25th July 2022
Born on this day in 1829, Elizabeth Siddal was a well known English artist, poet and Pre-Raphaelite model. She remains quite a mysterious Pre-Raphaelite woman, immortalised in many famous paintings, but personally it doesn’t feel like as much is known about her. Perhaps most famously, she modelled for Ophelia, by John Everett Millais, which now sits in the Tate in London.
For Ophelia, she modelled by floating in a bath full of water, whilst Millais painted her throughout the winter. Oil lamps heated the water from below the bath, one time the lamps went out and the water in the winter went icy cold. She didn’t tell Millais and he didn’t notice as he was too consumed in his art. Millais ended up paying for her medical bills after her father threatened legal action after she contracted pneumonia due to it.
You can see lots of her other modelling, particularly for husband Dante Gabriel Rossetti. He loved painting her so much that she was almost exclusively the only model he used. He also stopped her modelling for his friends within the Brotherhood. It’s reported that the amount of paintings he did of her are within the thousands, that was to the extend he found her such a muse.
Elizabeth Siddal was the daughter of a Sheffield cutler and shopkeeper who had moved to London with family. She was apparently working in a milliner’s shop when she was discovered by Walter Deverell. Deverell was born in America and was moved back to England with family aged 2 years old. He went to the Royal Academy Schools where he met Rossetti, with whom he shared a studio in 1851. The Pre-Raphaelites had been founded a few years before in 1848, under Rossetti’s influence he showed some incidence of the movement, but retained features of earlier genres too.
Deverell later described Elizabeth Siddal as “magnificently tall, with a lovely figure, and a face of the most delicate and finished modelling … she has grey eyes, and her hair is like dazzling copper, and shimmers with luster.”
Elizabeth Siddal married Dante Gabriel Rossetti in 1860 in Hastings. They met in 1849, and he seemed reluctant to marry her for years, perhaps due to her working class upbringing, but either way it’s known his sisters heavily criticised her. Siddal worried he was reluctant to the marriage as he looked for a younger muse. They did eventually marry and they are known to have been even more in love following the marriage. Nicknames are said to have included ”guggums” ”gug” and Rossetti called Lizzie ”Dove.”
Rossetti didn’t just create art inspired by her but poems too. The poem A Last Confession is about his love for her and he describes her eyes, ”as of the sea and sky on a grey day.”
Elizabeth Siddal died young on the 11 February 1862. There’s arguments for how she died, some say she was suffering even on her wedding day two years before as she had to be carried to the church, which could have been tuberculosis or an intestinal disorder, others say she was anorexic and others believe she was an addict for laudanum. It’s not clear and they didn’t have the medicines we have today nor the diagnosis so we will never fully know. It is clear that the many indiscretions Rossetti took in their marriage and coupled with a heartbreaking birth of a stillborn daughter in 1861, both had a huge and profound affect on her and she was known to be severely depressed and had access to laudanum.
Years after she passed, Rossetti published a collection of sonnets, The House of Life, one is called “Without her” and has some beautiful lines, including, “Without her? Tears, ah me! For love’s good grace, and cold forgetfulness of night or day.”
We hope you liked this blog about Elizabeth Siddal, be sure to keep up to date on all our blogs and Pre-Raphaelites on our Instagram.
Posted in News by Laura
Did you know we offer a gift wrap service? 🎁 If you’ve got a loved one you’d like to send a floral gift to this year, you can send it straight to their door all wrapped with a note written by the Laura’s Beau elves 🎄🤶🏻 It’s an option on our website only and you can check the gift wrap box at checkout to write your gift tag that we will hand write for you (we also won’t include a reciept or anything of course, but will email it to you instead ✨) Are you giving any William Morris floral goodies to your friends and family this year? 🤍
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Anyone else started on the mince pies this weekend? 🥧 We’ve been feeling rather festive the last week or so, are you all in the festive spirit yet or waiting until December? 🎄
📸 features our William Morris Brother Rabbit blue design 🤍
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To brighten up the kitchen with florals, we love hanging our William Morris tea towels on hooks, over the oven door or kitchen sink 🌿 An easy way to add a pop of colour or design ✨ They’re a great Christmas gift this year and come in a whole range of Morris designs to suit everyone’s kitchens 🎁
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Use Code: BF15 for 15% at checkout until Monday 27th at midnight 🌛 Happy Shopping ✨ (valid on our website only; www.laurasbeau.co.uk 🌿
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🎄 A Christmas table set up using our Red Strawberry Thief licensed William Morris design ✨ We love how perfect it is dressed up for Christmas but can be used all year round accessorised for all the seasons 🌿
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Our virtual craft market is now live! ✨ Only on our Etsy page, you can now shop a limited range different sizes of our licensed William Morris fabrics as offcuts and also, some craft bundles🧵And there is also a pretty fabulous Black Friday deal on everything on our Etsy at the moment! 🌿We`re always working to be more sustainable (you can read more about what we do on our blog) and offcuts is a great way for us to reduce waste - some are larger pieces that are various widths and lengths and some are bundles of fabric offcuts. ✨ Accurate measurements are in the listing, and you`ll find the full market under a tab on our Etsy. The bundles are brilliant gifts for crafters, quilters and those who you know would like to try a whole range of William Morris fabrics 🎁
We`ll keep this tab updated as and when we have fabric ready so keep checking back! Remember, we do sell all our fabric by the half metre if you find a new fave in a bundle 🤍
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Used for a very special engagement tablescape this past weekend was our timelessly beautiful Charlotte Rose! 🥂💍✨ It’s actually a design from our French archive, we absolutely love it ☺️ If you’re starting your Christmas shopping it’s a wonderful gift idea for them to love using all year round on their table 🥂
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#tablescape #tabledecor #engagement #frenchfloral #frenchflorals #floraltable #florals #floraldesign
A wonderful addition to the table, our placemats, available in a range of licensed William Morris designs, set the scene for a whole range of celebrations sat around the table 🥂
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These green tones together are so lovely 🌿 Can you name all of these licensed William Morris designs? Which is your favourite? ✨ If you’d like a sample of any just let us know ☺️
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Autumn tablescapes always brighten the home up this time of year ✨ This is our William Morris Compton design, always super popular it’s got the most beautiful colours within it ✨
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🎃 Just a little pup in his pumpkin outfit to deliver a Halloween treat for you! Get 15% off our website with code: Halloween 👻 His little Strawberry Thief bandana is so easy to make from our fabric and always looks so cute on him, we need to make him one in every design! ✨ (discount code can be used only on our website until Sunday at midnight!) 🎃
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Functional + stylish, a tea towel thrown over the cooker or sink really does brighten up the kitchen - bringing some florals inside the home! ✨ This is our licensed William Morris Sweet Briar design, we absolutely love this delicate design with soft pink flowers 🌷
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #sweetbriar #teatowelsofinstagram #teatowel #floralfabric #floralfabrics #florals #myfloralhome #preraphaelite #morris #morrisfabric #onlinefabric #fabricdestashuk
A fabric stack full of William Morris licensed designs, which is your favourite? ✨
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Sitting at the table to admire our latest floral arrangement creation with a cuppa! ☕️ Don’t these colours look absolutely wonderful with our beautiful licensed William Morris design Compton 🧡
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Back in stock- wonderful Golden Lily pvc fabric 🤩 Its a wipe clean material, so is absolutely perfect for the dining table 🍴 Available by the half metre in length, its 140cm wide, so fits most tables, an easy option whilst not compromising on beautiful William Morris florals! 💐
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Can’t forget your Strawberry Thief tote if you’re off to the shops! 🛍️
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Sunday evenings in the Autumn months call out for a cosy fire and treats 🍂 Mallow Wine always looks so beautiful this time of year, the placemats are so handy for protecting surfaces from hot dishes and mugs, plus are so lovely on the tablescapes! 🤍
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October calls for pumpkin decorations 🎃 Brother Rabbit looking completely beautiful on the table as always 🌿 It never needs a complex tablescape as the design speaks for itself! 🤍
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #williammorrisdesign #design #brotherrabbit #octobertablescape #autumntablescape #floraltable #tablecloth
Florals in the sunshine ☀️✨ Can you name all of our licensed William Morris prints? 🌿
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Off to the beach! 🏝️☀️ Got to have a tote with us that can fit all the snacks, books and suncream! 🦀 Golden Lily in the sun is so beautiful 🐠🐬
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