the exceptions.
A gentleman connected with the Philadelphia Press (Mr.
Watts), who was most kind in showing us the lions, took us to
a really charming Club-house in the suburbs, which showed
the newer influence of taste and recurrence to the old Colonial
type in architectural design which was affecting the work of
the younger generation of American architects.
At Philadelphia we witnessed a match in the national
American game of base-ball — a development of our schoolboy
game of rounders made severe and scientific. The bowling
— or rather pitching — as the player who delivered the ball
was called " the pitcher " — was very swift, and rather like our
swift overhand bowling at cricket, but at shorter range. The
" catcher," whose position was close behind the striker, had
protective padded armour over his chest, and a sort of mighty
boxing-glove on his left hand, as well as a wire mask, like a
fencing mask. I made some notes of these things and some
of the attitudes of the players, which our newspaper friend
promptly seized upon and had reproduced in an article in the
Philadelphia Press, giving a wonderful account of me and my
impressions, and even printing several of my poems out of
400 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1890-92
Renascence, including the sonnet on " Freedom in America,"
which was described as " rather severe."
We made many interesting acquaintances, and among
others I had a visit from Mr. Gompers, the Labour leader,
President of the American Federation of Labour — a grave,
weighty, rather German-looking man, who spoke of the progress
of the movement in the States.
A great Labour demonstration, which he invited me to
attend, and which was to have been held in one of the large
halls of the city, was for some reason or other postponed, so I
missed meeting the American workman en masse.
I only saw a large procession of men of colour, marching
along the main street with drums beating and banners flying,
the banners bearing the emblems of their societies and
themselves in full war-paint, the officers got up in wonderful
blue uniforms with epaulettes, cocked hats, and gold lace.
In its important bearing on primary education the work
of Mr. Liberty Tadd, who was then introducing bi-manual
training in the schools of Philadelphia, was highly interesting.
I saw him at work, and he kindly explained to me his
methods. Children came to him from the public primary
schools — children of about five to eight or ten years — for a
course of training in facility of hand. It was no part of his
object to make them artists, and he did not call his an art
school. He put the children, however, through a course of
drawing on the blackboard, beginning with simple forms — the
first exercise being circles, which they were taught to draw
with both hands simultaneously standing at the board. He
next set some simple forms of ornament or leaf forms at the
top of the board, which the children reproduced in the same
way. When they had acquired a certain proficiency, he
encouraged them to memorise such forms and to recombine
them in designs of their own. The more successful ones then
had opportunities in another class of carrying out their designs
in modelling clay and in wood-carving. Mr. Tadd claimed
that such a training gave facility of hand, which formed an
excellent preparation for any industrial work which the children
might take up afterwards, and would also be equally valuable
as a preliminary training for an artistic career if special ability
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 401
were shown, Mr. Tadd himself was an adept in bi-manual
drawing, being able to form a Greek anthemion, for instance,
with the greatest ease and precision. A symmetric form, of
course, lends itself more obviously to production with both
hands, though bi-manual facility is not limited to the drawing
of symmetrical forms.
Mr. Tadd has since developed his method and formed a
system of complete training in art, which he has expounded in
his book, New Methods in Education, and he has since visited
England and given lectures on his subject, notably at the
Society of Arts.
The movement for technical education was much to the
fore in Philadelphia, and a well-equipped and extensive new
institute had recently been opened through the munificence of
a citizen, where nearly every handicraft was to be taught,
from metal-work to millinery. It was called the Drexel
Institute, after the name of its founder.
During my stay a group of artists and architects determined
to found an Art Workers' Guild, after the pattern of our
London one. Mr. Blomfield Bare, an architect of Liverpool
whom I had met there, but who was then practising in
Philadelphia, who had always been interested in the handicrafts,
was appointed Hon. Secretary, and worked with much energy
and enthusiasm.
My collection was shown at the Arts Club, a tasteful
building designed by a young English architect, a pupil, I
believe, of Mr. Bodley's ; a dinner was given there in my
honour and to inaugurate the opening. Among the guests I
was interested to meet Mr. Howard Pyle, the distinguished
artist, whose work I had so often admired in the American
magazines.
The champagne flowed very freely on this occasion as well
as speeches, and nothing could exceed the hospitality of the
Club.
Altogether, we had a very good time at Philadelphia, and
carried away many pleasant memories of the Quaker city.
The broad brim and the poke bonnet, though, were in a
minority.
I had one regret, however, that I was too late to see Walt
26
402 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1890-92
Whitman, who had passed away before we reached Philadelphia.
The house where he lived and died was pointed out — a very
simple and unpretending timber cottage in one of the tree-
shaded streets on the outskirts of the city. The surroundings
seemed a little too tame and domestic for the home of so
unconventional and free a spirit as the author of Leaves of
GrasSy though he included most things in his purview. One
would have fancied him more in a log hut and a pine
wood.
Our next move was to Brooklyn, where the Director of the
Institute had arranged some time previously to have my works
on exhibition, so that we had another glimpse of New York,
and passed over the great suspension bridge to take up our
quarters at a hotel until such time as the collection should
come on from Philadelphia. There was, however, a long
delay, and not finding Brooklyn exactly enchanting, and
having other engagements, we did not wait to see the works
installed.
Many had expressed a desire to have the collection of my
work at New York, and many suggestions were made, and
even negotiations opened in one or two instances, — the Grolier
Club was one and the Cooper Institute was another, — but
finally they all fell through. There seemed to be insuperable
difficulties in connection with the New York Custom House
which stood in the way which had not existed as barriers in
other places, the works being passed, after identification, for
public exhibition, and duty charged on any works sold.
But everything seemed blocked at New York, and I fear
the Director of the Brooklyn Institute was nearly worried to
death before he could get the works into his possession.
We had been invited to stay with General Loring and his
family at their delightful country home on the coast at Pride's
Crossing, Beverley, opposite Marblehead, on the Massachusetts
coast, and we arranged to go by the Fall River route from New
York. We had taken the opportunity while at Brooklyn of
calling on our New York friends, and one day went to see the
statue of Liberty on Bedloe's Island, climbing up to the head,
where one could get a view over the harbour and coast through
the coronet. The figure was hollow, built up of bronze plates,
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 403
on the same principle as the colossal statue of Bavaria at
Munich. It is effective in silhouette as seen from the battery
(Castle Garden). The harbour of New York is indeed always
a striking and interesting sight, with its varied craft sailing or
steaming across, great liners arriving or departing, and all the
glitter and movement of the scene.
We departed one evening at the end of May by the
iTflTOe OP LliJefcTV •
Pilgrim, a double-decked, large paddle-wheel steamer, for
Fall River, and from thence took train to Boston, which looked
much brighter in its spring dress, and the trees of the Common
in full leaf.
From there we soon reached Pride's Crossing, and found a
hospitable welcome in the charming home of General Loring.
The house had been built upon a rocky rising ground, and had
been cleverly adapted by the architect (Mr. Emerson) to the
irregularities of its site, and in the old Colonial manner.
404 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1890-92
A characteristic and indispensable feature in American
country houses is the piazza, or " peearzar," as it is called —
the 2 pronounced soft — really a loggia, or verandah, which
affords a pleasant shade and a cool place for sitting in the
hot weather. There was a delightful garden around and below
the house, brilliant then in June leafage and flower, a pleasant
wooded country about, and in front the sea, with a smart
cutter yacht ready to take guests and sail round the coast or
over to Marblehead — the Cowes of America. In woods here
grew the lady's slipper and an American variety of wild arum
they called " Jack in the pulpit," and a beautiful slender
scarlet columbine.
After a pleasant stay here, we made for Gloucester, another
resort on the Massachusetts coast. It was quite an old town
(for America) and had rather a French aspect, and was
picturesquely situated at the end of a rocky creek, intersected
with reefs of rock and small islands ; one of these, rejoicing in
the name of " Ten Pound Island," — which suggested British
occupation, — held a lighthouse. Gloucester, Mass., consisted
chiefly of one long street, which wandered down from the
railway station to the port, traversed by an electric car, which
pranced up and down over an undulating track in a light-
hearted way. The town finally broke out into detached and
scattered timber dwellings in a sort of light skirmishing order
along the low rocky coast, often nestling comfortably among
apple orchards, then in full bloom.
Among these at Eastern Point, close to the water, we put
up at the " House of the Seven Gables," a pension named
after Hawthorne's novel. Here we found pleasant society of
a typical American sort. The house was one of the old
Colonial time, with a newly built wing, and there was some
interesting lead-work of an Adamsesque character in the
glazing of a large arched window on the staircase. I had a
book on hand for the house of Prang of Boston, and found
time and quiet to work it out here. It was a series of designs
in colour to accompany some lines I had written embodying
in a fanciful and emblematic way the history of the United
States — from Eric the Red to the Chicago World's Fair. My
good friend Mr. Louis Prang came down to Eastern Point
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 405
while we were there and saw the progress of the work, and we
had a ramble together over the moor-like headland, strewn
with great boulders scored and flattened by glacial action.
Anisquam was a quaint Dutch-like fishing village in the
neighbourhood, and on the road to it still existed an original
seventeenth-century cottage, timber-framed and roofed with
wooden shingles, which in that climate slowly turn a fine silver
grey. Modern American architects had revived this simple
style for country houses and cottages with much success,
anticipating the slow weathering of the dry climate, and getting
a little tone by the use of fuming the wood with kreosote.
Terminating our stay at the " House of the Seven Gables,"
we journeyed lower down the coast to New Bedford, one of
the old whaling-places, and from thence embarked in a steamer
for the island of Nantucket, about thirty miles from the coast,
but we could not see it till close in, on account of a fog.
We found at Wauwinet a charming cottage, with a studio,
most kindly placed at our disposal by our friends Mr. and Mrs.
Pretyman. I had work to carry out here too. I had been
commissioned to paint two large panels for the decoration of
the hall of the Women's Temperance Building at Chicago.
The subjects were, respectively. Justice and Mercy, and Purity
and Temperance. Mr. Pretyman had induced me to try
Gambier Parry's process with a view to carrying out these
panels in that method. I procured the materials in New York,
but after a trial I did not find they lent themselves success-
fully to my work, so I carried the panels out in flattened oil
colour. They had to travel to Chicago rolled, when finished.
Wauwinet was a most remote little place, consisting of an inn
and a few scattered timber dwellings along the sandy shore.
It was nine miles from Nantucket, the only town on the island.
It was also said to be " nine miles from a lemon."
We voyaged up the harbour in a catboat (the Lilian), a
favourite American type of small sailing-boat. The mast was
set well forward in a little quarter-deck, which allowed room
for the tiniest of cabins below. The mainsail — like a cutter's
— was the only sail, and the vessel was regulated by a centre-
board. The crew consisted of two men and a dog. The
skipper was unique. He suggested an antique Triton dis-
4o6 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1890-92
guised in a sailor's straw hat and shirt. He was accustomed
to announce his arrival and departure at the landing-place by-
blowing a huge conch, which had the weirdest wail imaginable
— like the voice of some sea-creature. When on land he
seemed to shuffle along like a seal, but he got over the ground
at such an extraordinary pace that it was difficult to follow
him. I discovered this once when he was showing the way in
Nantucket, which had tortuous little backways and turnings
out of the main streets to the harbour, and I only just
managed to keep my guide in sight.
At Wauwinet we certainly lived the " simple life," and
fended for ourselves like early settlers. Our house (named
" The Wreck ") was so near the sea — being actually on the
sands — that it was easy to walk straight in for a bathe ; and
the bathing was very enjoyable — notwithstanding sharks. But
sharks there were in those waters. They were said not to be
man-eating sharks, but they certainly looked capable of eating
anything. We had many opportunities of judging of their
size, for it was the custom for parties to come to Wauwinet
expressly for the shark - fishing — " sharking," they called it.
They went out in a big open boat and fished for them with
large hooks baited with blue fish, and when caught, towed them
to the shore. Sometimes a row of half a dozen or so were
laid out on the beach at the day's end. The teeth were taken
out as trophies, and if it had not been for the farmers making
use of them on the land as phosphates — and who, with that
end in view, dragged them by horses from the shore — it seemed
a brutal and aimless sport.
A 'coon which had been trapped and presented to my
wife in Florida, had been brought all the way to Nantucket
with us in a large parrot's cage in default of a more suitable
travelling-carriage. At the hotel at Nantucket where we
stopped the first night on our arrival we let the creature out in
our room, but it was very wild, and scrambled up the window
curtains, and was only got back into its cage with great diffi-
culty. At the cottage we were able to give it a whole room
to itself, but it found out how to work the windows open, —
they slid back sideways in a peculiar way, — and so one day the
'coon was missed. We sought it in vain, following its supposed
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 407
tracks in the sand till they disappeared in the thick low brush-
wood which covered the island.
Long afterwards, when we had returned to England, some-
one sent us a Nantucket newspaper with a paragraph about
a 'coon which had been shot on Nantucket Island, considered
a remarkable event, as none had been seen there for years,
and the man who shot it, being proud of it, had had it stuffed.
The editor, however, recalled having heard of a 'coon having
been lost the previous summer by a visitor. This induced
my wife to write to try and recover at least the effigy of
her pet, so she wrote to the sportsman, whose address was
given, and he agreed rather reluctantly to part with his prize
for fifteen dollars.
Sometimes quite a boat-load of trippers would find their
way to the shore at Wauwinet, and cause us almost as much
consternation as Robinson Crusoe felt when the canoes landed
on his island, — not that there was any danger of cannibalism,
— but they would surround the house, and, in some cases, even
enter unasked to wash their hands, or peep in at the studio
door while I was at work — one gentleman asking if he might
bring his lady friends to see the studio. No doubt they meant
well, but it was inconvenient.
A favourite sport was catching blue fish, or at least trying
to. They are fine fish, something between a salmon and a
mackerel, and come in shoals sometimes in pursuit of small
fry quite inshore. Our son Lancelot, who was then only
twelve, succeeded in landing a very large fish of this kind.
The method is to be provided with a long line with a strongish
fish-hook attached to a lead shaped like a fish ; standing on
the shore, you throw the end of the line with the leaded hook
as far out as you can, with a good length of line, and immedi-
ately draw it through the water as swiftly as possible, while
you wind the line up again round the short stick you hold
in your left hand.
We witnessed a Fourth of July celebration while on the
island. This consisted mainly of a display of fireworks by
the boys of a New York family who were neighbours, and
the event — and the fireworks — went off very successfully, in
fact with a " snap," one might say.
4o8 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1890-92
Watching the sea breaking all day along the long line of
shore — the wind often catching the crests of the waves just
as they curled over to break, and blowing the spray out like
the mane of prancing steeds — the motive suggested itself
which I afterwards carried out in my picture " Neptune's
Horses," the first sketch for which was made at Wauwinet.
As a child in the early days at Torquay I had been accustomed
to hear the waves spoken of as " white horses," and the idea
seemed to be a perfectly natural and familiar one — though it
was only now that I attempted to give it form.
I sent the sketch to the winter exhibition of the Old
Water Colour Society in November of that year, and the
large picture of the same subject was shown at the New
Gallery summer exhibition of the following year. Curiously
enough, Mr. Watts exhibited the same year, also at the
New Gallery, his picture of " Sea Horses," quite different
in conception and arrangement, and treated as a narrow
vertical panel, while mine was a frieze-shaped one. But it
was an odd coincidence that we should both, unbeknown
to either, produce pictures on the same theme at the same
time.
At the end of July we turned our faces homewards, return-
ing to Boston, and embarking on board the Cephalonia again.
Captain Seccombe giving us a hearty welcome. We enjoyed
a fair passage, but the voyage was marred by a tragic incident.
A stoker, or rather a coal-trimmer, suddenly one afternoon, with-
out warning, rushed up on deck from the fiery inferno where
he toiled, and threw himself overboard. It was the second
occasion on which I had heard the cry " Man overboard ! "
The same measures were adopted as I had seen before : the
captain ordered the boats out, the steamer doubled back in
a wide curve on her course, but all in vain. The poor fellow
was never seen again. I learned from the captain that it was
" not an unusual occurrence " with men engaged in that sort
of work, and, indeed, having on the voyage out gone down
below and seen the terrible conditions under which the work
of stoking the furnaces was carried on, at least in a liner of
the type of the Cephalonia — the men working between two
lines of fires — I confess I could hardly be surprised. It is
1890-92] BOHEMIA— ITALY— VISIT TO AMERICA 409
true they worked in four-hour shifts, but four hours of that
arduous labour in such a heat seemed intolerable.
" Let the steamer proceed on her course," said the captain,
when further search seemed hopeless, and we had lost half
an hour — so on we went.
The rarity of passing vessels again impressed one, and the
immensity of the ocean — the watery plain occasionally relieved
by schools of porpoises, which would break the surface sometimes,
dashing gaily up to our ship, and following alongside for a
while, springing through the waves to the ship's side like
playful torpedoes.
At last the Irish coast was sighted. Cape Clear and
Fastness Lighthouse were passed on August 8. At Kinsale,
beneath the cliffs, we saw the liner, the City of Chicago^
which had struck on the rocks in a fog, shortly before, and
broken in two. We could see her two funnels and stern
quite distinctly sticking out of the water, and her boats were
being towed away.
Queenstown was soon reached, and the tender came along-
side for the mails. On we went, up St. George's Channel, past
the lonely " Coningsbee " lightship pitching about on the
waves, and naval manoeuvres being on, we overtook some
cruisers of the Red fleet steaming up Channel. Among these
were the Narcissus, the Indefatigable, and the Melampus. The
Cephalonia saluted, and was allowed to proceed, the officers
on the bridge scanning us with glasses, and so we soon found
ourselves at Liverpool, and, before long, speeding to Euston
through the green country of Old England once more, after
an absence of more than nine months.
CHAPTER X
KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY, 1 892-1903
OUR old home, to which we now returned, had too many
pathetic memories for us, and around it the neighbour-
hood had lost much of the rural character it possessed when we
first went there. A further change was threatened by the advent
of the Central London Railway, which eventually proposed to
take up the ground on which our house stood — in fact, its
advent meant the sweeping away of the whole of the old houses
on our side of the lane, and the destruction of the gardens,
trees, and meadow land around. We determined, therefore, to
seek for another house nearer town.
During our absence in America we left Beaumont Lodge
in charge of our faithful housekeeper, and an artist friend, Mr.
Frederick Foottit, R.B.A,, who made use of the studio. At that
time, in addition to painting, he was much interested in mezzo-
tint, and executed two plates from pictures of mine, " Truth and
the Traveller " and " Diana and the Shepherd." His landscapes
in oil are now well known at the Royal Society of British
Artists, and always show poetical feeling of an uncommon
kind and a search for unusual colour effects and ideals of his
own.
House-hunting might be described as the most fatiguing
and least exhilarating form of sport — if sport it can be called.
It is, however, certainly a chase, but a chase involving many
blank days. The peculiar professional eloquence of the house
agent is often very misleading. It is too full of superlatives,
and does not qualify enough. Indeed, it leaves all the
qualification to the other party — the hunting-party, who often
has occasion to quote Macbeth as to keeping the word of
promise to the ear and breaking it to the hope, as his path
410
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 411
is, metaphorically, strewn with fragments of " desirable
residences," " commanding positions," and " every modern
convenience," associated perhaps with " old-world charm,"
in the endeavour to find a house that fits his individual
requirements.
One stands aghast at the hardihood of speculative builders
who have run up the rows and streets of similar houses which
abound in so many parts of London, apparently on the
assumption of the existence of an equal number of people of
exactly the same tastes, habits, and amount of income. In
their scheme of things the pods should be made first and the
peas afterwards. We talk of " demand " and " supply," but in
the modern commercial world the " supply " seems to come
first, on the off chance of a demand. The square holes are
thus ready made for the round men, who have to inhabit them
as comfortably as they can. Presently round holes may
be made, and houseless square men will be forced to make
the best of the misfits. That seems to be too frequently the
delightfully practical method in the building business, and
the apparently wide and free choice is illusory, and becomes
narrowed down to the proverbial Hobson's.
Returning one day after a long and fruitless search, my
wife and I happened to pass along Holland Street, Kensington,
and noticed No. 1 3 was to let. The house had an
eighteenth-century brick front, which was attractive, and on
entering we found instead of the usual squeezy passage a
square hall with a fireplace in it. There was a garden at the
back towards St. Mary Abbott's Church, and on a fine old
leaden cistern there was the date 1764, The style of some
of the mouldings and woodwork suggested an earlier date.
The house being otherwise suitable as to size and convenience,
we soon decided to make it our new home, and Michaelmas
1892 saw us installed, with all our worldly goods piled in
hopeless confusion around us.
Accumulations of years are apt to be very embarrassing
at times, but it is curious how things seem to gravitate, as
it were, and things looking impossible ultimately find places
which might have been made for them.
We had a curious instance of the extraordinary instinct
412 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
or sense of locality on the part of a cat, shortly after moving
into the house. The cat had been brought shut up in a
basket and inside a cab and at night to the new quarters, a
distance of about a couple of miles from Wood Lane. He
had apparently settled down in Holland Street with us, but
after the fatigue of removing and rearranging we went
into the country for a fortnight, leaving the cat in Holland
Street. While we were away, our friends Mr. and Mrs.
Swynnerton, who had taken and moved into our old house,
noticed a fine cat about the garden, which they at length
succeeded in catching, and then found our name and address
on the collar it wore, and of course immediately informed us,
and the cat was returned, took up its quarters again in Holland
Street, and never strayed again. But that it should have
found its way back to the old home, over Campden Hill —
perhaps across Holland Park — and through unknown streets
and over tramways, we thought very remarkable.
In October we paid a visit to Essex, staying with friends at
Saling, and at Hempstead, in the neighbourhood of my wife's
old home. It was delightful to see again the fine old home-
steads with their brick Tudor chimneys, rfnd vast thatched
barns for which the county is famous, but it was sad to find
the tower of Hempstead Church had fallen, and to see it lying
a heap of stones on the ground, and no apparent prospect of
its being rebuilt.
The hospitable farmers I met had a fairly prosperous look
in spite of the " bad times," and were able to enjoy good
shooting over their farm lands, — partridges, pheasants, hares
and rabbits, — and good shots they were, as a rule; but I
never could understand how taking life could be an enjoyment,
and the raiding of the quiet fields and woods by a band of guns
and beaters seems a sort of desecration. The natural denizens
of the country are being exterminated in favour of certain
artificially cultivated species, too, and native British birds and
animals are getting scarcer and scarcer. If I had a country
estate, I should like to preserve the aboriginal inhabitants of
the woods and fields — the owls, the magpies and the jays, the
stoats and the weasels and the hedgehogs, and all the indigenous
natural wild life, leaving Nature to adjust the " balance of
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 413
power." It might be necessary here and there to take
measures for protective agricultural purposes, but that would
be a very different thing from the artificial culture of pheasants
and partridges, and the preservation of foxes over all other
wild animals, for sporting purposes.
By the way, the shooting party started a fox, which,
alarmed by the sound of the guns, stole from cover, and
scooted across the field with a sort of expression as though he
knew his time had not come, but it was as well to get out of
harm's way. The sporting farmers looked after him pro-
spectively, and with a sort of sub-savage humorous regard, as
a promising and indispensable factor in another favourite sport,
to be enjoyed in the coming winter days,
I had a peep at Easton Lodge, the home of Lady Brooke
(now the Countess of Warwick). She had some Christian
mission meeting there, which was largely attended by the
neighbouring farmers and gentry. Our hostess drove over,
and I accompanied the party, but not being interested in
Christian missionary efforts — in fact adverse to them — I did not
go in, but contented myself with wandering in the lovely park
watching the deer and sketching the house, so I missed my
opportunity of meeting her ladyship, who was as popular as
she was beautiful. I little thought then that a mutual
sympathy with and interest in the cause of Socialism would
be the occasion of our acquaintance in the future, and bring
me to Easton as a guest.
The older wing of the house had been built in 1595, and
was a two-storeyed brick mansion with Elizabethan gable,
chimneys, and mullioned windows, over one of which was carved
the arms with the Maynard crest — a deer. This house had
been largely destroyed by fire in 1 847, and a new three-
storeyed mansion in grey stucco in mid-nineteeth-century
Tudor style had been added.
I also saw the remains of Lees Priory, near Felstead,
the mansion of Sir Richard Rich, afterwards Lord Rich, who
helped Henry Vlll. to despoil the monastic properties in the
country, and obtained Lees' Priory in consequence, where he
built a splendid mansion — the fine gate-house alone now re-
maining, with an ornate group of cut brick Tudor chimneys.
414 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1892- 1903
Latchleys was another interesting old house, near
Hempstead, said to have been originally a hunting lodge of
King Stephen, and containing an interesting oak-panelled
room of fifteenth-century date, though hung with sixteenth
or seventeenth century tapestries — one of Samson in quasi
Roman armour represented the biblical hero slaying the
Philistines with the ass's jawbone.
In December we had our " house-warming " in Holland
Street, and a large party of friends filled the old house.
Among our guests on this occasion were Burne-Jones and
William Morris, who actually put on a dress suit — a costume
which he was rarely known to wear, and which perhaps
might have been associated in his mind with an order of
things against which his own life was a continual protest.
Also, as a careless dresser, he did not care for the trouble of it.
1 find a postcard from Mr. George Bernard Shaw asking
me to " excuse the deadest of dead beats to Mrs. Crane for not
turning up," adding —
" That play of mine threw my work so into arrear that I
had to sit here and peg away [the loss was mine].
" You looked thunderingly well after your American tour
that night at Morris's.^ Wish I could go for a blow somewhere.
" G. Bernard Shaw "
Ford Madox Brown also wrote, from St. Edmund's
Terrace —
" I should much like to be present, but fear that with
the weather we seem likely to have I cannot afford the
luxury. — With best thanks, yours sincerely,
" F. Madox Brown "
The writing looked somewhat tremulous. The veteran
painter died less than a year afterwards, on October 6, 1893,
— Mr. Moncure Conway, I remember, made an impressive
address at his grave in Highgate Cemetery, — and we lost one of
^ At Kelmscott House, Hammersmith, where I had given my ' ' Impressions of
America " to the League Branch.
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNG ARY— ITALY 4 1 5
the most original of English painters, and a man of keen
intellect and noble independence of spirit.
The following year I was busied with a set of coloured
designs for Mrs. Margaret Deland's Old Garden, which I had
undertaken for Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin, & Co., of Boston,
and my " Neptune's Horses," already mentioned.
Among other works I wrote an article on " Gesso- Work "
for The Studio, which then appeared, my contribution being
in the second number. This, I think, brought me into
relation with Gleeson White, who was at first editor of The
Studio.
The cover bore a design by Aubrey Beardsley, a young
artist of extraordinary promise, who became known to the
public about this time — largely, I believe, owing to the quick
sympathy and recognition Gleeson White extended to all young
and promising designers in black and white.
It was, by the way, Gleeson White who had invited me to
contribute to his book of Ballads and Rondeaus a few years
before, and he now, on behalf of Messrs. George Bell & Sons,
induced me to take up the subject of the Decorative
Illustration of Books, or rather, to expand into a book the
Cantor Lectures I had given in 1889 at the Society of Arts
upon that subject, and I was much indebted during the pre-
paration of this book to his assistance. The section devoted
to modern illustrators was greatly added to, as a number of
brilliant designers had come out since my lectures were given,
and great activity had been displayed by certain publishers in
bringing out illustrated works under the influence of the
newer ideas of typography and decoration which the Kelmscott
Press had done so much to stimulate. Gleeson White had
himself a very complete collection of modern illustrated books.
Aubrey Beardsley was one of the new school of black-and-
white artists illustrated in my book. He had won distinction
by a very rich and inventive series of designs to Sir Thomas
Mallory's Morte d' Arthur, published by Mr. Dent. These
and the earlier work of this artist generally showed the
influence of Rossetti and Burne-Jones and a love of emphatic
black-and-white decorative pattern ; but soon other influences
gained the ascendancy, notably Japanese, leading to the use
4i6 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
of fine outlines and solid blacks, as in the designs to Salome.
A quality or feeling, however, generally characterised as
" morbid," which, from the first, was present in the designs
and conceptions of this refined and gifted artist, ultimately
seemed to gain the ascendancy, overshadowing his sense of
beauty, and inducing him to spend his skill upon loathly or
corrupt forms and subjects. This, at least, was the impression
left by many of his later designs, though these very qualities
may have increased their value and added to their piquancy
in the eyes of his eager collectors. For there was no doubt
of his rapid success. His want of physical health, to which
indeed might be ascribed the morbid elements in his work,
finally overcame him, and early death cut short a brilliant
career.
At the time Mr. Lane started his Yellow Book Beardsley
was appointed Art Editor, and he came to me for a con-
tribution, selecting a photograph of my " Renascence of
Venus," which appeared (by kind permission of Mr. Watts)
in one of the early numbers (vol. ii.) of that short-lived but
remarkable quarterly.
Beardsley was proposing a visit to the United States. I
remarked that the Americans doubtless would " make much of
him," and Beardsley replied with a smile that he " certainly
hoped to make much of them."
Another Arts and Crafts Exhibition being due this year,
according to our triennial plan, one was kept busy, though
William Morris having succeeded me as President I no longer
had the cares of that oflfice on my shoulders, but remained an
active member of the Committee. We opened, as before, at the
New Gallery from October to the end of November,
It was during the winter of 1892, I think, that my friend
Charles Rowley called upon me with Councillor Hoy (who
was afterwards knighted when Lord Mayor of Manchester),
with a proposal that I should take the post of Director of
Design of the Manchester School of Art, which was in process
of being municipalised.
It was curious that the post of headmaster of this school
had many years before been offered to me through the
medium of Mr. Charles E. Halle. This was at the time of
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 4 1 7
Mr. Muckley's retirement, when Mr. Willis ultimately took the
post, and raised the school to a high position among the
schools under the Science and Art Department.
I had often been in Manchester, and had given addresses
at Mr. Rowley's Ancoats Brotherhood Hall and other places,
and I had visited the School of Art.
It was now suggested I should go down and give an
address on Art Education at Manchester to those interested,
and put the authorities in possession of my views. This
was accordingly arranged, and the address was afterwards
printed.
Shortly afterwards the appointment was made, and the
following year in the autumn term I went down to take up
my new duties, which involved a monthly visit to the school,
attendance there during a week, from Monday to Saturday,
general superintendence of the classes, and the delivery of
courses of lectures.
I found my able and hard-working colleagues in the art
masters and assistant masters and mistresses then at work
in the school were most anxious, as far as they could, to
further my suggestions. Mr. Richard Glasier was head-
master, and Mr. Henry Cadness second master, and he had the
Design room under his charge. I issued a short paper of
" suggestions " as to the course of teaching I considered most
useful as bearing on a training for designers, and these in-
cluded brush-drawing and the study of silhouette, memory
drawing, plant study and surface pattern, study of the figure
in action, and its ornamental adaptation to architectural design,
and space-filling.
I found it a little difficult to graft the kind of study I
had found practically useful in my own work as a designer on
to the rather cut and dried and wooden courses prescribed by
the Department, or rather, to dovetail new methods with the
existing curriculum. To obtain grants or to compete for
prizes in the national competition certain works had to be
done in certain ways by the candidates, and the rules for the
exercises necessary for winning certificates had to be strictly
followed. Under these circumstances it was difficult for students
working with the aim of gaining the official distinctions which
27
4i8 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
were supposed to qualify them for the teaching of art, to give
much time to experiments in or to master new methods. The
best chance was with those who came to the school from the
workshop to gain wider practice and insight, or who wished to
acquire a knowledge of practical and artistic design.
A course of illustrated lectures, entitled " The Bases of
Design," written for and delivered at the Manchester School,
was afterwards published by Messrs. G. Bell & Sons, and
explains my point of view, and a second course on " Line and
Form," also issued in book form by the same house, went still
more into detail and practical methods of work.
It was rather encouraging (?) to hear as I did from
an assistant master who had occasional duties at the school,
when I was giving up my work at Manchester (in 1896), after
three years, and who, in expressing his regrets, said, " that
for the first two years he confessed he did not see what I
was driving at," but that now he was beginning to understand
to follow me — I was going to leave.
The Art Workers' Guild were accustomed to have a
country meeting during the summer, usually in July. Some
historic house was visited within reach of London, and many
interesting places we saw on these excursions, Bramshill
and Penshurst Place being among them, also Ightham Mote, —
most delightful of Kentish houses, — Sutton Place, Audley
End, Hatfield House, Hever Castle, Compton Wynyates,
and Knole, all being visited in different years. The owners
generally gave us every facility, and sometimes hospitality
and personal information as to the history of their houses.
This year we went to Cobham Hall, of which I give a slight
sketch. Lord Darnley on this occasion discoursed to us as
to the architectural history of the Hall.
In the summer of 1893 we spent some pleasant weeks
in Somersetshire, making acquaintance with Wells and its
noble Cathedral and delightful environment of mediaeval
buildings and gardens, amid which I found many fascinating
subjects for studies. We visited Glastonbury and the vale
of Avalon, so closely associated with the Arthurian legend,
and which is still not unfrequently flooded in winter, so that
there is foundation for Tennyson's " orchard lawns and
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 4 1 9
island valleys," which became the earthly paradise of the
wounded king.
From Wells we journeyed to Salisbury, and admired
its graceful proportions and tapering spire, but felt it had not
the massive grandeur of its Somersetshire neighbour, though
in the delicate figure sculpture in the spandrels of the chapter
it might rival the renowned niches of the west house front
at Wells, and afford further
evidence of the fine quality
of mediaeval architectural
sculpture in England, which
has suffered so much from
destruction. The noble ala-
baster effigies on the tombs
in the nave, too, further
enforce this.
Finally we worked to
the coast at Bosham, with
its curious Saxon church,
which must have witnessed
the embarkation of King
Harold for Normandy in
the eleventh century, and
appears in Matilda's Bayeux
needlework.
Bosham is now a haunt
of painters, for whom it
provides abundant material
in old waterside houses,
and boats, a tidal river,
and quiet poetic bits of Sussex country, which have their
own charm. Here I fell in with two friends of the old
Royal Academy agitation days in the persons of H. H. La
Thangue and James Stanley Little. The former, always
fond of secluded and out-of-the-way spots, was painting at
a remote farm in the neighbourhood.
In September of this year (1893), as before mentioned,
I started work at Manchester. My good friend Charles
Rowley introduced me to the city worthies at the Reform
COBHAM HALL
420 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
Club, where I frequently lunched with him, and met leading
members of the City Council, and my weekly visits to the
school were often varied by social gatherings in the evenings.
About the end of November 1893 the late Duke of
Westminster invited me to give an address at the prize
distribution to the students of the Art School at Chester
(a sort of function which often seemed my lot to take part
in, in various parts of the country, since my connection with
art schools). Chester, naturally, had unusual interest for
me as the home of my ancestry.
The Duke's letter was as follows : —
" Eaton, November 23
" Dear Mr. Crane, — We have a very flourishing School
of Art at Chester.
" I venture to ask you whether you would kindly come
down here for one evening in the week of the 17th December
and give us and the students an address ? I enclose a paper
which throws a little light on the matter, and can give you
any information you may require. I hope that if able to
come, you will name any day in that week (except the
2 1st), and that you will come here for it.
" I will send to meet the train. — Believe me to be yours
truly, Westminster "
This invitation I accepted.
At the time of my exhibition in Bond Street, I recall
that the Duke had bought some original wallpaper designs
of mine, which he afterwards presented to the Chester Art
School.
The Duke was the President of the school, and the
headmaster (Mr. Griffith) wrote : " I know the Duke in his
opening remarks would like to claim you as a ' Chester Boy,'
and I shall esteem it a favour if you will kindly inform
me whether our ancient city was your birthplace, and any
information you may possess respecting your family's con-
nection with Chester."
When the time came, I went over from Manchester,
where I had been on one of my monthly visits to the
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 42 1
school, and was duly conveyed to Eaton Hall, joining the
ducal family at an old-fashioned tea, where they all sat
round a solid table — instead of skirmishing about with tea-
cups, as is usual.
Eaton Hall is well known as a great show place, the house
designed by Mr. Alfred Waterhouse. There are decorations
by H. S. Marks, and windows by F. J. Shields in the chapel,
and on the garden front is Watts's fine equestrian bronze of
Hugh Lupus, first Earl of Chester. I recall being asked some
years before for some designs for the Duchess's dressing-room
by the firm who had the decorations in hand. The story of
Jason and the Golden Fleece was to be the subject, and
I made some sketches, but the work never came off.
The Duke was better known for his interest in race-
horses than for artistic enthusiasm. His tall thin figure and
rather old-fashioned slightly sporting-gentleman appearance
were well known in London. He had a courteous but cold and
very quiet manner. The Duchess was handsome and kindly
in a dignified way — the second wife, and there were con-
siderable differences in age between the older and younger
members in the two families, the eldest son — the present
Duke — promising to be very like his father. In the dining-
room was a picture of a hunting-field in which the three
principal horsemen (in pink and tall hats) represented three
generations in the Grosvenor family, as the Duke pointed out
to me — himself as a young man being one.
The family occupied a complete mansion apart from
the show part of Eaton Hall, more like an ordinary English
country house in character, with a central comfortable hall,
or general living-room, with other rooms, such as dining
and drawing rooms and boudoir, opening off it, and a staircase
leading out of it to the bedrooms above.
At the function at the Art School the Duke presided
and introduced me, the Duchess presented the prizes, and
I had to fire off a speech, and the meeting closed with
what Bernard Shaw has described as " the mutual admira-
tion drill " usual on such occasions.
I find that in September 1893 ^" effort was made to
obtain a pension from the Civil List for my old friend
422
AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
W. J. Linton. Mr. Emery Walker, who had seen much of
him during his later visits to England, suggested that some-
thing might be done, and I undertook to write to Mr. Glad-
stone, Lord Rosebery, Lord Leighton, the Earl of Carlisle,
Mr. James Stansfeld, and Lord Battersea, as likely to be
influential in the matter. Mr. Gladstone, then Premier,
promised through his private secretary that the proposal
should be " carefully considered." Lord Leighton was
willing to sign the memorial, and also Lord Battersea and
the Earl of Carlisle.
Lord Rosebery was not quite
clear as to the identity of Linton,
and wrote rather amusingly that,
in asking whether he was the
husband of Mrs. Lynn Linton
he was afraid he might " be
asking some grotesque question,"
and " may in any case appal you
by my want of information. But
if you sounded me a little more
deeply, I daresay I could astonish
you still more in the way of crass
ignorance."
Ultimately Mr. Gladstone
did not see his way to obtaining
the pension, and so my efforts
were in vain.
Linton, though living latterly
in America, had always remained a British subject. His
great work on wood - engraving, it is to be feared, was
financially a disappointment to him.
For our summer holiday the following year we had
planned a trip to Baireuth, at the suggestion of our friend
Rowley, and a tour was arranged to include visits to many
other places by the way. The party consisted of my wife
and daughter, Madame Ritter, Mr. Collier, Charles Rowley,
and myself. We went by the Hook of Holland route to
Rotterdam, and thence to Cologne, and up the Rhine by
steamer, and from Mainz and Aschaffenburg across Germany,
GERMAN OFFICIAL AND BRITISH
TOURIST
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 423
making a rapid journey to Rothenburg, where, leaving the
main line at Steinach, we made a stop of a night or two,
enjoying that delightful old town, a unique example of a
mediaeval city, and apparently untouched since the sixteenth
century. It had been a happy hunting-ground with German
artists for some time, I believe, and was becoming known
to those of other nationalities. The stream of English
pilgrims to the Wagner festivals at Baireuth had lately
discovered it, and our hostelry, the " Guldener Hirsch," was
full of tourists. We met a Manchester artist, Mr. Bancroft,
who has done a great deal of work at Rothenburg, and
whose well- drawn street scenes are full of local truth and
character. The quiet charm of the place, complete within
its old walls and ^
embattled gates,
was very great.
Rothenburg re-
minded one of the
fortified towns so
often seen in the
backgrounds of
Albert Durer's de-
signs, and carried
one back to the
Middle Ages, the
timber-built covered warder's walk inside the walls being
complete. The streets were lit at night by lanterns at
intervals slung over the middle of the roadway, and a woman
lamplighter attended to them. The inhabitants seemed un-
spoilt and guileless. The little children would come up and
trustfully put their hands in ours, smiling.
We were sorry to leave so pleasant and interesting a
place, but we were booked to hear Wagner at Baireuth, and
time would not allow a longer stay.
We touched at Nuremberg, my second visit, paying our
duty at its shrines, but it looked comparatively modern after
Rothenburg, save the great towers, but even these had been
darkened in the factory smoke.
Baireuth was reached at last, where an appartement had
PiUiR.iiA'i - TO . RAlYRiOTj^ .
424 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
been secured beforehand, and we duly made our way with
a crowd of visitors of different nationalities to the temple
on the hill — the Wagnerian opera-house, with its surrounding
restaurants ; for music, in spite of its charms, is exhausting,
and between the acts the audience were glad to dine.
It was an ideal way to enjoy the opera. One strolled or
drove up in the afternoon, and leisurely took one's seat in the
vast theatre — the seats rising tier on tier from the stage. By
degrees the audience poured in and filled them up. Only a
faint glimmer of light came from where the orchestra was con-
cealed in front of the stage. Silence fell on the vast audience,
only broken by the occasional snapping of fastenings of opera-
glass cases. This year only the three operas were given —
Lohengj'in, Tannhduser, and Parsifal. Lohengrin was the first,
and I recall the wonderful effect of the first bars of the over-
ture on the violins — the far-off swan-music — a delicate vibration
in the air, at first, rather than a sound — stealing on the silence
in the darkness in a way that reminded one of a creeping mist
over the lowlands, or the silver windings of a river flowing ever
nearer, until it reached one's feet in full flood.
Truly it was a wonderful orchestra, which had the unity of
a single instrument.
I was not struck by any artistic superiority in the treat-
ment of the scenery or the dresses in this opera, and Lohengrin
did not look sufficiently romantic.
Tannhduser was better mounted, and there were some
rather rich and impressive scenes in Venusburg, the chorus
acting with much more spirit and realism than usual, and the
pilgrim scene was good.
Paj'sifal, then only performed at Baireuth, was also very
impressive in parts, such as in the cathedral scene, with slow
march of the knights and the illumination of the Holy Grail,
but others were stagey and unconvincing, and the hero was
unfortunately insignificant-looking, someone even suggesting
that in his curious brown armour in one of the scenes he re-
sembled a water-rat. The music was wonderful, of course.
Between the acts there was a long break, and the audience
all streamed out — to be recalled when the performance re-
commenced by a fanfare of trumpets sounded from the main
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 425
entrance. One was at liberty to stroll off into the woods near
by, or to fortify oneself for the next act at the restaurant.
During the progress of the opera, an American lady was
overheard to remark to her companion, " Em'ly, this excite-
ment is breaking me up fast ! "
As to the opera, however, all was over in about four hours,
and the audience flocked back to the town under the stars.
Baireuth itself was a characteristic German town of no
particular architectural interest or antiquity, though one might
find quaint roofs and windows here and there, and the market-
place was full of interest for its ample displays of peasant
pottery, mostly salt-glazed red and brown earthenware with
painted and slip borders and patterns, and very various in size
and shape. A large collection might have been acquired for a
song — if it could only have travelled without breaking.
Near Baireuth was the queer fantastic palace of King
Ludwig of Bavaria, the charming wooded park and gardens full
of the wildest fantasies in fountains and temples, stuck over
with grotesque masques and figures, more suggestive of things
seen under the influence of nightmares than any known or sane
style of architecture.
Leaving Baireuth, we stopped for a few hours at Ulm, to
see the Cathedral with its wonderful pierced stonework spire,
and getting our first glimpse of the Danube.
From thence we went on to Lindau, pleasantly situated on
the shores of Lake Constance — the Bodensee with a painted
Rathaus, and old gabled spires bright with green and red
tiles, and a fine range of snowy Alps seen across the lake.
After a pleasant stay here we took the steamer up the lake,
touching at many interesting towns, such as Merseburg and
Constance, where I noted the Council House of curiously mixed
Swiss and German Gothic character, the roof and upper storey
being of timber, with many small dormers, and projecting
gables at the corners. We travelled the whole length of the
Bodensee, and then took train for the falls of Schafifhausen,
where we took the little boat voyage over the lower rapids to
the rock which divides the falls, where one can stand apparently
surrounded with the rushing and tumbling waters. At night
they actually threw coloured lights upon the falls, as if it was
426 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
a theatrical spectacle arranged for the amusement of the
tourists at the hotels.
Heidelberg was our next resting-place, and we enjoyed the
fantastic, romantic old castle in the fine woods greatly, and the
fine prospect over the town, and the Rhine wandering away
into the plain country beyond. We pursued our course down
the Rhine, stopping again at Assmannshausen, where we ex-
plored a castle on the opposite bank perched on a crag, and
built on all sorts of different levels, and full of quaint little
turret rooms.
Our party only broke up at Bruges, where some of us
stayed on for a week and where I made some studies. Few
dties impress one more with a sense of quietude and remote-
ness from the commercial strife of our time, or retain more of
ancient medieval character and distinctiveness. There are
spots apparently almost untouched since the sixteenth century.
I identified the background in a portrait of a lady by Porbus
in the Museum — the donor in the wing of a triptych — as a
view from the town wall near the water-gate looking up the
Lak d'Amour with the towers of Notre Dame, and the Belfry,
and other buildings just as they are, except for the wooden
spire then surmounting the old Belfry of the Rathaus.
Crossing from Ostend to Dover, and thence lingering at
Canterbury, we finished our holiday in the quiet cathedral
city with its many architectural beauties and rich historic
associations.
I managed in the intervals of my Manchester work to
carry on my painting and designing as well as work for
Socialism.
About this time I had some correspondence with Mr.
Andrew Reid, who wrote like an enthusiastic reformer. He
was busy getting out a book, to which various writers had
contributed under his editorship : Grant Allen, Richard le
Gallienne, and others in sympathy with the socialistic ideal
of life. This book was published under the title of Vox
Clamantium. I contributed a frontispiece, and some verses
entitled, " England to her Own Rescue."
Mr. Reid followed this volume by another of a similar
kind, and with many of the same contributors, and entitled
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 427
it The New Party. Mr. Reid had a great idea of uniting
the scattered and sectarian forces of Socialism in a new party
9;rJrfJ^g^Illi'JJt@^grrrT^f^^
of a sufficiently comprehensive and catholic character to in-
clude, as I understood, less definite elements of social and
political advance, but with a common sympathy and desire
42 8 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1892- 1903
for the emancipation of humanity from its economic disabilities
as well as its mental superstitions.
I contributed a frontispiece to this book also.
The idea of unity upon some common basis for all who
cherished the Socialist ideal had long been in my mind, and
while at first there might have been some reason in so many
separate organisations in the movement — appealing, as each
did, to a somewhat different section or order of mind or strata
of society — as time went on, and the great economic principles
were better understood and more generally accepted, one had
hoped that all the sections might find a basis of unity in an
agreement on fundamental principles, while tactics as a part of
political action might be varied according to local conditions.
Even Socialists seemed unable to free themselves from the
competitive system which they denounced, and in consequence
much force has been wasted.
On the other hand, anti-Socialists of otherwise different
political or religious faith show themselves quite able to unite
against Socialism. We might, therefore, it seemed to me, do
well to learn from our enemies.
For myself, I found points of sympathy in all the sections
of the movement, and this idea of Andrew Reid's appealed to
me as at least a well-meant effort in the right direction, and
as helping the propaganda generally, though I did not quite
see the need for a new party apart from the Socialist party.
I fear that Mr. Reid was a little too previous in his efforts,
and also perhaps endeavoured to unite impossible elements.
He even suggested a badge and a colour ; and here again he
was not fortunate, as purple, which he fixed on, is too much
associated with Imperialism.
I did not hear from Mr. Reid after this tirne, and never
heard whether any further steps had been taken by him or
others towards the organisation of " the New Party." I do
not even know that it was really his intention to form one in
the ordinary sense. In one of his letters he expresses his aims
as follows : —
" I do want to flood the country with an emotional flood
and to launch a great people's party, which shall not care for
Lord Rosebery's * spirited foreign policy,' but look to a spirited
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 429
home policy that shall make our country a social rather than
imperial story in the world."
My principal picture of this year was " The Swan Maidens,"
which was in the place of honour in the south room of the
New Gallery and eventually found a home in Germany.
From Mr. George Allen I had a very attractive proposal
— no less than to illustrate the Faerie Queene of Edmund
Spenser. The book was to be a sumptuous one on an im-
portant scale, and the text to be edited by Mr. Thomas
J. Wise.
The Faerie Queene had long been known to me — indeed, I
might say that it had been a cherished dream of mine to
illustrate it — and years ago I had made a design of Una and
the Lion, and proposed the idea of bringing out an important
edition to Messrs. Cassell, but received no encouragement, as
such a work was not supposed to be likely to appeal to a
sufficiently wide public.
Mr. Allen probably thought that the many allusions to
Spenser's great poem to be found in Ruskin's works, and
the high admiration he constantly expressed for Spenser's
allegory, would make such an edition of the poem as he con-
templated welcome to the large circle of Ruskin's readers to
whom he had so successfully appealed by the new editions of
the great writer's works. The Chiswick Press were to be
responsible for the printing, and no pains were to be spared ,
to make the work complete.
To follow the poet through the six books, and to endeavour
to embody the extraordinarily rich invention and complexity of
much of his allegory, with its historic, mythical, and classical
allusions, as well as to depict the incidents and characters of
the story, was no light undertaking, but the task was a con-
genial one, and I commenced with a light heart.
The work was to be issued in parts, and I was able to
deliver my designs in instalments. These consisted of one or
more full-page illustrations to each canto and headings and
tailpieces besides, as well as title-pages to each book. Alto-
gether the work extended over three years, as it was not
complete until 1897.
The stanza I wrote on the completion of the designs
430 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1892- 1903
expresses my feeling at the time. This was printed at the
beginning of Book I. —
"Great Spenser's noble rhyme have I essayed
To picture, striving still, as faithful squyre
Each faery knight to serve in arms array'd
'Gainst salvage force, and deathful dragons dire,
Or Blatant Beast with poisonous tongues of fire :
To limn the Lion mylde with Una fayre.
The false Duessa, and the warlike mayde.
'Be Bolde,' I read, and did this emprise dare.
Lo ! now the door is wide, so let the masque forth fare ! "
The collection of my work, after finishing its tour in the
United States, where it had been diminished by numerous
sales, chiefly of the smaller designs and drawings, had been
invited to Canada, and after being exhibited at Montreal
returned to England, but almost immediately afterwards I had
a proposal from Dr. Gurlitt — the German critic and writer on
art — to send it to Berlin, to be exhibited under the auspices
of the Government Kunstgewerbe Museum there, where it
attracted much attention.
Dr. Jessen, the Director, wrote an account of my work
for the catalogue.
I found a very sympathetic critic of my work in Mr.
William Ritter, who wrote to me from Vienna, and sent me
from time to time what he had printed on the subject.
I accepted an offer from Herr Ernst Seeger for most of
the principal pictures which accompanied the collection, includ-
ing " The Chariots of the Hours," " La Belle Dame sans Merci,"
" Truth and the Traveller," and some of the book designs were
acquired by the Museum. Arrangements were made which
enabled the collection to be exhibited in the Government
Kunstgewerbe museums of the principal towns in Germany,
after Berlin ; and accordingly my collection, leaving behind it
some specimens at each place, went on tour again, Leipzig,
Munich, Dresden, Karlsruhe, Frankfort, Stuttgart, Crefeld,
Cologne, Bremen, Hamburg, being amongst the cities where
it was seen. From Germany, too, it was passed into Austria,
and was shown at Vienna and at Briinn, and thence into
Bohemia, at Prague, and after that I think it went to Switzer-
1892-1903J KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 431
land, at Basel, and then northwards through Belgium, Brussels,
and Holland to Denmark, Copenhagen, and even to Norway
and Sweden, at Christiania and Stockholm, before it travelled,
or what remained of it, back to England. So that a European
tour for my works was added to the American one.
Herr Seeger of Berlin eventually acquired " The Bridge
of Life," in addition to others of my pictures. It seems
curious that most of my principal pictures should find homes
in Germany, and that hardly anyone besides Mr. Watts should
have shown much interest in them. Possibly, apart from any
artistic quality, the symbolic and figurative character of their
subjects are more in sympathy with the Teutonic mind, and
we like *' all goods marked in plain figures " in England ; and,
though a painter before I was a designer, I had been labelled
" Children's Books " or " Arts and Crafts," and it is preposterous
for a man to expect to be recognised without his usual label
— besides, it disturbs the commercial order of things.
Among names well known in connection with the arts I
remember during '94 meeting Philip Gilbert Hamilton, whose
Painters Camp in the Highlands I had read long before
with much interest. He had written many works since then.
I had several letters from him, and he finally came to see
me in Holland Street during one of his visits to London, but
he himself had lived in France for many years. I found him
somewhat dry in manner, and not very communicative.
February '95 found us at New Quay in Cornwall, whither
by doctor's advice I had taken my wife, who was just recover-
ing from a rather sharp attack of influenza, and we much
enjoyed the magnificent sight of the Atlantic breakers thunder-
ing over the rocks. The big hotel on the headland is unsightly
but comfortable inside, and one gets as much sea air as if one
were on a vessel — without the movement and the risk. It
was singularly mild in the green valleys, and we found it
quite possible to take long drives in an open carriage along
the coast — to Bedruthen Steps in one direction or to Perran
Porth in the other — without being frozen.
My study of the Faerie Queene no doubt influenced my
easel work at this time, as my principal picture this year was
a knightly subject — " England's Emblem " — and represented
432 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
our patron saint in full armour upon a white horse with red
trappings, charging the dragon, behind which was a rather
gloomy landscape with factory chimneys dark against lurid bars
of sunset, and to the left a stretch of seashore, and a neglected
plough in the middle distance — perhaps a not obscure allegory.
At Munich, at an important International Kunstaustellung,
I was awarded a Gold Medal, of the second class, for my picture
" The Chariots of the Hours," which had been sent there with
my consent by its owner, Herr Ernst Seeger of Berlin.
This picture had been skyed in one of the smaller rooms
at the Grosvenor Gallery when it was first painted.
I was afterwards made an honorary member of the Munich
Academy.
I also made a water colour out of the motive of one of
the headings to Book III. — " Britomart by the Sea."
For our usual summer outing we went to Durham, and
were much impressed by the grandeur of the old Norman
Cathedral and its commanding, castle-like position on the
height above the wooded slopes, and found much to study,
old Elvet bridge being particularly picturesque.
From Durham we took the line across the moors to Tebay
Junction for the Lake District, and put up at Ambleside, in
the very same cottage by the stream which was the scene of
my courtship in 1870. It was but little changed, though
Ambleside seemed to have increased, and was busier and more
full of tourists than of old. So we went over all the old
ground, staying again also at Keswick, climbing Skiddaw, and
making many excursions in the neighbourhood, and calling
on Canon Rawnsley, the indefatigable Rector of Crosthwaite,
whose acquaintance I had first made at the Liverpool Art
Congress in 1888, and whose enthusiasm for the preservation
of natural beauty and historic spots is well known, especially
in connection with the National Association having the same
objects. Another friend in the same neighbourhood was Mr.
Leicester Collier, who had been one of our party on the
pilgrimage to Baireuth, and had an interesting collection of
china and all sorts of antiquities, to which he was always
adding on his numerous travels.
From Keswick we went on to Seascale, driving from
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 433
Whitehaven, and from Seascale we made an excursion to
Wastwater. The lake looked desolate enough in the rain we
encountered that day. Our refuge was the inn, but we visited
the tiny, toy-like church.
28
434 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
From the coast near Seascale the Isle of Man was visible,
I remember, and St. Bees was within easy reach.
At Ravenglass, not far from Seascale, lived Edward Stott
of Oldham at that time, but he was not then at home. We
made the acquaintance, however, of Lady Muncaster and her
sister, Lady Erroll, and were received at the Castle. There
was at that time a tremendous rage for bicycle-riding in
fashionable society, the ladies having taken to it with great
vehemence, its intensity while it lasted reminding one of the
present craze for motoring. Both these ladies cycled, and
the machine almost became a drawing-room ornament. I had
not learned the art of riding one at that time, and I remember
that the Hon. Mrs. Eric Barrington, who had a pretty bungalow
near the shore, induced me to try, herself undertaking the
arduous task of the first lesson, which took place on the sands.
I afterwards taught myself on our tennis court at Kensington
by holding on to the handle bar and running the machine
before me to get sufficient way on, then mounting, standing
with one foot on the step to get the balance before getting into
the saddle. The trick of the balance once learned (as every-
one knows who has been through it), the next difficulty is the
steering : one is bound to go through a period of wobbling, as
well as of tumbles and bruises, before taking any degree as a
decent rider. The next danger ahead appears to be the care-
lessness which comes of over-confidence — and nowadays the
ruthless motor car. If speed is the one object of life, of
course the motor cycle, in its explosive, mad career, has long
since put the foot-propelled bicycle to shame.
We can never overtake time, however, and the social effect
of such inventions as the motor car seems to be to crowd
more into the day, to put extra strain on the nerves, and to
increase the already excessive restlessness of our race.
A swift horse in the stable may be highly useful at times,
but we do not always want to be racing.
In January (29th) of this year, 1896, Lord Leighton died.
There had been a danger from angina pectoris for some time,
and the end came after a short illness.
A considerable reaction in the aims and methods of painting
had set in, and the ideals of the late President of the Royal
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 43 5
Academy, as well as his manner of work, were perhaps in some
danger of being undervalued. Time alone can place an artist's
work in its true relation to that of his contemporaries and to
the art of the past, but in the course of his career an artist
may suffer as much from being over-rated as the reverse, and
probably no reputation can escape the changes in taste or
fashion, which after all are but indications of other changes —
in sentiment, in feeling, and in mental outlook and manner of
life. He was undoubtedly a very refined draughtsman, and
his designs and modelled work seemed to show that he had
more of the sculptor's feeling than the painter's.
Whatever differences of opinion there may be about his
work as an artist, his character as a man commanded respect,
and his extraordinary linguistic and other accomplishments
placed him as a type apart amongst artists.
Leighton was buried in St. Paul's and had an imposing
public funeral. I wrote the following sonnet on the occasion :—
Beneath Great London's dome to his last rest,
The princely painter have ye borne away,
Who still in death upholds his sumptuous sway ;
Who strove in life with learned skill to wrest
Art's priceless secret, hid in Beauty's breast —
With alchemy of colour and of clay,
To re-create a fairer human day,
Touched by no shadow of our time distrest.
What rank or privilege needs Art supreme —
Immortal child of buried states and powers —
Who can for us the golden age renew,
Let Worth and Work bear witness when life's hours
Are numbered : honour due, when, as we deem
To his ideal was the artist true.
The years now seemed to be rather emphatically marked
by the holidays which, what with lectures at the Manchester
School and work there every month, and one's studio and desk-
work at home, were welcome enough when they came, and dwelt
pleasantly in the memory. This summer we went for a tour in
Normandy, crossing to Dieppe, and visiting Beauvais, where the
wonderful scale of the Cathedral surpassed all we had heard of
it, besides its treasures in glass and tapestry, and the interest
of its early Romanesque church entered from the great choir.
436 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
I made several studies here before we went to Rouen, which
we found en fete, owing to some Presidential visit.
Before this, however, we paid a flying visit to Amiens,
where I was glad of the opportunity of seeing the Cathedral, so
rich in thirteenth and fourteenth century figure sculpture.
At Rouen we could hardly find where to lay our heads,
the hotels were so full. At length, through the enterprise of
a railway official, we were taken in at an antique hostelry with
an old-fashioned paved court, more picturesque than sanitary
perhaps. The architecture of Rouen has so often been de-
scribed that I will not dwell upon its wonders, which fully
occupied us during our short stay. Taking the steamer down
the Seine, we had an enjoyable voyage to the mouth at Havre,
getting a passing glimpse of Caudebec. From Havre we crossed
over to the interesting little town of Honfleur, with its pictur-
esque clock-tower in the market-place. After sketching this,
and wandering into the pleasant orchard country of Pennedapie,
we went on to Lisieux, with its splendid church and quaint
gables of half-timbered houses leaning over the street. From
Lisieux we reached Caen. Here again was a feast of archi-
tecture of which it was impossible to gain more than an
impression in the limited time at our disposal. At Bayeux
we made a rather longer stay, finding both the Cathedral and
the town full of architectural interest. It was curious to see
the famous needlework of Matilda, the so-called " Bayeux
Tapestry," in the little museum carefully preserved under glass,
and placed where it could be really examined.
St. L6 and Coutances followed on our programme, the
first seen at a disadvantage under umbrellas, and Coutances
was so crowded, it being market day, that we could only get
into the Cathedral by stepping over the baskets — and bodies,
I was about to say — of the market women.
Rain pursued us to Mont St. Michel — sans merci — to which
we were drawn in a ramshackle sort of chaise, which felt as
though it might come to pieces at any moment. We arrived,
however, but only to find the little island swarming with
tourists, the majority of whom were compatriots. Awaiting
the pleasure or possibility of disposal at the hands of or in the
hostelry of Madame Poulard, many were sitting on their port-
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 437
manteaus in the open street. With great difficulty a little
garret was found for us — a party of five — where we had to
make believe very much that a screen divided it into two
compartments, a practical illustration of a case of overcrowding.
The architecture explored next day was wonderful, but the
weather was, if possible, still wetter than before, and again the
voyage, in very inefficiently canvas- covered omnibuses, intended
for fine-weather use, had to be undertaken along some four
miles of singularly exposed road to the railway station, where
an apparently inextricable mass of muddy " bikes " hindered
one's approach to the booking office.
The wind had its turn at St. Malo, where we next put up,
before it settled down again to calm and sunshine on a shore
well adapted to repose, and which offered excellent bathing
facilities, with lawn tennis and cycling thrown in, as it were.
The graceful young French ladies all wore " bloomers " in
riding the bicycle, and often promenaded in the same
costume ; but generally they did not go beyond black or grey
relieved with white, and straw hats with straight plumes and
white veils, in which they look quite charming. The old town
of St. Malo, comfortably built within its walls, was interesting,
and also Dinard, and Dinan, with its old chateau and streets.
But time was up, and we addressed ourselves to the return
voyage, which proved, as far as Jersey at least, too terrible for
words. Luckily that apathy which overpowers the victims of
mal de mer prevents them from fully gauging the depths of
their temporary misery, also obliterates, or at least softens,
the memory of it.
Jersey struck one as curiously mingling French and English
characteristics, and St. Helier had the aspect of a tourist-
ridden town, the shops largely appealing to their supposed
wants, and especially bristling with the native cabbage-stalks
converted into walking-sticks, with the lion-stamped penny on
the top. The surrounding country flashed with glass houses of
fruit growers, and at Guernsey, where we touched, the steamer
received a cargo of grapes in baskets, which were also offered
at a very cheap rate by vendors to the passengers on the boat.
Alderney was out of range, and Sark was only a rocky
outline out of reach.
438 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
The remainder of our voyage to Southampton was calm
and without incident, and so we got back to the tea-table of
domestic Mrs. Britannia, not, perhaps, altogether sorry to be at
home again.
Changes are apt to happen even during the shortest
absences, and while in Normandy we heard of the death of
Sir J. E. Millais.
Curiously enough, I had never chanced to make his
personal acquaintance, though I had long entertained a great
admiration for his work, especially the work of his earlier time
and of the earnest, romantic, pre-Raphaelite mood, and I have
already recorded the profound impression his pictures had
upon me when I first saw them at the Academy in '57.
English art could not but be poorer by the loss of so brilliant
a painter. The last time I had seen him was as one of the
pall-bearers at Lord Leighton's funeral in St. Paul's Cathedral,
in the preceding January,
Another sad piece of news at this time was that of the
serious illness of William Morris. He had been ailing for
some months ; indeed, I hardly think he ever completely got
over a severe attack of influenza, which left after effects. His
illness, however, puzzled the doctors. He had, under advice,
during the summer taken a voyage to the North Sea, but it
did not seem to have benefited him.
I find a letter from him dated February 4th of this same
year, '96, written from Kelmscott House, Upper Mall, Hammer-
smith. It must have been in answer to some request of mine
for the cartoon of " The Goose Girl " to be lent to some
exhibition, and is as follows : —
" My dear Crane, — You are very welcome to have any-
thing we have of the ' Goose Girl,' and I am writing to Oxford
Street to ask them about it.
" I think we have the Cartoon.
'* I am just back in town. Not up to much. — Yours very
truly, William Morris"
This was the last letter I had from him. He was at
Folkestone in the earlier part of the year, and had just
1892-1903] KENSINGTOxN— HUNGARY— ITALY 439
returned from there when he wrote this. The last sentence
was ominous.
He was not a man who ever took any care of himself, but
seemed, beyond occasional attacks of gout, to enjoy the most
robust health as a rule ; and as I had never seen him except when
full of life and vigour, it was difficult to realise him as really ill.
I had heard him say that the thought of death did not
trouble him : " Life was quite enough."
When I returned from France, about the beginning of
September, I at once called at his house, but was not admitted.
It appeared he was then too ill to see anyone outside his own
family, or his lifelong friend and companion, Burne-Jones. The
latter told me that he scarcely spoke, even to him.
We, his colleagues of the committee, were busy, too, with
the organisation of another Arts and Crafts Exhibition.
Morris was then President of our Society, but of course work
was out of the question for him. The exhibition was timed to
open on the 5th of October, but on Saturday, the very day of
the private view, he died.
Mr. T. J. Cobden-Sanderson, then our Honorary Secretary,
came to see me on the Sunday, full of grief I showed him a
sonnet I had written in the endeavour to express our feelings,
and he suggested it should be placed upon the glass case in
the exhibition containing the Kelmscott books, his exhibit, and
over the famous Chaucer — the last and greatest work of his
press — surrounded with a wreath of bay leaves. This I made
with my own hands, and the tribute was placed on the case
when the exhibition opened to the public on the Monday
morning. During the period of the exhibition, however, some-
one, undiscovered, must have made away with both the sonnet
and the wreath, as they unaccountably disappeared.
SONNET ON THE DEATH OF WILLIAM MORRIS
How can it be ! that strong and fruitful life
Hath ceased — that strenuous but joyful heart,
Skilled craftsman in the loom of song and art,
Whose voice by beating seas of hope and strife,
Would lift the soul of Labour from the knife,
And strive 'gainst greed of factory and mart —
Ah ! ere the morning, must he, too, depart
While yet with battle cries the air is rife?
440 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
Blazon his name in England's Book of Gold
Who loved her, and who wrought her legends fair,
Woven in song, and written in design,
The wonders of the press and loom — a shrine.
Beyond the touch of death, that shall enfold
In life's House Beautiful, a spirit rare.
October 4, 1896
Morris was buried close to his favourite Thames, in Lech-
lade Churchyard, near his country home — Kelmscott Manor.
SKETCH OF WILLIAM MORRIS SPEAKING FROM A WAGGON
IN HYDE PARK
A special train bore his body and a large assembly of his
mourning friends, fellow - workers and comrades, from
Paddington Station to Lechlade. There was no ghastly
black-plumed hearse or undertaker's upholstery to be seen, but
a simple country cart, gaily painted and decked with flowers,
and drawn by a splendid shire horse, was there to bear the
poet's body to its last rest. Covered with wreaths and boughs,
this brightly painted cart with its burden headed a long pro-
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 441
cession of black carriages, which followed like clouds after the
sunken sun of colour and light, through the wind and rain and
falling leaves of that stormy October day along the wet road
to the churchyard, where, after a short service in the old village
church, the last look was taken and the last tributes paid, and
we wended our way back, feeling how much poorer we and the
world would be for the loss of our friend.
I have a little sketch of him as he stood on a May Day
in Hyde Park, in a waggon decked with wild spring flowers,
speaking to a crowd of workmen, the red flag waving over his
head. This is an appropriate last vision to remember of
William Morris, who in all he did was very much alive, and
who, though loving the beauty and romance of the past,
looked forward with a clear vision to the future, and to the
regeneration of society, relieved of the artificial burdens which
now oppress mankind.
Finding that it became rather a strain to carry on my
teaching work at Manchester, as well as my work in London,
I decided to resign my directorship at the Municipal School ;
and so, with the close of the summer term in 1897, "^7 term
of office came to an end. My friend Charles Rowley, the
Chairman of the School, had supported me in every possible
way ; he had a real enthusiasm for beautiful works of art, and
earnestly desired and worked for the efficiency of the school.
He seemed to be one of the few who really felt the social and
national importance of the cultivation of the sense of beauty
and the capacity for art, independently of its industrial value,
and is in this respect a bright example to his fellow-citizens.
Through him, too, I had made many pleasant and interesting
acquaintances in Manchester. I could only part with my
colleagues and the students with regret, and I shall always
regard my experience there as most valuable.
I was not, however, to be quite free from some sort of
teaching direction. Professor Mackinder, who had established
a university college at Reading, came to see me about this
time in reference to my taking the post of Director of the
Art Department there, to which I agreed, as not absorbing too
much time. The existing Reading art school was to be re-
organised and to be a branch of the college. I had been
442 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892- 1903
instrumental in recommending the appointment of Mr. F.
Morley Fletcher as headmaster. His artistic work in the
direction of the adaptation of the Japanese method of colour
block engraving and printing to English subjects and treat-
ment is well known, and he held classes in this craft under
the London County Council for several years at their central
school. Extensive additions were being made at Reading to
the college buildings, a portion of which was a remnant of the
old Abbey, situated close to the church and near the Town
Hall.
The college owed a great deal to the munificence of the
Palmer family and to Lord Wantage, and the latter and Mr.
(now Sir) Walter Palmer were on the Council,
The Prince of Wales (our present King) was invited to the
opening of the new buildings, which included a fine lecture
hall, and in its large window the college arms were produced
in stained glass by Mr. Morley Fletcher and his pupils.
There was a grand procession of Doctors of Science and
Divinity, including the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford, and a long
train of dignitaries from the University, making the street gay
with their robes. Then the Prince declared the buildings
open, and made the tour of inspection, being received by the
professors, each in their different departments, and in due
course he visited the art rooms, which were at the top, and
gave me a shake of the hand.
I designed the address to the Prince, which was presented
on this occasion in a silver and enamelled casket made by
Mr. Nelson Dawson.
A luncheon followed, whereat healths and speeches were
given.
Reading College has prospered, but has lately moved
again into new quarters in another part of the town, the
Municipality requiring the buildings in close proximity to the
Town Hall.
Professor Mackinder has since found other fields for his
energy in London, and he has been succeeded in the Principal-
ship of Reading College by Professor Childs. At one of the
college dinners in the earlier days, I remember it came to my
turn to speak, when, it seems, I rather astonished the company
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 44 3
by mentioning, in connection with the prosperity of the
college and the welfare of Reading, " The harmless but most
necessary biscuit." Curiously enough, no speaker had ever
been known to make such an allusion to the staple industry
of the town before. I ventured to think, however, that
supposing samples of modern skill and invention in that
direction could await the judgment of posterity, the verdict
would probably be that some of our most successful efforts in
craftsmanship were to be found in this form.
Among other work of this period may be named my
illustration of Miss Dale's First Steps to Reading, in which
she introduces a new and excellent method of enabling young
children to get over the old stumbling-blocks of spelling and
pronunciation with which our conglomerate language is full,
and endeavours to bridge the gulf between the sounds of the
letters of our alphabet and the words they form, by a system
of teaching by sounds and syllables and signalising the
different sound values of the letters by printing each in a
different colour, or rather by associating each with a particular
colour †” the vowels always in red, for instance. Otherwise
her principle is to maintain the interest by pictures of every-
thing mentioned in the lesson. Miss Dale has had remarkable
success, and has followed her " First Steps " by more
advanced " Infant Readers," which are in great demand.
Another work I undertook was a set of designs in black
and white to Spenser's Shepheards Calendar for Messrs.
Harper.
I recall about this time a visit I had from the Crown
Prince of Sweden (now King Oscar), who, accompanied by his
equerry, wished to see my studio, which was then in New
Road, Campden Hill, about ten or fifteen minutes' walk from
Holland Street, and we walked over the hill together. He
had a considerable enthusiasm for art, and pursued it to some
extent himself He had seen some of my work, I think,
at Stockholm. I found him very agreeable, and quite un-
affectedly interested. He was on a visit to London, and was
making a study of English art.
There was an International Exhibition at Brussels in 1897,
at which there was an important British Art Section under the
444 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
British Commission. I served on the Art Committee, and a
certain representation of design was included. The committee
used to meet at the Arts Club — Sir Edward Poynter in the
chair, supported by a strong contingent of R.A.'s, and the
presidents of the R.B.A., R.W.S., and R.I. Mr. (now Sir)
Isidore Spielmann was the energetic secretary, who also gave
his services to the Paris Exhibition of 1900 and the St.
Louis Exhibition of 1904, when works of design and artistic
handicraft were included, for the first time in any international
show, among the Fine Arts.
I was called upon (in March 1897) to give a lecture on
" Needlework as a Mode of Artistic Expression." This was
delivered at the Imperial Institute before H.R.H the Princess
Christian, the President of the Royal School of Art Needlework.
I had the advantage of the loan of many beautiful examples
from the museum as illustrations of my subject.
I had about this time an important piece of work to carry
out in a frieze for Sir Weetman Pearson's country-house at
Paddockhurst, extensive additions to it having been made by
Mr. (now Sir) Aston Webb, who asked me to design this
frieze. It was for the dining-room, and to be in plaster. Sir
Weetman Pearson as a great railway magnate had asked for
something bearing upon the source of his wealth, and hoped
the design would include the navvy. I devised a sort of
playful symbolic history of locomotion and transport — " from
the earliest period to the present time," beginning, 1 might
say, with primitive man and his ox-waggon, and ending with
the motor car — but the horse, the canoe, the canal boat, the
stage-coach, the railroad and the train, the bicycle, and even
the perambulator, all figured in the scheme. Lady Pearson
had a pet bicycle of silver (said to have cost ;^40o) which
it was hoped I could introduce — that is to say, its
portrait !
I modelled the whole of the panels myself in clay, and
Mr. Priestley moulded them for me in fibrous plaster.
One of the panels represented the genius of mechanical
invention uniting commerce and agriculture, and its pendant —
the genius of electricity — uniting the quarters of the earth.
This work naturally occupied a considerable time. Besides
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 445
this, I finished the Faerie Quee^ie this year, and managed to
find time to paint a large picture for the New Gallery which
I named " Britannia's Vision."
This picture seemed to excite unusual ire on the part of
most of my critics, who often, as the reviewers in Shelley's
" Peter Bell " apparently, received instructions (can they be
from the same source ?) to " pray abuse."
They seemed to think the design inappropiate to her late
Majesty's Jubilee year ; but it was really little more than a
symbolic record of the actual outlook, political and social, cast
in pictorial form, and in a design which, unbidden, had taken
shape in my mind. The descriptive sonnet which I wrote to
accompany the picture enforces its meaning —
What shapes are these across the sunset red,
That fill her vision on the regal seat
Of Britain ? World-wide empire doth her greet,
With sceptre, globe, and purple robes wide spread :
Behind her, greed of gold with anxious tread ;
Pale cowering Poverty with weary feet.
His clinging shadow, still doth help entreat,
While, her beside, claims Labour more than bread —
E'en Justice, who doth hold aloft the scales.
Above the threatening clouds of war and change,
And that winged spectre wrapped in vap'rous weed.
The fateful glass of time and tide that veils,
Hid in the breast of night, mysterious, strange —
The destiny of nations, who may read ?
April 1897
In the summer of '97 I was invited by the Countess of
Bective to act as one of the judges in an Arts and Crafts
Exhibition she was presiding over at Carnforth, my colleague
to be Mr, Alan Cole of the Science and Art Department.
As an extra inducement Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Severn suggested
that I should come on to Coniston and spend a few days at
Brant wood, and have an interview with the great John Ruskin.
Accordingly, in August, I travelled down to Lancashire to stay
at Barnacre, Lady Bective's country-house. Besides my friend
Alan Cole, there were among the guests. Lord Arthur Hill,
the Countess's brother, who held some important parliamentary
office. The house, originally intended as a shooting lodge.
446 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892- 1903
was not very large or architecturally interesting, but comfort-
able and pleasantly situated on high ground in a wooded park.
The town where the show was held was a short journey by
rail. Alan Cole used to cycle in and out from Barnacre.
The exhibition was of the usual mixed amateur kind, in
some kind of a top-lighted hall full of busy ladies. A few
good bits of work here and there by more experienced or
professional hands enlivened the show, but my task was a
light one.
There was a formal opening, at which the Earl of Derby
was principal speaker. I had met him many years previously
at Wortley Hall when he was Colonel Stanley. He did not
seem to feel himself quite in his element in speaking about
art, and was apparently grateful for some suggestions from
me. Lady Bective also spoke, as well as representatives of
the town.
Shortly afterwards I took my leave and journeyed on
to Coniston, where Mr. Arthur Severn met me, and drove me
to Brantwood. It was only about a couple of years that I
had had a glimpse of Ruskin's home, as, when we were in the
district, I called at Brantwood with my daughter, to inquire
after Mr. Ruskin, but did not go in,
Brantwood had long been familiar to me by name, at
least as the former home of W. J. Linton and his family.
It was originally a simple rather old-fashioned early nineteenth-
century country cottage, pleasantly placed above the road in
a garden, steep wooded hills rising to the moorlands above,
and with a fine view of the lake and the " old man " from the
front windows. I made a little sketch of this front, showing
the bayed window of Mr. Ruskin's sitting-room and his bed-
room above, to which a little turret had been added. This
room was hung with beautiful Turner water colours.
Mrs. Severn, who watched most assiduously over Ruskin,
allowed me to see him. The first time was in the garden.
It was rather a shock. Ruskin looked the shadow of his
former self — the real living man with all his energy and force
had gone, and only the shadow remained. He was carefully
dressed and scrupulously neat, having gloves on, which, seeing
a visitor approach, he began to pull off rather absently, when
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 447
JOHN ruskin's home, brantwood, coniston
448 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1892- 1903
Mrs. Severn said, " Never mind the gloves," and I took his
hand, but, alas ! he had nothing but monosyllables, and
soon went away supported on the arm of his constant
attendant.
Another time Mrs. Severn brought me into his room, a
library, where Ruskin sat in his arm-chair. He had a benign
expression, and looked venerable and prophetic, with a long
flowing beard, but he seemed disinclined to talk, and when I
spoke of things which might have interested him he only said
" yes " or " no," or smiled or bowed his head. I did not feel
at all sure from his manner whether he identified me at all
distinctly. The interview only lasted a few minutes, as he
seemed so frail, but he was certainly most carefully watched
and tended. It seemed a sad ending to such a life as Ruskin's
had been.
The extreme quiet and retirement in which he existed,
presented a curious contrast to the active life of the house-
hold, and the varied interests and pursuits of the young people.
Mr. Severn had a studio in the house, and had some
charming drawings of Brantwood.
I had a pleasant sail with him on Coniston Lake, visiting
some friends of his at the other end. I also enjoyed some
games of lawn-tennis and bowls, with him and his sons,
before I left.
I had arranged to meet Canon Rawnsley at a friend's
house on the road to Ambleside, where he was staying, and
to return with him for a short visit to Crosthwaite. So the
coach from Coniston in due course set me down at the
appointed place, from whence I formed one of a party in a
waggonette to Keswick. Of the company were Mr. Alfred
Austin (the poet-laureate) and Mr. Gerald Lowther (then a
party whip in the House, I think I had met him as a young
man years ago at Naworth Castle) and his wife, besides Mr.
and Mrs. Rawnsley. On the way we stopped to visit Rydal
Mount, Wordsworth's home. Mr. Alfred Austin appeared to
take the keenest interest in the house and garden and in
every relic of the Lake poet and former laureate. The
familiar shower came on while we were driving to Keswick,
but our poet, who sat on the box, was quite equal to the
1892-1903I KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 449
occasion and promptly donned a Mackintosh and cap complete
with the smartness of a soldier — while the rest of us dripped
under umbrellas. He was quite as alert and keen to see the
house where Shelley lodged at Keswick, and rushed off in the
rain with the Canon to inspect it. Being in poetic company,
I suppose, may have stimulated Mr. Lowther to produce a
rhyme — he said it was his only effort, and was a tribute to
woman — a parody upon Scott's lines in Marmion —
"O woman in our hours of ease,
Uncertain, coy, and hard to please,
When care and trouble wring the brow — "
How tnuch more troublesome art thou ( !)
The last line being his new reading. It certainly added to
our gaiety.
After a short stay at Crosthwaite, and an inspection of
the well equipped and housed Arts and Crafts School at
Keswick, which owes so much to the zeal of Canon and
Mrs. Rawnsley, I made my way south, making the long journey
to join my wife, and sons who had cycled from London, at
New Quay in Cornwall, where I found them comfortably
lodged in a farmhouse by the little river Ganell, where we
spent some pleasant weeks, and found much interesting
sketching material.
In our family annals the year 1 897 was marked by the
coming of age of our eldest son Lionel, who was studying
for an architect, and had been in Mr. Reginald Blomfield's
office for three years, and, for a time, with Mr. Ernest George,
and also Mr. Harrison Townsend, during the building of his
Horniman Museum, and this was made the occasion of a Fancy
Ball in his honour. I should have said that the day falling
on 6th May it seemed to fall in with traditional merry-
making and masking at that period of the year. A large
marquee was erected in our tennis-court, to which a temporary
covered way led. We had a large number of guests who
distinguished themselves by the invention and variety of their
costume, many of which were very beautiful. We had a
Maypole erected in the centre of the ballroom, and around
it we danced, winding and unwinding the rainbow-coloured
29
450 AN ARTISrS REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
ribbons. We had a cotillion, as well as, of course, lancers,
waltzes, and the Washington Post, a picturesque and lively
dance brought over by our American cousins and then very
much in vogue, though not often danced now — our young
people considering it too fatiguing.
A march past of our guests showed the costumes to
advantage, and the scene was a pretty one. Sic transit
gloria — the morning broke, and soon nothing was left but
memories and photographs.
At the request of the proprietors of the Art Journal, I wrote
the text of The Easter Art Annual, which appeared in the
spring of 1898, and gave a series of reproductions of my work.
We heard through Mr. Ford Madox Hueffer of a charm-
ing old farmhouse in Kent where he had dwelt, but which
he now was willing to let. One bright cold day in March
we went down to see it with Mr. Hueffer. We were
so attracted by the place, which was named Pent Farm, — a
simple country abode of Elizabethan date, with its fine old
thatched barn and farm buildings and strawyard, — that we
decided to take it for six months, furnished. The furniture
and pictures were full of interest ; among the former being
the piano, an early work of the Morris firm, while the pictures
were mainly the work of Madox Brown and Rossetti, and
the pre-Raphaelite circle, or reproductions from them.
That brilliant group of artists and their associates was
sadly diminishing, and, on 17th June, another gap was left by
the rather sudden death of Sir Edward Burne-Jones, con-
cerning which I find a letter from Mr. Frederick J. Shields,
who writes :
" With me, and all who have revelled in his beautiful
art, you feel the death of Sir Edward to be a mighty loss.
It fell on me like a stunning blow on Saturday evening — and
now, not one of the great group is left but Mr Holman Hunt,
and there are none arising to fill the great empty void so
rapidly made within the last few years."
English imaginative and decorative art was indeed the
poorer.
The last letter I had from Burne-Jones was one in which
he expressed regret at finding I had left his house before he
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 45 i
was aware when I called at the Grange one Sunday afternoon,
as he thought I came ** so seldom now."
I had recently worked with Mr. Shields on one of the
Art Examinations for South Kensington, and was much
interested in his great magnum opus, the mural paintings of
the chapel in Bayswater Road, which he had been com-
missioned to do by the late Mrs. Russell Gurney, and in
which he has put an enormous amount of thought and work
— and one may add faith, as few modern artists have his
earnestness of conviction, and power of symbolism in ap-
proaching biblical history which he shows.
To return to Pent Farm, there was a pastoral charm
about the place, from which one could stroll out into the
green fields where the sheep nibbled, or from the porch
listen to the swallows twittering as they flew to and fro
from their nests under the eaves.
While so completely quiet and rural, the farm was un-
usually accessible from town, as one could take advantage
of the boat-trains to Folkestone and Dover, which always
stopped at Sandling Junction, from whence it was a pleasant
walk across the fields. We took every opportunity of
running down, and finally took up our quarters there for the
summer. Just as we had done so, however, in July, a letter
came offering me the post of Principal of the Royal College
of Art.
I was rather taken by surprise, as, although my old
friend Armstrong, before his retirement, had expressed a
wish that I should succeed him as Director for Art, I had
not thought of again undertaking a position involving active
teaching. Everything at South Kensington was now, how-
ever, in a transition state, and changes were impending in
every direction. The Directorship for Art had been abolished,
so it was no question of succeeding Mr. Armstrong. Mr.
John Sparkes had filled the office of headmaster since Sir
Edward Poynter's time, but the name of the National Art
Training School had now been changed to the Royal College
of Art, I know not why, except that it was in contemplation
to reorganise the school more or less on the lines of a
college.
452 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
The offer was not one to lightly refuse, although I was
not greatly attracted by it, but thought if it was possible to
secure time for one's work as an artist — essential even if only
to preserve freshness, and practicality as a teacher in art — I
might venture to undertake the post.
I went up to the Education Office and had an interview
with the Duke of Devonshire's secretary — the Duke was
Lord President of the Council of Education, and the Science
and Art Department was now to be transformed into a branch
of the Board of Education at Whitehall. I was assured that
the post would allow me time to practise my work as an
artist, and, on this understanding, I agreed to accept the office.
As I was leaving, Sir William Abney entered the room, prob-
ably to take up his new post as Director of Science, which
he filled until that, too, like the Directorship of Art, was
abolished.
I had, however, a few months' respite to spend in rural
delights, and I enjoyed them to the full, though the repose
of the next few days was rather broken by the arrival of
telegrams and letters of congratulation.
While at Pent Farm I was designing the pages for A
Floral Fantasy in an Old English Garden^ which was published
in 1898 by Messrs. Harper Bros.: the lines to which I wrote.
Another literary work at this time was the writing of parts of
a masque, which I had schemed as a whole and proposed to
the Art Workers' Guild to produce ; in this I was supported by
several of my brother members of the Guild. The idea was
taken up with considerable enthusiasm, and a committee was
formed to organise it, and sub-committees were appointed to
deal with different sides of the work.
The title of the masque was Beauty's Awakening: A
Masque of Winter and Spring. The general idea was sug-
gested to me by the old story of the Sleeping Beauty, which
was made an allegory of the revival of the arts and the new
Ideal of Life in our time. In the first scene, the Spirit of
Beauty (Fayremonde) lies in an enchanted sleep under the
influence of the witch Malebodia, the Dragon, and the Demons.
Her seven maidens, with the seven lamps, also slumber around
her couch. This is the inner scene, and when the action takes
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 453
place in front of it, a curtain, painted to represent a forest, falls
over it A dance of forest leaves is introduced, driven by the
four winds, with December and March.
The next scene shows the Forest. The Knight Trueheart
has lost his way, and weary, with broken sword, sinks down to
sleep. He then has a vision, Hope and Fortitude appear ;
the former places a blossomed bough in his helmet, the latter
gives him a new sword, and they both disappear. The
Knight wakes, he hears the sound of the dragon (Aschemon)
coming through the forest. He rises and grasps the new
sword and prepares him for the encounter. The dragon
approaches, and the fight begins. The dragon is slain, and
the Knight goes on his way to seek and awake Beauty. TJie
demons bear the dragon out, and in the next scene they have
a rally. Their names are suggestive — Philistinus, Bogus,
Scampinus, Cupiditas, Ignoramus, Bumblebeadletus, Slumdum,
Jerry. They are summoned by the witch, and pluck up their
courage by a wild dance, but they all scurry away at the
sound of the Knight's clarion.
The fourth scene shows Fayremonde still asleep, but she
has a vision. Clio, the muse of history, appears, and summons
nine fair cities — Thebes, Athens, Rome, Byzantium, Florence,
Venice, Nuremberg, Paris, and Oxford ; these all, represented
by fair dames suitably attired, each with her retinue, appear,
and one by one pass before her, and cross the stage, grouping
themselves at the side, and when all have passed, one more —
London — enters hurriedly, pursued by the demons, after which
they all leave the stage, and the forest curtain again falls
over the inner scene.
The fifth scene represents the Awakening. The Knight's
bugle is heard again. The witch starts in alarm, and the
demons enter and gather round her. The Knight Trueheart
presently enters with his sword drawn, and compels them to
disperse as he approaches the couch of Fayremonde and awakes
her with a kiss, holding the blossomed branch from his helmet
over her. The seven lamps are rekindled. Then as a sub-
masque to symbolise the awakening of Beauty and the new
joy of life — enter five couples, richly attired, representing the
Five Senses, and they perform a dance.
454 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
The sixth scene discovers the characters in their places, as
in the last scene. A seat — the seat of Amity and Power — is
brought in by Labour and Invention, and Trueheart and
Fayremonde are enthroned thereon, and the Seven Lamps and
the Five Senses are grouped around them. Then enters London,
still pursued by the demons, her mantle torn and dishevelled.
She, kneeling at the feet of Fayremonde, sues for help, and
Trueheart draws his sword, and with the assistance of the power
of the lamps the demons are unmasked and driven out, and finally
Malebodia also. Then re-enter the Fair Cities and do homage
to Fayremonde and Trueheart, and form part of their court ; and
London re-enters, restored to beauty in a fair new mantle, and is
giyen a crystal sphere and a sceptre by Labour and Invention,
and takes her place among the fair cities. Then follows a
song of triumph. The Spirit of the Age then appears, and
recites the epilogue, and a march of the whole company around
the stage and through the audience.
Such is a rough outline of the masque. Before each scene
opened, the prolocutor (Mr. Selwyn Image) appeared and recited
the introductory lines, which I wrote to explain the scene
which followed, and the general purport and drift of the
masque. My colleagues in writing the masque were, Mr.
Selwyn Image, who wrote the beautiful verses on the Fair
Cities ; Mr. C. R. Ashbee, who wrote the Demon Scene ; Mr.
C. Harrison Townsend, who wrote the introduction, and devised
the prologue and opening song, and also the epilogue, and
himself presented Time, who recites the prologue; Mr. C. W.
Whall, who wrote the Song of Triumph at the end, and also
designed the demons ; and Mr. H. Wilson, who wrote the
Awakening Song. To Mr. Wilson, also, we were indebted
for the fine design for the proscenium and the planning and
decoration of the stage. Mr. Malcolm Lawson wrote the
accompanying music ; and our stage manager was Mr. Hugh
Moss. Mr. Louis Davis arranged and produced the charming
scene of the dance of the forest leaves, with the procession of
the months, and the struggle between March and December,
and the dancers were trained by Madame Caralozzi Mapleson,
assisted by Signor Coppi ; Signor Espinosa arranging the
dances of the Demons and the Five Senses. Mr. Arnold
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 4$ 5
Dolmetsch and his band of musicians, with their Elizabethan
instruments, supplied the music to Mr. Davis' scene.
Altogether the masque was a truly co-operative work of
art, and was pronounced a remarkable artistic success. The
labours of many artists and craftsmen were spent upon its
details, dresses, and decorations, which were of a type new to
the stage.
With Mr. Macartney, the then Master of the Guild, I
sought interviews with the City Fathers, and at last we obtained
the consent of the Common Council to the use of the Guildhall
for a strictly limited number of performances. So in the
historic hall of the City Corporation we built our stage, which
had a fine effect in sober blue drapery, relieved by a silver
figure of St. George at the apex of the arches of the proscenium,
modelled by Mr. H. R. Pinker. The rehearsals were many,
and at all sorts of places, the Drill Hall of a volunteer
regiment being the most commodious : the difficulties of all
sorts, inseparable from such an undertaking in the drama
behind the scenes, as one might call it, was full of incident, and
kept us quite as busy as the organisation of the masque itself,
and afforded one a good training in the exercise of patience,
tact, and other useful moral small change — and oh ! the pro-
perty making and costume designing which had no end !
At last, however, on the 29th of June 1899, the first
performance was given before the Lord Mayor, Sheriff,
Aldermen, and Common Council of the City of London.
What they thought of it we never knew, or whether they
took the allegory of demon-haunted London to heart or no.
The court of the Guildhall was turned into a dressing-room with
exceedingly quaint effect, and it was strange to see the spirit
of masque and fantasy taking possession of the hall of the
City Fathers. The strictest precautions were taken against
fire, however.
I shall never forget the long procession we made at the
finale, group after group descending from the stage and
winding up and down and around the Guildhall before the
eyes of generally a very interested and appreciative audience.
A Book of the Masque, with illustrations, was issued as the
Extra Summer Number of The Studio.
456 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
From about i 897 to 1900 I was much occupied by designs
for a Bible projected by a Society at Amsterdam, and to be
illustrated by the first artists of Europe — such as, of France,
Puvis de Chavannes, Gerome, Tissot ; of Germany, Max
Klinger, Uhde, Liebermann ; of Holland, Joseph Israels ;
Belgium, De Vrieult; of England, E. Burne-Jones, Alma
Tadema, Frank Dicksee ; of America, J. S, Sargent, E. A.
Abbey ; of Spain, Jose Villegas ; of Switerland, Arnold Bocklin ;
of Italy, Michetti, Morelli, and Segantini ; of Russia, Ilya
Yegemvitch Repin, and Sascha Schnieder; of Bohemia, V,
de Brozik.
The illustrations were in the form of full-page reproductions
in photogravure of each artist's designs, which, as might be
supposed, were extremely diverse and individual in treatment.
I was asked for five full-page designs to Genesis, as well
as the whole of the headings, initials, and typographical
ornaments, covers and title-page, which had to be — the lettering,
at least — duplicated in French, German, and Dutch, as it was
intended to publish editions of this Bible in each of those
languages. It was certainly a very extensive undertaking, and
must have cost a large sum of money.
The original drawings were exhibited at Mr. Van
Hoytema's Gallery in Bond Street afterwards. As a book
it was not possible to produce a harmonious effect out of so
many diverse elements. Many of the designs were very power-
ful, but were necessarily in the nature of separate pictures. I
wanted a heavier type and unglazed paper, too, but the
proprietors were a little afraid of departing too much from
accepted standards in such works, and wished to appeal to a
large public, so that, typographically speaking, the book was a
compromise.
In October we returned to town, and I entered upon my
new duties at South Kensington. This post, just as my
Manchester appointment had done, necessarily precluded
my acting as examiner or assisting in the awards of medals
and prizes in the National Competition of the art schools of
the country, in which I had taken part for many years, and
in which, on resigning my position at Manchester, I had
again served.
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 457
The school was in rather a chaotic state. It had been
chiefly run as sort of mill in which to prepare art teachers
and masters, and supply the finished article to fill such
teaching posts or masterships as might fall vacant in any
part of the United Kingdom.
The curriculum seemed to my unacademic mind terribly
mechanical and lifeless, but so long as candidates for art
teacherships and masterships were required to have obtained
certain cut-and-dried certificates, the time of students would
necessarily be largely occupied in doing the regulation exercises
for them, and, as I found at Manchester, but little time was
left for experiments, or chance for the introduction of different
systems and methods, though I did what I could in this way,
as well as in endeavouring to improve the equipment of the
school. Here another obstacle was in the way of rapid pro-
gress, as every detail had to be sanctioned by the office. One
could not order a flower or a bit of drapery, or obtain any
ordinary immediate studio requirement, without a proper form
duly signed and countersigned in the right red-tape depart-
ment, no lump sum for such petty cash purposes being
allowed. However, by working the cumbrous and complex
machinery in time^ one might have ordinary wants satisfied —
but in the practice of art one cannot always foresee one's
requirements, and it is vexation of spirit to wait for such
things.
The staff of masters seemed anxious to meet my wishes, and
to work harmoniously, and they were all very worthy good
people, but they had been hardened by long service in a system
with which I was out of sympathy, and could not be expected
to see any more than the Manchester teacher I have before
quoted — " What I was driving at."
I had not been in my office long, before an attack of
influenza unfortunately stopped my work ; and though, I think,
I was allowed back again in about a week, it left depressing
effects.
I should have said, in speaking of the staff, that Professor
Lanteri, whose excellent teaching in and direction of the
modelling school had saved the credit of South Kensington
for years past, was an accomplished artist, and perhaps still
458 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
more accomplished as an instructor. His knowledge of the
human figure was extensive, and his method of imparting it
admirable.
The modelling school, however, was much hampered for
space, and by the want of suitable studios. Indeed, it might
be said of the whole building that it was ill-ventilated and
inconvenient, and far behind the best-equipped art schools in
the provinces. While Science had its special building — a still
more magnificent if not so picturesque a college has recently-
been erected by Sir Aston Webb in Imperial Institute Road —
Art had to put up with a temporary building, and, in spite of
being called the Royal College of Art, still has to wait for a
suitable building ; the scheme for combining one with the
New Museum (a plan for which I had furnished) having fallen
through owing to the supposed danger of fire.
As far as the existing constitution of the school and its
relation to the Board of Education would allow, I endeavoured
to expand the range of studies, especially in the direction of
Design and Handicraft ; and in order to give the students some
insight into the relation between design and material, I was
fortunate enough to obtain the services of accomplished artists
to give lectures, and demonstrations where possible, in their
special crafts — such as Enamelling by Mr. Alex. Fisher, Book-
binding by Mr. T. J. Cobden-Sanderson, Pottery by Mr. Wm.
Burton, Book Illustration and Processes of Reproduction of
Drawings by Joseph Pennell, and so on. And I obtained
sanction for a stained-glass class to be held in the school by
Mr. J. S. Sparrow, who had carried out many windows from
my cartoons, and I was able to increase the examples of art for
study and reference in the school from the rich resources of the
National Art Library and the Museum of Casts.
I found my time, however, was much consumed by formal
business, and, moreover, discovered that my post was regarded
as a whole-time office, so that my dream of carrying on my
practice as an artist began to fade, although I had the use of
a studio. Owing to some technical difficulty with the Board
I could not obtain the increased attendance, as my principal
assistant in the day-time, of an assistant master who taught in
the life-class in the evening — Mr. Peter Watson — who showed
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 459
the greatest and most intelligent sympathy with my ideas,
and only desired more scope for them.
Altogether, I did not feel I could make much way under
the existing limitations of the school, and the sacrifice of my
professional work did not seem likely to be proportionately
balanced by the extent of the progress made, and so I decided
to send in my resignation and to vacate my office at the end
of the year's term.
I remained on perfectly good relations with the officials of
the Board, and with the masters and the students, and shall
always have pleasant recollections of working with them. It
was, however, as I have said, a difficult time — a time of
transition. Sir John Donnelly was still the head, though the
Science and Art Department was being converted into a branch
of the Board of Education. His time of retirement was
approaching, but having ruled so long under the old regime, he
could not welcome the impending changes, and believed in the
old order of things : but I always found him personally
friendly and courteous however much our views might have
differed.
Before I left I drew up a scheme for the reorganisation of
the art teaching, and made a report indicating the lines which
I thought should be followed in order to make the College
what it ought to be — the leading art school of the country in
every respect, and even suggesting names to fill the teaching
posts in the different arts and crafts. Mr. Alan Cole dealt
with the financial and official side of the scheme in the same
report.
When, in the following year, the Council of Advice on Art
to the Board was appointed, it was very much on this suggested
plan that the Royal College of Art was reorganised.
My colleagues on this Council were Sir William B.Richmond,
who represented the interests of Painting; E. Onslow Ford,
Sculpture ; Mr. T. Graham Jackson, Architecture ; while I was
to be the member for Design ; the Board being represented by
two officials, and, when business connected with the Royal
College of Art was on, the principal and the registrar of that
institution attended.
This Council has been in existence six years, though during
46o AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
that time, owing to the death of Onslow Ford, Mr. Thomas
Brock was appointed to represent Sculpture in his place.
While on the Council I drew up a Primary Schools'
Syllabus on drawing, giving a series of progressive exercises
calculated to assist teachers in this now compulsory subject, and
to initiate those who might not possess any previous knowledge
on the subject, and this was issued, and is now in use.
I was requested by my colleagues, and actually com-
missioned by the Board, to prepare a second illustrated
syllabus for the evening schools, which I accordingly did,
adapting the exercises to the various trades and handicrafts
with a view to the cultivation of trade in design, and to assist
teachers, many of which would be quite inexperienced in
such subjects.
Strange to say, though passed by the Council, and though
announced in the official report, this syllabus has been
suppressed !
Under the advice and supervision of the Board I have
named, the Royal College of Art has been entirely re-
organised, and while its objects, the study of decorative art
as weH as the training of teachers, have been reasserted, the
relation of all branches of decorative design to architecture
has been emphasised in the establishment of an architectural
school, directed by Professor Beresford Pite, through which
all students pass in the five years' course. There is a school
of decorative painting under Professor Moira, and a life
school. Professor Lanteri directs the sculpture and modelling
school, which has to be housed in a temporary tin building
across the road, the present building being insufficient to
contain it. Professor Lethaby has the design school under
his tasteful care, and in addition to these main branches there
is a stained-glass class under Mr. C. W. Whall, a pottery class
under Mr. Lunn, a metal class under Mr. H. Wilson, while
etching, engraving, and lithography continue under the direc-
tion of Mr. Frank Short, who conducted a class in these arts
for many years before the change. Other craft classes are
Mr. Johnson's in illumination and calligraphy, Mrs. Christie's
in embroidery and tapestry weaving, and Mr. George Jack's
in wood-carving and gesso-work. Good work is being done
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 46 1
in all of these classes, as the annual summer displays bear
witness.
My successor as Principal was Mr. Augustus Spencer,
formerly head of the Leicester School of Art.
As regards the welfare of the Royal College of Art and
the interests of the Museum, it appears to me to be a serious
disadvantage that owing to political changes the chiefs of the
Board of Education are so frequently so short a time in office
that they are unable to take any active or effective interest in
the progress of these important institutions, or really under-
stand their wants ; or if, in exceptional cases, such an interest
is manifested, a vote of the House of Commons, on some
totally different matter, may send a Government out of office,
and its Ministers with it. During my short term of office
such different personalities as the Duke of Devonshire, Sir
John Gorst, Sir George Kekewich, Lord Londonderry, and Mr.
Birrell, have all presided at the Board of Education and have
had control over the destinies of South Kensington.
The only Minister, however, so far as I know, who seemed
to take a real and keen interest in the Art Department was
Mr. A. H. D. Acland, who was, during the short time he held
office, extremely zealous. His activity and searching inquiries
indeed made him far from popular with the authorities then
at South Kensington.
Mr. Acland, too, had a great wish to bring the influence of
art to bear on the ordinary schools of the country, and he
asked me to aid him in this. His idea was to have large-
sized decorative pictures (of historic epochs and personages in
English history, for instance) printed in colours and available
for hanging upon the upper walls of classrooms. I did draw
up a sketch scheme for this, but no money could be granted
from the Board of Education for such purposes, and so it fell
through.
It must have been in 1899 that I was the guest of the
New Vagabonds. I think the dinner was at the Holborn
Restaurant, though not on such a scale as some of their more
recent ones. Mr. Douglas Sladen was then the active and
courteous Hon. Secretary, with Mr. Burgin as his colleague.
Mr. Moncure Conway presided on this occasion. I regret to
462 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
recall that on the same evening the news arrived of the dis-
graceful Jameson Raid, the beginning of the long trouble
which led to the South African War, with its disastrous results
to England. It was so evident to those of us — unhappily in
a small minority — who opposed the war and protested against
it that it was really entered upon in the interests of the gold
and diamond mine-owners, and the capitalists of the Rand, who
were able by their control of the press, both in this country as
well as in South Africa, to prejudice the public mind, and to
bamboozle it with any amount of " bunkum " about patriotism
and liberty and British rights, and on the strength of it to
obtain the forces of the country to crush the two Boer
Republics (whose splendid defence, however, can never be
forgotten) — their real object being cheap labour for the
mines.
There were some distinguished exceptions in the press,
such as the Manchester Guardian, the Daily News, and before
its proprietors dismissed Mr. Crooks, the Echo ; but the epithet
" Pro-Boer " was hurled about fiercely, as if it were a term of
the most despicable significance — worse even than that of
" Socialist " at one time.
The Daily Chronicle, which at first was against the war,
changed its front and turned out its editor, Mr. H. W. Massing-
ham, who was doing admirable work. Mr. Spender also
severed his connection at the same time. Mr. W. T. Stead
also was with the anti-war party, though, strangely enough, he
was an admirer of Cecil Rhodes.
Miss Hobhouse must be named also for her heroic work
in the camps, or compounds, where the Boer families were
herded at one time. I remember when I met her in London
she said, alluding to the divided state of feeling among our
people, that one set spoke of her as " the Miss Hobhouse,"
and the other set as " that Miss Hobhouse."
A meeting held in Trafalgar Square by a group of clear-
sighted men and women, who did not want to see their country
dragged into a cruel and unjustifiable war at the beck of a
financially interested gang, was assaulted and assailed by
missiles (which included pocket-knives !) from a crowd of
hooligans representing the war party.
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 463
A " Stop the War party " was formed, which was active in
distributing pamphlets and posters, one of which I designed.
A South African Conciliation Committee was formed, with
Mr. Leonard Courtney as its President, and formed a rallying-
ground for the opponents of the war, and did much useful
work during the whole of this trying period, welcoming
Messrs. Merriman and Sauer when they came over later to
inform the British public. I met both these gentlemen at
the time, and also, later, Generals Botha and Delarey.
Mr. Cronwright Schreiner, who came over to England to
tell our people the truth and to put them in possession of
the real facts of the situation, was violently interrupted, and
frequently refused a hearing altogether, and the place of his
meeting stormed. The way in which opponents of the war
were howled down suggested that the hooligans must have
been in the pay of the war party.
Olive Schreiner, popular as she was as a writer here, was
unheeded when she used her pen in an endeavour to show the
unjustifiable character of the war, and what it would mean to
South Africa.
The time was a terrible one. The brutal fighting instinct
of the British was aroused, and its fury constantly fanned by
the Jingo press. All classes appeared to lose the power of
reflection, and it was only a few individuals here and there
who preserved their mental balance ; but they could not
stem the tide, which swept aside all other interests, and gave
a serious set-back to all enlightened movements, as well as
intellectual, artistic, and social progress.
It was surprising, too, to see such unanimity. One would
have expected some sort of sympathy for the Boer farmers
among our own agriculturists, but the country joined the towns.
It was a tribute to the power and influence of the press.
An editor of a popular book on gardening, who printed a
contribution from me which contained, incidentally, a con-
demnation of the war, told me afterwards that he received
abusive letters in consequence.
The war indeed was an apple of discord everywhere (I
was grieved to find even my generous friend, G. F. Watts,
with the war party) ; among Socialists too, who, however,
/
464 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
were as a whole united in their denunciation and detestation
of it, there were differences. It became the cause of a split
in the Fabian Society (which had done excellent and valuable
educational work by its economic tracts and pamphlets). The
Executive, led by Mr. G. B, Shaw, having practically declared
for Imperialism, and condoned the war as a necessary accom-
paniment, some twenty members, myself among them, decided
that we could not consistently continue under such a flag,
and so we sent in our resignations.
I had a long correspondence with Mr. Bernard Shaw, who
used many ingenious arguments in his endeavours to show
cause why we should not secede. He seemed to be a little
apprehensive of my wishing to found a " Holland Park
Socialist Society " on the lines of the one at Hammersmith
founded by William Morris when he seceded from the Social
Democratic Federation, Nothing, however, was farther from
my intention. I only wished to protest against the war and
to clear myself from any complicity with a body which defended
it. Shaw wrote, as Mr. Hyndman pointed out (in a letter
written to me, May 30, 1900), "as if, too. Socialists ought to
help to crush down independent little peoples who happen to
be economically and socially behind the rest of the world in
order to extend the domination of the very capitalism we are
fighting against."
That this was the real object of the war events conclusively
proved, although the results have been a disappointment to its
promoters. All that the protesters said, however, has been
shown to be true, and the state of South Africa is a sufficient
comment on the wisdom of the war. In spite, however, of
the terrible waste of life, and of the mass of human misery for
which the promoters of the war were responsible, some of
them appear still to be regarded as great statesmen !
Walt Whitman may well write of
"The never-ending audacity of elected persons."
Peace came at last. The winged " stranger " I had
painted in 1900 had alighted. The Daily News of June 2,
1902, published a cartoon of mine in which Briton and Boer
were shaking hands — each with the other arm in a sling,
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 465
and Peace covering them with an olive branch. This design
DESIGN BY WALTER CRANE TO COMMEMORATE THE CONCLUSION OF PEACE
WITH THE BOERS
was also reproduced as a set piece on a large scale by Messrs.
Brock at the Crystal Palace.
30
/
466 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
Before my term at South Kensington came to an end, the
ceremony of laying the foundation-stone of the New Museum
buildings was arranged, and Queen Victoria performed the
function in state. A large marquee was erected at the
appointed spot in what was the garden in the old days of
" the Boilers," under which the business of the stone-laying
was to take place. This was filled with a crowd of high
officials, with their ladies, and was gay with military uniforms
(my chief, Sir John Donnelly, being gorgeous in the scarlet and
gold of a major-general) and court costumes, every man who
was not entitled to wear a uniform being obliged to appear in
court dress. The students of the Royal College of Art were
drawn up along the roped drive inside the entrance gates, near
which a platform had been erected in order that a bouquet
might be presented to the Queen by one of the lady
students.
It fell to my lot (who had never even been myself pre-
sented !) to present the lady (Miss Williams) who offered the
bouquet to Her Majesty as the carriage drew up.
This little ceremony over, the carriage drove on to the
big marquee, where the Queen, still sitting in her carriage,
managed to hold the trowel and receive the address — the
architect, Sir Aston Webb, of course, officiating.
Having to go close up to the carriage when the bouquet
was given, I could not but notice the signs of age and absence
of vitality in the Queen. It is true she was able to command
a smile and to bow when necessary, but her face immediately
seemed to lapse into an expression of indifference, or that of
one wearied by public ceremonies of the kind. She was not
destined to live long afterwards — only, indeed, until January
1901.
We held our sixth Arts and Crafts Exhibition in the
autumn of 1899 at the New Gallery. After Morris's death
I was again elected to the office of President, Mr. Cobden-
Sanderson retaining the Honorary Secretaryship.
Labour's May Day, which has become an international
festival in the Socialist movement, was this year celebrated at
the Crystal Palace, which certainly afforded plenty of space for
the gathering, as well as entertainment and refreshment in the
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 467
intervals of the functions. A vast meeting was held under the
dome, and this was addressed by many of the leaders, such as
Mr. H. M. Hyndman, Mr. G. N. Barnes, Secretary of the
Amalgamated Engineers (and now in Parliament), Mr. Pete
Curran, Mr. Ben Tillet, and many others.
I made a design for a set piece for the firework display
which was carried out on a gigantic scale and with remarkable
success by Messrs. Brock. It was a group of four figures,
typifying the workers of the world, joining hands, a winged
central figure with the cap of Liberty, encircled by the globe,
uniting them, and a scroll with the words " The Unity of
Labour is the Hope of the World." It was the first time a
design of mine had been associated with pyrotechnics. I was
rewarded by the hearty cheers of a vast multitude.
There was a considerable controversy as to whether the
nineteenth century ended with the year 1900, or whether the
twentieth century began with that on the following year. I
do not remember whether it was authoritatively settled, but
time, at all events, passed on unheeding.
I received an invitation to exhibit a large representative
collection of my work at Budapest, at the Iparmuveszeti
Museum (an Art and Industrial or Decorative Art Museum —
a sort of South Kensington of Hungary), from the courteous
Director, M. Radiscics. This was through the instrumentality
of a young Hungarian, M. De Rozsynay, who called with an
introduction one day, and with whom we became very friendly.
He was clever and versatile, and had an attractive manner and
personality, though he did not ultimately prove to be very
reliable — to put it mildly ; but he had abundant enthusiasm.
However, the matter was arranged, and I was assured of an
enthusiastic welcome, as my published work was well known
in Hungary. I was able to get together a very extensive
collection of work, representative of the different branches and
classes of design I had worked in — from easel pictures to
lustre pottery. Mr. Watts lent the picture of" The Renascence
of Venus " for the occasion. The collection was to be packed
and forwarded to Budapest at the expense of the Budapest
Museum. Mr. Cundall, of the South Kensington Museum, was
the London correspondent for that institution, and my works
468 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
were packed and forwarded under his supervision at the
Museum.
On October i we started on our journey to Budapest —
my wife, my second son and I, our eldest son having gone
first with young Rozsynay to make ready for us. We took
the opportunity to stop at Paris on the way, to see the great
Exposition Universel of that year, which seemed both as to
size and comprehension and extent of exhibits to go about as
far as such exhibitions could possibly do.
An interesting feature was the arrangement of the positions
of the different nationalities along the Quay d'Orsay, which
were naturally diverse both as to size and style. The English
house, though very tastefully reproduced from its original (the
King's House, Bradford-on-Avon), looked a little small between
the huge German palace on one side and, I think, the Italian
one on the other, and it rather wanted its garden. There
were charming rooms inside, some decorated with Reynolds,
Gainsborough, and Hoppner portraits, and others with Burne-
Jones and Morris tapestries — the King Arthur series.
Of the others the Spanish pavilion struck one as the most
simple and dignified, with its arcaded cortile and splendid
tapestries.
The show of mediaeval French art at the Petit Palais was
very memorable, and there were miles of modern pictures and
masses of modern sculpture at the Grand Palais, and endless
attractions — or repulsions — besides, of which it was only
possible to get general impressions in the course of a few days.
On we went by way of Avricourt — where the customs
examination is remarkably strict — to Strasbourg, where we
had a look at the Cathedral and its wonderful clock, and so
through Germany, breaking the journey at Stuttgart, where I
remember some charming public gardens. We stayed also at
Munich and Vienna, although having been advised by telegram
to hurry on to Budapest, there was no time to linger, but we
had a glimpse of St. Stefan and of the Imperial Museum at
Vienna.
At Budapest, where we arrived on the loth of October,
at the station we were met by a large deputation of the
Directors of the principal Museums and Art Schools, who
1892- 1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 469
presented magnificent bouquets of flowers tied with ribbons
of the national colours — red, white, and green — and these were
the forerunners of many my wife received. Certainly our
reception was most cordial, and nothing could exceed the
kindness of our welcome in Budapest. Dejeuners, banquets,
receptions, and entertainments followed thick and fast. At the
first dinner following the private view of the exhibition, given
by the Hungarian Society of Industrial Art, M. Wlassics, the
Minister of Education and Fine Arts, presided. He spoke in
Hungarian, but very courteously handed me a copy of his
speech in English, which was in very flattering terms, and
which, as it has an interest quite apart from the personal one,
I venture to reproduce here.
*' I wish to express my deepest respect towards the Master,
and at the same time my grateful thanks for this excellent
exhibition, by which we are profiting so much, and which
is also a source of great intellectual enjoyment for us.
" Our joy is enhanced by having the honour of receiving the
Master in person, and also his dear family, here in our country.
" Be convinced that the Hungarian Society, which is so
enthusiastic for the beautiful, receives a genuine artist with
the whole warmth of its heart, and that my greeting is but
a feeble expression of this warm feeling.
" Sir, I want to assure you that your fame has already
reached us.
" We know you as a creator of art, as a genial author,
as an untiring hero fighting triumphantly from step to step
for the unity of art.
"It is your remarkable merit that you have discovered
and spead the truth that real art cannot and may not be
divided into upper and lower classes, that * grand art ' and
the various branches of art cannot be isolated from each
other, but are integral parts of one whole.
" But what makes the deepest impression upon me is the
unlimited enthusiasm of the artist for the strength and power
of his art.
" He trusts, he hopes, and believes in the transformation of
society by art.
470 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
" I trust also, and in the fervency of my convictions I
believe, that by the strength of art we shall be able to
inspire the different grades of society with a noble and more
elevated ideal.
" The faith in art, which I hold, inspires me also, and I
seek the surest foundation of the future of my race and nation
in its artistic genius.
" I hope and trust in the * signification of art,' and with
this hope and trust I welcome the Master heartily, and wish
him long life and happiness for the world and the glory
of art!"
M. Radiscics, the Director of the Museum where my
exhibition was arranged, and to whose kindness and courtesy
throughout I was much indebted, also spoke, and in English,
in which he is quite proficient, being a remarkably gifted
linguist. M. Szalay, the genial Director of the National
Hungarian Museum, proposed my health in another extremely
flattering speech, and I had the uncommon pleasure of hearing
the Hungarian cheer, " Eljin," in my honour.
There was a great crowd at the private view and at the
opening of my exhibition, which certainly seemed to excite
a great deal of interest among all sorts of people. My son
Lancelot had designed a poster in the national Hungarian
colours, which was freely posted about the town, and this no
doubt helped to draw visitors to the " Walter Crane Khallitaza "
— the latter word Hungarian for exhibition.
I was invited to give my lecture " The Language of Line "
at the Arts Club, and this I did, with my usual demonstrations
with charcoal on paper. My lecture was afterwards translated
into Hungarian and printed.
One day Rozsynay took us to lunch with the renowned
novelist and Hungarian patriot Maurice Jokai. He saluted
me in the manner of his countrymen — with an embrace and
a kiss on both cheeks ! — and was most friendly and hospitable,
as also were Madame Jokai and her mother, who were of
the party. Choice Tokay and other wines of the country
flowed freely at the plentiful table, and again I was the
honoured recipient of a speech, which, had I heard it in
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 47 1
English, I should hardly have known how to listen to
becomingly, much less how to live up to afterwards. I think,
however, I must give the translation kindly made by Mile.
Gyory (now Madame Ginever), for the sake of the author,
since, alas ! deceased.
" I drink the health of our dear visitor, the renowned artist
Walter Crane, who during his life passed in genial activity
has won for the English
nation much more glory
with pencil, chisel, and
needle than generals with
their destructive arms.
He has honoured our
modest country by
having introduced the
rich treasures of the
gigantic quantity of his
creations. The great
Master has opened a
double school for us : the
principle of one is to
introduce the beauty of
art in each workshop
of popular industry,
and the • principle of
the other one is to
ennoble popular art in
such a degree that true
taste and simplicity of life may become universal.
'* Walter Crane has carried out with entire success both
of these two principles, and he has gained victories by it not
only in his own great country but in the whole civilised
world. Nobody has so much reason to welcome the Master
as we Hungarians have.
" Among us there are also pupils and even masters of the
art-industry schools which are on the level of art, and they
also endeavour to reach their aim in both directions upwards
and downwards.
/
.;.,i^X^-^
SKETCH FROM LIFE OF MAURICE JOKAI
472 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
"It was only the great Master who was missing, the great
Master whom we now see in person, and whom we admire in
his works.
" What superhuman strength, what richness of knowledge
and of phantasy was required to unite in heart and mind
enlightened by a bold idea, and what iron will, diligence, and
multilateral talent was required for the purpose of realising
such an idea.
" We are looking at the results, and we sigh deep after
having seen them. Who has got a hundred arms to be able
to do the same work ? And yet we must follow the example.
We must learn how the Hungarian peasant cloaks, flower-
decorated trunks, dishes, cups, must be transformed into
ornaments fit to embellish drawing-rooms, palaces, altars ;
we must learn how to transform into a creating power the
aesthetical sense and artistic inclination of our people. Should
one man not be able to execute the task Walter Crane has
finished alone, then the task must be shared among ten,
among a hundred — and their activity will be blessed.
" This blessing may follow our great Master through his
whole life and in all his works ; — we wish he may enjoy beside
the rewards of the world the reward of Heaven in the love
of his wife and children, and may find the continuation of his
glorious activity in his talented sons."
Such eulogy is quite overpowering.
One became very conscious of the strong national feeling
of the Hungarians — the Magyars, that is to say. The national
aspirations to be an independent country were still ardent,
and the memories of the old struggles and patriots of 1848
still fresh with many. There seemed a painful consciousness
of being overshadowed by Germany, and a restlessness under
the Austrian Empire. A feeling, too, that they were regarded
by Western Europe as a remote and semi-barbarian country.
Budapest, however, is the most up-to-date city I have
ever seen. It is as modern as possible. The lighting and
transit arrangements by electricity, wide avenues planted with
trees, and the newer buildings of a more daring type of
architectural design than one has ever seen ; and, alas ! the
r
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 473
city was modern too, in its contrasts of luxury and poverty —
though the latter far less in evidence than it is in wealthy
London. In fact, I do not remember any slums at all ; the
poverty was mostly in evidence in some of the country people
who came into the town for advice at the hospitals.
At the theatres were performed national plays, the
characters in the national and picturesque costumes still worn
by the peasantry, and national music and dances, such as the
czardac. (At one of them, however, we witnessed an admirable
performance of Midsummer Night's Dream^ in Hungarian.)
At the Schools of Design the traditional patterns of the
peasant embroideries, and the painted decorations of their
furniture and pottery, were set before the students as models.
There were collections of such art in the Museums. The
most wonderful thing, perhaps, was the enamelled jewellery,
marvellous in fantastic invention of workmanship — of which
I saw a fine collection in the National Museum at Budapest.
There were a few seventeenth and eighteenth century
houses left here and there in some of the streets, low, long,
yellow- washed, with brown -tiled roofs and green -shuttered
windows, and sometimes large wooden doors closing an arched
entrance which led into a courtyard.
There were many of this original type in Alt Buda, across
the river, which had not been modernised like Pest. Some of
the older restaurants and cafes also were interesting, having
plastered vaulted and painted ceilings. The modern cafes
were great in plate glass. The front of one of these seemed
to be nothing but glass — so much so that a customer was
said to have walked right through it, under the impression
there was nothing between him and the street !
From the modern point of view the broad avenues lined
with trees were well planned and spacious — such as Andrassy
Avenue, leading up to a great national monument, in which in
front of a semicircular classical arcade was a colossal group
of the ancient kings and heroes of Hungary, prominent among
them being their revered Mattias Corvinus — regarded as the
Alfred the Great of Hungary, The Hungarians, like our
Continental neighbours generally, are fully alive to the value
of and importance of monumental art as a means of historic
474 AN ARTISTE REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
expression and of national aspiration, as to which the British
seem so lamentably deficient.
A relic of the Turkish conquest, in the shape of an old
fort, crowns the hill opposite Pest, across the Danube, which
is spanned by a suspension bridge — the design of an English
engineer. The King's Palace is also on that side, and with its
terraces and gardens occupies a large site on the hillside.
The new Parliament House, in the revived national mediaeval
style, fronts the river on the other side, and is gorgeously
decorated with marbles and the faience of Szolnay, the
renowned Hungarian potter, which comprises tile decoration
as well as modelled figures in majolica.
We received a cordial invitation to visit the home of the
Szolnay family and see the works at Pecs (Funfkirchen).
The founder had recently died, and his son carried on the
works with a partner, Sikovsky. One's first duty on arriving at
Pecs was to be conducted to the tomb of Szolnay, to place a
wreath upon it and to say a few words. A small procession
was formed, with sergents de ville bearing torches, as it was
night, and the scene in the cemetery around the tomb, to
which we walked from the carriages, was a weird one.
The Hungarians pay great respect to their dead, and have
special days when the people flock to the cemeteries with
wreaths and flowers to place on the tombs. In accordance
with this custom, I went with Rozsynay to place a wreath
on the tomb of Munkacsy, the famous Hungarian painter,
recently deceased at Budapest.
Nothing could exceed the courtesy and kindness of the
charming family circle at Pecs, and we had a most enjoyable
visit to that interesting and typical Hungarian town, with its
fine church and Bishop's Palace. I was introduced to the
Mayor and the Bishop, and charming Countess Feveray, and
met all the chief citizens. We also saw something of the
country and the peasants and their manner of life, and
wonderful embroidered costumes.
The works of Szolnay bore evidence of having gradually
grown from small beginnings to very extensive dimensions,
and the business seemed an enormous one of many branches.
In the pottery department the iridescent glazes were very
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 47 5
much in favour, and I and my son had an opportunity of
experimenting with designs painted in a kind of slip upon black
glazed pottery, the white slip becoming iridescent when fired.
Returning to Budapest, we started in another direction to
visit Szeged. Here, too, we had a most friendly reception,
and a fine suite of rooms placed at our disposal at the
best hotel, and a luncheon and a dinner in our honour, as
well as a special performance at the theatre, during which
the leading comedian sang a song improvising a verse in
which he introduced an allusion to my name. Szeged was a
town on the plains which had some twelve years before
suffered almost complete destruction from the terrible floods
which covered that part of the country, and the memory was
still cherished of English sympathy and practical help at the
time. The town owned an agricultural and forest area of
twenty-five miles around it, and the municipal authorities
arranged a drive for us over a part of this estate, so as to get a
notion of the country. Four or five open carriages-and-pairs
conveyed the party, well supplied with fur coats, to various
spots of interest, one of which was an important school of
forestry, where we halted for lunch. It was a vast plain
country, the Carpathian Mountains seen afar off. The crops,
principally maize, had been mostly gathered, and the land
was being ploughed. The farmhouses with brown thatched
roofs, whitewashed walls, and timber upper storey, green
shutters to the windows, and small terrace or stoep along
the front, were pleasant bits of colour in the autumn landscape,
heightened by the masses of red pepper {papricd), the pods of
which were strung close together and hung against the white
walls.
Taking leave of our kind hosts at Szeged, we went on our
way, journeying to Arad, famous as a centre of the strife of
1848, and as the scene of Austrian ferocity, when thirteen
Hungarian officers were shot. A monument in the centre of
the town commemorates this tragedy, which has never been
forgotten or forgiven by the Hungarians.
From Arad we continued our journey to the south-east
corner of the country to Vaidi Hunyad, where the great castle
of Mattias Corvinus stood, a striking group of spired towers
476
AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
upon a crag. It has been very thoroughly restored, however.
There were large ironworks and blast furnaces not very far
away, and the red light from these flaring upon the white
walls and towers of the castle suggested contrasting symbols
of feudalism and capitalistic industrialism.
There was a distinct Turkish character about the place,
little more than a straggling village, with a wide market-
place. The less said about the hotel accommodation the
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 477
better. " The best was like the worst." The discomfort was
increased by recent heavy rains, which had turned the roads
into seas of mud. The people seemed poverty-stricken and
wretched for the most part.
There was an interesting Greek church, with mural paintings
of the eleventh century (which had been varnished), and a
fourteenth - century nave attached to it. The priest who
showed us round had a comfortable house near by.
From Vaidi Hunyad we continued our tour, entering the
beautiful mountainous and woodland scenery of Transylvania,
and staying at the ancient seat of learning, Kolosvar. Here,
again, we were most hospitably entertained and shown all the
places of interest. A special dinner by the Mayor was given
in our honour, with English toasts and speeches, and a special
performance at the theatre of a national play, and I was
invited to go on the stage, behind the scenes, to greet the
actors and actresses, who gathered in a brilliant throng to
meet us in all the bravery of their costumes, through which
I made my way with hand-shakes. Professor Kovacs, of the
university there (who spoke English fluently, having lived in
London), was particularly kind and anxious to give every in-
formation about his country. There was a picturesque market
going on in the streets, country carts with their produce being
drawn up along the sides, and stalls of all sorts of merchandise.
Professor Kovacs pointed out the many different races and
types which met here. There were peasants who had migrated
from Saxony centuries ago who still had the characteristic
fair hair and blond complexion. There were the " Gipsies " —
in complete contrast. (" Gipsies " was the name given to the
wandering bands of musicians whose wild strains greeted us
at the first station on entering Hungary.) There were the
Roumanians, who claim descent from an original Roman
colony, and they certainly wore the soft skin sandals similar
to those of the Campagna peasant, fastened with leather
thongs over their linen-bandaged legs and feet ; and there
were, of course, the Magyars in their semi-oriental white
dress, with gay embroidered jackets and riding-boots, some-
times wearing the heavy white overcoat, cloak-wise, with the
sleeves hanging.
/
478 AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
We were shown the house where King Mattias was born,
which had not escaped the restorer's hand. It was to be
deplored, too, that the old walls of the town had been allowed
to be pulled down — all but a few fragments and an ancient
gate. There seemed to be great need for a Society for the
Protection of Ancient Buildings in Hungary.
Bannfify Hunyad was our next halting-place. Here we
were entertained at a private house — a friend of Professor
Kovacs' and of Rozsynay's — though the lady herself was
absent.
I was able to get some sketches of the peasants in their
costumes here, and very brilliant in colour they were. They
were quite willing to stand for one, too. We saw also a charac-
teristic cottage interior, with its big tiled stove, and beds
piled with embroidered pillows. An old woman was sitting
at the small window busy at work on an elaborate piece of
embroidery, which would take about six months to finish, she
said. These peasant embroideries were now being collected
extensively by the rich people in the towns, and fine old pieces
were becoming rare. Schools of embroidery were being estab-
lished in the towns to teach the work which the peasantry had
taught themselves, and of course, at every remove, the patterns
became tamer. It does not seem possible to transform un-
conscious spontaneous art into conscious learned art, any more
than it is possible for wild flowers to flourish in a formal
garden.
We returned again for a few days to Budapest, and
had some pleasant evenings with various friends. A young
artist named Farago had made an amusing caricature of
me with M. Wlassics, the Hungarian Minister of Education
and Art, with which he presented me, and indeed we
returned with many souvenirs of our gratifying and interesting
visit.
We left Budapest on November 5, and made the journey
back to London in the course of five days, breaking it, to
avoid night-travelling, at Vienna, where we had a look at the
" Secessionists' " exhibition, then on, in a remarkable building
of their own — certainly very original.
Thence to Linz, Linz to Nuremberg, where we had another
1 892- 1 903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 479
look at the Diirer Haus, and so to Cologne and Bruges once
more, and I was able to attend a Council at South Kensington
on the I oth of November.
CARICATURE BY MR. FARAGO— THE HUNGARIAN MINISTER OF
FINE ART AND WALTER CRANE AT BUDAPEST (1900)
On the 2 1 st my wife and I went down to stay at Trentham,
the Duchess of Sutherland having asked me, in the summer, to
give a lecture at Stoke-upon-Trent, and so it was arranged
48o AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
that I should give my " Language of Line " lecture with
the illustrations, the Duchess undertaking to be in the
chair.
The occasion passed off quite successfully, I remember
the Hon. George Peel moved a vote of thanks to the Duchess,
describing her as " as good as she was beautiful," — a sentiment
we fully endorsed.
I afterwards designed a frontispiece to a book of stories by
the Duchess, entitled The Winds of the Worlds a subject I also
worked out in colour — a picture in tempera ; and I again
collaborated by a cover design for a book of hers. Wayfarers'
Love, a volume of poems by different authors which the Duchess
compiled, and which was printed by " The Cripples' Guild," of
Stoke, and sold for their benefit.
The Italian garden at Trentham is well planned, and the
view of it from the windows, with the lake and the woods
beyond softened in the silvery haze of a November morning,
had a beauty of its own.
I had to go on to Hanley the next morning to open — this
time unaided — an exhibition of the work of Arts and Crafts,
and after this to proceed to Manchester to address the Man-
chester Art Workers' Guild, which had been established before
I left the school, much on the lines of our London Guild — and
so back to London.
The year ended at my friend Charles Rowley's hospitable
round table at the National Liberal Club, where he has of late
years introduced an agreeable custom of calling a group of his
old friends together at a luncheon. His circle included Mr,
W. M. Rossetti, Mr. Theodore Watts-Dunton, Mr, Frederick J.
Shields, Mr. George Bernard Shaw, Mr. William Rothenstein,
Prince Kropotkin, Dr. Richard Garnett (whom we have since
lost), so that in such literary and artistic company it naturally
became " a feast of reason and a flow of soul."
Among our distinguished friends of recent years I may
mention Professor and Mrs, Churton Collins, who had many
interesting gatherings of literary and artistic people at their
house. I remember meeting there Mr. H. B. Irving and Mr.
Max Beerbohm one Sunday evening.
I recall, too, a luncheon given by Mrs. Craigie at her
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 48 1
house, at which Mr. J. M. Barrie was present, among a company
of literary, musical, and artistic people,
A group of artists interested in tempera painting had
formed a Society of Painters in Tempera — Mr. J. D. Batten
being principally active as organiser, and also as Hon. Secretary.
The group included Mrs. Herringham, known as the learned
translator of Cennino Cennini and for her copies of early Italian
work in the National Gallery, Mr. and Mrs. Adrian Stokes,
Mr. Joseph E. Southall of Birmingham, Mr. Roger Fry, Mrs,
Sargent Florence, Mr. C. M. Gere, Mr. Arthur Gaskin, and
Mr, Robert Bateman, with others. We induced the Directors
of the New Gallery in their summer exhibition of 1901 to
make a special feature of our work, which was shown in a
group in the south room. Various kinds of tempera were
used, but the principal method was the yolk-of-egg method as
practised by Cennino and the early Italian painters, though
the work exhibited showed considerable diversity of feeling,
ranging from the strict Italian method of Mr. Southall to the
free pictorial landscape treatment of Mr. Graham Petrie.
My own contributions were " The Fountain of Youth " and
" The Mower," both painted with yolk of ^^^ diluted with
water and used with powder colours.
Later, in 1904, the Society had an exhibition of its own
at the Carfax Gallery.
Its main purpose, however, has been the exchange of
information on tempera painting and allied arts between its
members by meetings, papers, and discussions.
In 1 90 1 we paid a visit to Ireland during the summer,
taking a furnished house at Killiney, near Dublin. From
there we were within easy reach of Bray, Dalkey (memorable
as the abode of Michael Davitt), and Powerscourt, Killiney
Hill commanded a wonderful view of the Wicklow Mountains
and Dublin Bay. We found the outside car excellent for
seeing the country, and had a drive of twenty-five miles on
one to Glendalough and back. The round towers, ruined
churches, and remains of the ancient city were very interesting,
and had a character quite distinct from anything one had seen.
The lake, too, was fine, with the overhanging crags and the
woodland slopes below. The difference of character between
3^
482 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
the Irish and English impressed one at once on landing, the
Irish manners are so superior. The railway porters seem to
take a kindly interest in your welfare, apart from prospective
tips, and there is generally a feeling of friendly geniality which
makes the ordinary business of life pleasanter than among our
more guarded and cold and cautious folk, who also, in many
parts, are apt to have an aggressive stare for the stranger.
From Dublin we went west to Killarney, visiting Muckross
Abbey and making the round of the Lakes, driving to Dunmow
Gap, and then riding over it to take the boats on the other
side, working our way past the innumerable original Kate
Kearney's cottages, with their alluring nips of potheen, and
deafened by the echo-wakers with voice or cornet, taking ad-
vantage of their only opportunity in the year to turn an honest
(but noisy) penny. We duly had the Eagle's Nest pointed out,
and shot the rapids into the waters of the Lower Lake. There
can be no doubt of the beauty and charm of the scenery, but the
Irish do not seem to be different from the English in exploiting
their scenery and in running the tourist, who, largely American,
pours through as he does in the English Lake District.
From Killarney we went to Kenmare by train. It was
rather a forlorn, bare, and dreary-looking town. There was a
convent where the nuns had a school of lace-making, and a
permanent exhibition of specimens.
From Kenmare we took the magnificent coach-drive over
the mountains to Glengariff, the romantic beauty of which was
very striking, with its rocky islands and wooded shores stretch-
ing seawards. One realised the " Emerald Isle " to the full in
the verdure of the woods, the very trunks of the trees covered
with green moss, when, towards evening, after a wet day (as
indeed they mostly were), the sunlight would strike through
the dripping boughs, making each drop a diamond, and illumin-
ating the leaves with translucent green.
The tourists, of course, mostly carried cameras, and instant-
aneous photography seemed to be the only art familiar to the
native — at least, to judge from a remark of a passing spectator
while I was sketching at Glengariff. " That's the old-fashioned
way o' doin' it," he remarked to his companions, a group of
country people. " While he's a-doin' one picture, they can
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 483
take hundreds ; it looks better when it's done, but it takes a
long while." That it should be allowed that painting looked
better than photography when done, was cheering.
From Glengariff we went to Cork, a curious mixture of
prosperity and squalor, modern business and happy-go-lucky
methods ; in a warm and steamy climate, with wet streets and
a general waterside character, and the busy dock-life of a port.
We heard the sound of Shandon bells, and paid a visit to
Blarney Castle, a tall ruined keep rising from pleasantly
wooded grounds, a short railway journey off. While at Cork,
we went to Youghal, and saw Sir Walter Raleigh's house, and
the Boyle monument in St. Mary's. The town had one of its
old gates left, and some ancient houses here and there.
I was anxious to see Edmund Spenser's Castle Kilcolman,
from which in the Munster rising he was compelled to fly, and,
when the castle was burnt, the poet paying dearly for his
share in the English domination. To reach Kilcolman we
stayed at Mallow, and had a drive on an outside car of seven
miles, till we could drive no farther, in fact, as the only road to
the castle was a rough wandering track through furze bushes
which led us to a marsh. This may have been a lake in the
winter — as the views of the castle, idealised by the steel en-
graver, in some of the poet's modern editions show it. Here
forget-me-nots grew in quantities in the shallow pools. We
picked our way along the edge to where, on a rising green
knoll, stood the castle — the ruined shell of a peel tower;
blue ridges of mountains beyond, melting into the distance,
A more remote spot would be difficult to find, and the absolute
stillness of the soft air was unbroken. Only at a farm near the
castle, some peasants were getting in a quantity of belated hay.
I made a drawing of the place, and composed the follow-
ing sonnet : —
This shattered tower — that once was Spenser's home —
Left, like a hollow shell upon the shore,
Empty of echoes, stripped of all its lore,
Beside a marsh where but few pilgrims come,
Yet holdeth speech, as might some ancient tome
Of leaves bereft, by salvage hands that tore,
And left this ruined casket less its core —
A stranded wreck beyond time's ocean foam.
484 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
A poet's house upon a pleasant ground,
Glassed in still sedgy pools where gleam the eyes
Of sweet Forget-me-nots to wreathe his name :
Thus stands great Spenser's Tower on Irish ground,
Well nigh his tomb, ill-fated — yet ne'er dies
His Faery Legend in the House of Fame.
KiLCOLMAN Castle, Sept. 11, 1901
Buttevant and Doneraile, too, mentioned in Spenser's
verse, we passed through on our way back.
Another place I was anxious to have a sight of was the
famous Rock of Cashel. This meant a stop at a road station
on our way back to Dublin, and a drive of about six miles in
a very rickety car ; but the Rock, with its remarkable cluster of
buildings, is well worth a pilgrimage, and its records go back
to very remote antiquity in the history of Ireland — the stone
whereon her ancient kings were crowned being still preserved
there. The architecture resembles our later Norman type, and
the pile of grey stones with its irregular varied outline is a
landmark to the country round.
Near by are the ruins of Hore Abbey. Cashel is in the
midst of an agricultural and grazing country, and very charm-
ing scenery — when the rain permits the stranger to see it.
A market took possession of the town the day we were there.
Sheep and cattle filled the streets, and covered even the
pavements, farmers' carts alongside, and the farmers in groups
everywhere, in busy talk, but quite ready to take a friendly
interest in other people's transactions, as when my wife was
buying a basket at one of the street waggon-stalls, and the
vendor was volubly recommending a particular one as likely
to suit, the crowd watching with intense interest, one of them
was moved to say, "Let her plase herself" — in quite a friendly
way.
At Dublin the Museum of Irish Antiquities was most
interesting, and in Trinity College Library we had the pleasure
of seeing the renowned Book of Kells, and some fine specimens
of the true Irish harp.
The Dublin Horse Show was a big event, and seemed to be
a centre of absorbing interest among all classes. The dis-
play of horses, jumping, riding, and driving, was very fine, and
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 48 5
there were some lovely animals. There were rings where men
showed off their horses, and seemed to ride continuously in a
circle, having rather the effect of a live merry-go-round.
The Dublin ladies in their most delicate summer costumes
were quite beautiful enough to turn the attention away from
the horses.
An interesting visit to the Botanic Gardens should be
mentioned, under the guidance of the courteous Director;
and, of course, Phcenix Park was duly visited.
But at length our time was up, and the steamer at Kings-
town harbour soon bore us homewards.
No less than two different writers applied to me this year
for help and material in composing monographs on my work.
These were Baron von Schlienitz, who had written one on
Burne-Jones for the Knackfuss Series of handbooks on artists,
issued by Verhasen & Klasing of Leipzig, and Mr. P. G.
Konody, a young Hungarian writer on art, settled in London.
It was rather a task to keep both authors supplied with
material, but it seems to have been my fate to be called upon
in this way, and one has so often been asked for illustrations
for newspaper and magazine articles on one's work.
Baron von Schlienitz's book was intended for wide
circulation, and was on a smaller scale and issued at a
popular price, and was very thoroughly done. I have not
the advantage of reading German, but as to illustrations he
has been able to give a fairly complete representative selection
in small compass.
Mr. Konody's book was much more costly and extensive,
and contained a vast quantity of reproductions, many in
colour. He was connected with an Art Reproduction
Company, who supplied the blocks, and others were original
impressions from the blocks, lent by the publishers of my
books.
The result was a very full scrap-book or album illustrative
of the various sides of my work (published by Messrs. G. Bell
& Sons). Unfortunately, Mr. Konody omitted to show me
the MS. before the book was printed, and I was rather aghast
to find so many mistakes which I could have easily corrected.
For a book of the kind, too, which no one would be likely
486 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
to purchase who was not in sympathy with one's work, Mr.
Konody seemed rather too anxious to pose as a critic, but
his critical remarks seem hardly in agreement, and contradict
much of his appreciation.
I found it necessary to have inserted a slip disclaiming
all responsibility or sanction for the text of the book, as, owing
to my previous personal acquaintance with the author, private
and hitherto unpublished sources had been drawn upon by
him for the fuller illustration of his book, and it might be
supposed I was a collaborator and in full knowledge of what
the author had written. I certainly think a critic is going
beyond his province — even supposing that criticism is
possible in a book which would have no existence but for the
help of the works criticised — when he ventures to contradict
the artist he is supposed to be explaining, and traverses his
subject's own statement of his aims and methods, in effect
instructing the artist how he ought to have done his own
work. I fear there is no other word for this but impertinence.
I willingly admit Mr. Konody's cleverness and quickness.
He no doubt had a far from easy task, and something must
be allowed for the assurance of youth, but " we are none
of us infallible " — not even art critics !
In the spirit of a little sketch I sent to Mr. M. H. Spielmann,
editor of the Magazine of Art, under the attentions of my
critics and biographers I was " covered with leaves, but not
dead yet."
I had had a visit from a delegate of the Italian Committee
at Turin, who were projecting a vast exhibition of Decorative
Art at that city in 1902, inviting me to organise a British
exhibit and to be a large exhibitor myself.
My collection from Budapest had been again on its
travels. From the Hungarian capital it went by invitation
to Vienna to the Imperial Art and Industrial Museum, and
many purchases were made for that collection from it by
Prince Leiningen. From there it travelled to Darmstadt,
Dusseldorf, and Frankfort, being exhibited at each place in
turn. I offered the collection to the Turin authorities, and
they accepted it. I then appealed to my colleagues of the
Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society for their co-operation in
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 487
forming a representative collection of British work in design
and the crafts for Turin, and though it is increasingly difficult
to persuade artists and craftsmen to send their works to
foreign exhibitions I managed to get together a fairly-
representative show, which was greatly enriched by the
loan of the splendid Morris tapestry of the Seasons from the
Victoria and Albert Museum, which also lent a fine series
of large photographs from Madox Brown's series of English
Worthies.
A large gallery was allotted to the British Section, and
plans of the rooms being furnished, I was able to suggest a
treatment of the entrances, and to design and paint decorations
for them, bearing our symbols and superscription, as well
as the national heraldry, and my committee also drew up
a plan with cubicles for the better arrangement of our
exhibits.
In April I went out for the hanging and arrangement,
accompanied by Mr, R. Anning Bell and Mr. Harrison
Townsend. We were received at Turin by members of the
committee, including Signor Bistolfi, the sculptor. We found
the exhibition buildings in progress. They were situated
in the fine park which borders the Po, and were wonderful
examples of New Art architecture as a rule, the main entrance
consisting of two Italianised pylons, covered with wonderful
designs in colour. The great dome was equally extraordinary
and certainly original, the Italian dramatic sense asserting itself
everywhere in the decorations.
Our .court was far from complete, and we had much
difficulty in getting it finished, as the workmen were frequently
called off to other parts. The weather, too, was unusually wet
and hindered the drying of the plaster, the heavy rain causing
much trouble by finding its way through the roof and stream-
ing down the walls in some places, so that exhibits had to be
moved.
We had a very good set of workmen told off to unpack
and assist in the placing, and the cases arrived all right. The
central room was devoted to the Arts and Crafts Society's
show, and my collection was large enough to fill the three
other rooms of the British section. Next to us was the
488 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
Belgian section, with a very elaborate New Art entrance in
plaster — a foretaste of the exhibits within.
The Germans had a very important section, and this was
presided over by Herr von Berlepsch (the writer of the Vienna
monograph on my work), and he came and sought me out and
gave me a cordial greeting. I made the acquaintance of
several of the artists engaged, in one way or another, on the
decoration of the buildings, and it was the custom for those
of all nationalities to meet in the luncheon hour at the
restaurant of the Castello Mediaeviale, a pleasant place by the
riverside connected with a very complete reproduction of a
Piedmontese village and protecting castle of mediaeval times,
astonishingly well done and exact to the smallest details, the
buildings being taken largely from existing ones in the neigh-
bourhood of Turin.
Here we had many pleasant international gatherings, made
many friendships, and drank each other's health in the
Italian wine, the talk being in all manner of tongues.
There was even a proposal to form a large international
association of artists, which only needed active organising
secretaries to have become an accomplished fact.^
There were, of course, official dinners and receptions, with
speeches and all the rest of it.
The Artists' Club, too, entertained us in their quarters in a
fine old palace, where a flaming tripod of punch was placed in
the midst.
Some of us, including Herr von Berlepsch and myself,
were entertained at dinner by the Grand Duke of Hesse
Darmstadt, who came to Turin to attend the opening. In a
conversation I had with the Duke he expressed his sympathy
with English decorative art, and was glad it was represented
in the exhibition, as he considered it was a wholesome protest
against the extravagances of I'Art Nouveau. He was an
^ The International Society of Painters, Sculptors, and Gravers was formed in
London after this, and quite independently. Mr. Whistler was the first President,
and after his death he was succeeded by M. Rodin. The society has held many
striking exhibitions in London and on the Continent. It rather represents the most
modern school in art, though not exclusively so, and includes among its members and
associates artists of very different and distinct individuality. In the artistic arrange-
ment of its exhibitions it has set an example to the older societies.
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 489
extensive patron of art at Darmstadt, where his architect
and decorator-in-chief was Herr Olbricht, whose acquaintance
I also made at Turin.
At last the opening came, with a royal ceremony. A
statue in bronze, by Signor Calandra, of the Duke of Savoy
was erected near the main entrance, and stands were put up
for the ceremony of unveiling by the King of Italy. I
remember the outriders who preceded the royal carriage
pranced in on fat cream-coloured horses, precisely of the type
one sees in the early painters' work, such as in Paolo Uccello's
battle piece in our National Gallery.
My friends Bell and Townsend had to return to London
before the opening, and so I was left as the solitary re-
presentative of Great Britain, and in this capacity it fell to my
lot to receive the King and Queen of Italy in the British section
when at the opening they made the tour of the exhibition. I
remember a court official running in first to see that I was
there.
The King was small in stature, in the blue uniform of an
Italian general. His manner was very quiet and gentle, and
he spoke English perfectly. He remarked that the Queen
and himself had known my books for a long time. The
Queen left most of the talking to the King, and she too was
gentle in manner, and graceful. They both seemed interested
in the exhibits, and frequently stopped to examine. The
King remarked of my picture of " The World's Conquerors,"
which was there, that it reminded him of Carpaccio. So they
passed through with their train, and I bowed them on to
Belgium.
An invitation to the palace followed, but I was due to
return to London before the, reception came off. The Count
of Turin, de Sambuy, was the Chairman of the Exhibition
Committee, and the whole thing was under the presidency of
the Due d'Aosta, who also visited our section.
The most exciting and picturesque of the entertainments
was the " Carrousel " — a sort of musical ride and equestrian
display which took place in a large theatre organised by the
Count de Sambuy and the Due d'Aosta, both of whom were
in the performance. The troop of horsemen were in the
490
AN ARTISTS REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
costume of mid-seventeenth-century cavaliers. The floor of the
theatre was cleared of seats and covered with tan, and on this
was figured in colour the Cross of Savoy.
The tiers of boxes ran without break around the threatre,
so that the view was uninterrupted from every point. The
manoeuvres were very graceful and perfectly executed, the
horses being wonderfully trained. The finale was pretty.
A large floral device forming the Cross of Savoy was brought
in and placed in the centre of the theatre. After some move-
ments around it, one of the cavaliers rode up and plunged his
sword into it, and immediately out flew a flight of white doves,
fluttering all over the house, and the people stretched out their
arms to catch them
as they made for the
edges of the boxes.
Two young men
of the German
section, Herr Godin
and Herr Tiocca
(an Alsatian), with
whom I had struck
up a great friend-
ship, saw me off at
the station when the
time of my departure
from Turin came,
and after the graceful foreign custom presented me with an
enormous bouquet of lovely roses.
I was afterwards appointed on the jury of the exhibition,
and so had to return in August to Turin, when my wife
accompanied me. It was, as might have been expected,
excessively warm, and the jury business was exceedingly
tiring.
My colleagues were — representing France, M. Besnard ;
Germany, Professors Gross and Hofmann ; Austria, Herr
Baumann ; Hungary, M. Radiscics (my Budapest friend,
whom I had met at the opening in the gorgeous official
costume of his country like a glorified Hussar) ; Holland,
Mr. von Saher ; Belgium, M. Ferens Gevaerts ; the United
SOUVENIR CARD (HOLLAND), TURIN (1902)
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 49 1
States, an Italian representative, the Count Tedesca ; and
Italy, Signor Calandra, Signer Teserone (Naples), and
Signor Melani (Milan) ; Sweden and Norway, M. Folcka. This
International Jury unanimously elected me Presidente d'Onore.
M. Besnard was the active President and M. Gevaerts the
Secretary. We pounded away for about a fortnight at our
awards.
Our labours were lightened by an excursion, arranged by
the Count, to Superga, a great church upon a commanding hill
a short journey by steam tramway from Turin, from whence
a magnificent view of the country, with Monte Rosa and the
Alps, could be obtained. All the members of the jury attended,
but I think the only ladies were Madame Besnard and my
wife. There was a
luncheon at the
restaurant, whereat
the Count presided,
and speeches were
made and inter-
national compliments
exchanged, and so
a pleasant day was
spent.
I was not able to
attend the final din-
ner, when the jury,
who granted a special Diploma of Honour to me for the Arts
and Crafts Exhibition Society, met together to celebrate the
conclusion of their labours before departing for their respec-
tive countries, as we had arranged to leave Turin before that
took place, so designed a little card for each member as a
parting souvenir, and these were afterwards reproduced.
From Turin we went to Varallo, to see the Sacro Monte
about which Samuel Butler writes so enthusiastically and so
fully in his book on Varallo. Changing at Novaro, where
there is a fine church, we worked up among the mountains
of the Italian Alps, and found Varallo a very picturesque place,
full of interest. Monte Sacro is a monument of the work of
Gaudenzio di Ferrari, and is a unique place. A sort of pilgrims'
SOUVENIR CARD (JAPAN), TURIN (1902)
492 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
road winds upon a steep hill and through woods, and near the
summit at each turn of the path is a shrine containing a group
of life-sized figures in coloured terra cotta, often extremely
realistically treated. These groups represent scenes from the
Bible stories, beginning with Adam and Eve and ending with
the Crucifixion. A railing of pieced woodwork protects these
groups, and one peers at them through the interstices of an
arabesque. The interior walls of these shrines or chapels are
painted in fresco, and form the background to the modelled
groups in front. Butler describes each group minutely, and
seems to trace the hand of more than one artist in their style
of execution and treatment.
On the summit of the hill is a church and other buildings
surrounding a cortile with an old fountain in it. There is also
a restaurant for the tired pilgrim. The pathways leading from
one shrine to another often wander like those of a maze through
clipped hedges, and the ground suggests a pleasant mixture of
natural woodland and formal garden — pleasant to wander in.
From Varallo we drove in an open carriage to Orta, through
a delightful country, and put up at the well-known hostelry
facing the beautiful lake, with its island of S. Giulio and
interesting church and lovely mountain background. We
had another fine drive to Lago Maggiore from here, to
Pallanza, and stayed by the lake, visiting Isola Bella, which
in former years I had passed in the steamer, and next
voyaging up the lake to Laveno, where we found an old-
fashioned albergo, kept by an ancient dame, the front of
the house hidden in a perfect bower of wistaria, over which
hung the quaint metal sign, " II Moro." " II Moro" sheltered
us for some nights, and we had many rambles by the lake
or up the mountain paths, before going on to Como to take
the steamer to Cadenabbia, where we made a longer stay and
I made many sketches, excurting to Bellagio and Gravedona,
where was a most interesting Byzantine church.
At Cadenabbia we met Mr. and Mrs. Waldo Story of
Rome, and other friends. The hotels along the lake were
filled with English and Americans, who make it a happy
hunting-ground at this season of the year. But the time
came to turn homewards, which we did by way of Lugano
1892-1903] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 49 3
and Bellinzona, where we broke our journey and admired the
striking old fortress and the fine position of the town — which
seemed undergoing a process of modernisation, however.
Starting for Lucerne, we fell in with another party of friends
in the train returning from their holiday. At Lucerne we
went across the lake to climb Pilatus by the new mountain
railway. I never saw Lucerne look so dull. A heavy mass of
grey cloud lay low down over everything and hid the mountains ;
but approaching the snowy summit, we emerged into clear air,
climbing as it were out of a white sea of rolling clouds that
broke like billows at our feet as we gazed across it to the
Alpine peaks, which showed above it, exactly resembling
rocky islands on a seacoast. A clear roseate sunset fol-
lowed, and the next morning we saw an equally clear
sunrise breaking over the same wondrous sea of white
cloud. We had only one other fellow - traveller to the
summit, and he was an Australian. Next morning, however,
a train-load of tourists came up and filled the hotel ; but the
clouds followed them, and soon became a thick white fog
through which nothing could be discerned — one might as
well have been in the lowest valley. We felt ourselves
rather fortunate to have had a clear peep before it rolled up.
We again broke our journey home at Basel, and I enjoyed
a good look at the Holbein drawings, and also at the collection
of Arnold Bocklin's pictures, which I had not before seen, and
found them very original, romantic, and brilliantly painted,
though often full of sharp contrasts.
The street fountains of Basel are extremely interesting.
They generally consist of a central column or pedestal rising
boldly from a wide and sometimes hexagonal basin with a
flat stone edge about three feet from the ground. The water
shoots from moulded leaden or iron spouts at the base of the
column at a convenient distance for filling pitchers, to support
which an iron grill is placed under each spout. The column
or pedestal is surmounted by an image of some kind, generally
of heraldic character — perhaps an armed knight or a lion.
I made a note of one with a chamois at the top.
There is also a very interesting historical museum in the
city, an old church having been annexed for the purpose. A
494 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1903
series of historic rooms illustrating different periods, complete
with their proper furniture and accessories of all kinds, occupy
the positions down each side of the nave which are usually-
occupied by chapels, and besides the antiquities in these there
is a very rich collection of weapons, costumes, pottery, metal-
work, carved wood, and decorative objects of all kinds illustrating
the art of the country. Such a museum of national art — of
the art of the people — is really understood and popular, and it
seems to me that our Continental neighbours — whether Swiss,
German, or French — in realising the importance and interest of
such museums, and in understanding their arrangement, are in
advance of us, as we have not a museum of national domestic
art. It is to be hoped that it will be found possible to arrange
a group of English mediaeval art in the New South Kensington
Museum building.
As the result of my work at the Turin Exhibition, I
received early in the following year this letter from the British
Consul at Turin : —
'' Turin, /ammfy 10, 1903
" Sir, — H.M. the King of Italy, under proposal of H.R.H.
the Duke of Aosta, President of the First International Exhibi-
tion of Modern Art in Turin, has conferred to you the Croce
di Grande Ufficiale nelV ordine della Coronia d Italia, and has
remitted to H.R.H. the Duke of Aosta the ensigns for being
forwarded to you on my behalf.
" Please to fill up the enclosed form and return it to me
in order to be able to compile the diploma.
" Under separate cover, registered, I am sending you the
ensigns. — I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant,
" GlACINT Cassini, Vice-Consul
"Walter Crane, Esq.
Holland Street, Kensington, London"
This was a little surprise-packet for me. It was the first
intimation I had had of anything of the sort, and the
announcement and the order came tumbling in at the same
moment.
In due course came the formal Diploma from " Sua Maesta
Vittorio Emanuele III. per grazia di Dio e per volont^ della
1892-1905] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 49 5
Nazione Re d'ltalia," etc., setting forth in beautiful language
the why and the wherefore of the thing and signed by the
Chancellor of the Order. This, too, was accompanied by a
document from our King Edward VII., giving me " Greeting "
and duly licensing me to " accept and wear " the order.
" Given at Our Court at Sandringham the eighth day of
January 1903 in the second year of Our reign."
The King's signature being at the head of the document
and that of A. Akers Douglas at the foot.
I believe this direct method of conferring an order is a
little unusual. Foreign orders to English subjects, except in
the services, are seldom licensed by the Foreign Office, and
it appears doubtful if they have any power to do so, such
permission resting with the King.
The order in my case certainly came quite unsought, and
was, as I have said, a surprise.
I had the King's signature to another document in the
same month of the same year, curiously enough. This was
the Diploma of my full membership of the Royal Society of
Painters in Water Colours, dated the 2nd day of January
1903.
I cannot say, either, that I am without honours in my own
country, as in 1904 the Albert Gold Medal of the Society
of Arts was conferred upon me, " in recognition of the services
rendered to Art and Industry by awakening popular interest
in Decorative Art and Craftsmanship, and by promoting the
recognition of English Art in the forms most material to the
commercial prosperity of the country." This medal has
usually been won by men eminent in science and mechanical
invention. Such names as Rowland Hill, Michael Faraday,
Lord Kelvin, Lord Lister, Sir William Crookes, Professor
Bell, figure in the list of past recipients of the medal, but I
do not find any names of artists.
The medal was presented by the Prince of Wales on
July 5, 1905, at Marlborough House, where I attended to
receive it from his hands at the same time with Lord Rayleigh,
on whom was conferred the same medal for the year 1905,
one medal only in each year being conferred. A large
number of the Council of the Society of Arts were present.
496 AN ARTIST'S REMINISCENCES [1892-1905
headed by Sir William Abney, the Chairman, and my former
chief at South Kensington. My excellent friend Sir George
Birdwood, chairman of the " Applied Art Section," was also
there.
If a man may take such distinctions as the outward and
official marks of public recognition of his work, they cannot
but be gratifying as such, however far short of his ideals and
aims he may feel his efforts to be. Every movement, too,
depends upon the effective co-operation of many, and all
social progress upon the efficient labour in the humblest
sphere, quite as much as on those in the higher. The thought
of the enormous indebtedness of the individual, however
capable, to the community at large and to the fellow-workers
who have constructed the ladder by which a man rises, or
the scaffolding by means of which he is able to build, should
keep his estimate of his own powers modest.
I did not intend these reminiscences to extend beyond the
nineteenth century, but having noted such recent happenings
as are covered by the date 1905, I cannot conclude my book
without reference to the death of our great painter, G. F. Watts,
who passed away in the summer of 1904. In him too I
lost a generous and valued friend. I saw him at Little
Holland House only about a fortnight before his death, one
Sunday afternoon, when he sat in his usual nook, a recess
at the end of his sitting-room, where he received his visitors,
when not in his studio. He talked with his usual keen
interest in art and life, and his artistic observation seemed
as alert as ever, though he complained of some kind of trouble
or pain in his face.
Shortly after this he went into the countiy to Limnerslease,
where he died on 3rd July.
I was moved to offer the following tribute to his memory : — •
Lo ! regal death hath set his seal, and crowned
The Master's work, whose sentient hand hath limned
The shadow of Love's threshold, and with eyes undimmed,
Through life's prismatic veil, hath seen enthroned
That shape majestic, and his image zoned
In Art's rich record — by youth's fountain brimmed,
As foe, or gentle friend — his triumph hymned
To unheard music on celestial ground.
1892-1904] KENSINGTON— HUNGARY— ITALY 497
As in his great design, from noble strife
He rests at last, whom mourns a nation now ;
His meed of honour, love, and praise well won,
In singleness of aim, in simple life,
Wrapt in high thoughts, as clouds enfold the sun.
And splendid with the mind's internal glow.
July 3, 1904
32
INDEX
Abbey, E. A., of America, 456
Abney, Sir William, 452, 496
Academe of Plato, 319
Academy, the Royal, Antique School, 4 ;
position in 1857, 38 ; rejection of W.
Crane's works, 160; attitude towards
the Grosvenor, 175-76; the agita-
tion of 1886 against, 286-98 ;
Holman Hunt's letter to the Times,
289-94
Accademia, the, Venice, 122, 228
Achurch, Janet, in A Doll's House, 335
Acland, A. H. D., 461
Acropolis, Athens, 315-16
Acton, village of, 36
Adamites, the, 347
^olian Hall, the, 323
Airlie, Countess of, 170
Aitcheson, George, 164, 165, 215, 217
Albano, 242
Albany, Duke of, death of, 280
Albugo Cappucini, Amalfi, 144
Alderley family, 3
Alderney, 437
Aldwych, 53
Alexandra, Queen, 283
Alford, Lady Marian, 164
All Saints', Margaret Street, 78, 79
Souls', Langham Place, 113
Allen, George, publication of the Faerie
Queene, 429, 430
Grant, The Woman who Did, 335
tiote ; Socialism, 420
Allingham, William, 164
Alma, Battle of the, 17
Alt Buda, 473
Alum Green, 69
Amalfi, description, 143-46
Ambas, Castle of, 120
Amberley Down, 99
Ambleside, 108-9, 432
Amendola, M., sculptor, 106
America, visit to, 360-409
Amiens Cathedral, 436
Ana Capri Steps, Edgar Barclay's
picture, 128
Anagni, 147
Ancoats Brotherhood Hall, 417
Andrews, Miss Mary Frances (Mrs.
Crane), 100; illness of, no
Thomas, Esq., of Wynchlow
Hall, 100, III
Angelo, Michael, " David," 124 ; frescoes
of the Sistine Chapel, 139
Anisquam (Mass.), 405
Ansdell, R., "Donkeys on a Common,"
38, 40
Anstey's Cove, 26
Antwerp, 113-15; Cathedral, 115
Aosta, Due d', 489
Applied Art, section of the Society of
Arts, 299
Ara Coeli Church, Rome, 135
Arad, Hungary, 475
Arch of Titus, Rome, 126, 226
Archer, William, 282 ; translations of
Ibsen, 335
Architectural League, New York, 389
Arena Chapel, Padua, 124
Arezzo, 175, 226
Argyle Square, 64, 73
Street, Socialist meeting in, 271
Arizona, 383
Arms, etc. , of the Crane family, 6
Armstrong, Thomas, 164, 183, 186, 199,
246, 307, 308 note; letter to W.
Crane, 246-47 ; retirement from
South Kensington, 451
Arno, Bocca d', Rome, 239
Arnold, Matthew, 194, 249
Aros Bridge, Isle of Mull, 248
Art, Decorative, International Exhibi-
tion of 1862, 72 ; reaction against the
Second Empire style, 103 ; develop-
ment of, 156; wallpapers, 158;
Turin Exhibition of, 486-92
Japanese, 152
Needlework, Royal School of, 164,
444
Workers' Guild, 224, 235, 296, 333,
418, 452 ; W. Crane's Mastership
ends, 334 ; copied in Philadelphia,
401 ; the Manchester, 480
Artists' Club, Turin, 488
498
INDEX
499
Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, 308,
326, 327, 331, 416, 439, 466, 480;
first Exhibition, 296-99; first circular,
299-301 ; success of the, 302-4 ; the
Liverpool Congress,324-25; dinner to
W. Crane, 335 ; finances of the, 348-
49 ; Exhibition at Turin, 486-92
and Crafts, School of, Camberwell,
358
Club, 444 ; of Budapest, 470
Arundel Castle, 64, 235
Aschaffenburg, 117; sketch, 118
Ashbee, Mr. C. R., 454
Asquith, Mr., defence of the Socialists,
268
Assisi, 125, 226
Assmannshausen, 426
Athenaeum Club, Pall Mall, 131, 206
Athens, 315-18
Atrani, 144
Atreus, Treasure House of, 319
Attenborough (pawnbroker), 150
Auditorium Hotel, Chicago, 378
Audley End, 418
Austin, Alfred, 448
Austria, exhibits of W. Crane's work in,
430
Avalon, 418
Aveling, Dr., 256, 260
Eleanor Marx, 256, 257
Avricourt, 468
Ayres, Alice, 359
Babbicombe, 26
Baireuth, 422-25
Baker, Mr. James, 312, 318, 319; trip
to Bohemia, 339-48
Bakounine, Michael, 258
Balfour, Mr., 217
Mr. Eustace, 162
Bamborough, 176
Bancroft, Mr., 423
Bannfiy Hunyad, Hungary, 478
Barbari, riding of, 135-36
Barbarossa, Frederigo, 348
Barberini Palace, Rome, 127
Barbican, 63
Barclay, Edgar, 128, 130
the Misses, 132
Bare, Mr. Blomfield, 401
Barnacre, Lady Bective's house, 445-46
Barnard, Frederick, 81, 100
Barnard's Inn Hall, 334, 335
Barnes, G. N., 467
Barrett, Mr. and Mrs. Jerry, 130
Barrie, J. M., 481
Barrington, Hon. Mrs. Eric, 434
Mrs. Russell, 165, 359 ; letter to
W. Crane, 232-33
Bartoldi, statue of Liberty, 189
Barwell, Mr. F., 206
Base-ball, 399
Basel, Holbein drawings at, 493 ; de-
scription of town, 493-94
Basilica Julia, of the Forum, 126
Basket, Thomas, printer, 3
Bateman, James, F.R.S., 98
Robert, 87, 481; "The Witch o 
