Existing comment:
Sybil Sassoon, Marchioness of Cholmondeley 1894–1989
Sargent drew Sybil Sassoon when she was eighteen. That year, her father's death brought her a vast fortune, derived in large part from the nineteenth century Sino-Indian opium trade. Months after coming into her inheritance, she married into the aristocratic Cholmondeley family and found her life's purpose in restoring Houghton Hall. This masterpiece of Palladian architecture had descended through her husband's family for several generations. Built in 1722 for England's first prime minister, Sir Robert Walpole, Houghton had fallen into disrepair. Lady Cholmondeley therefore undertook an ambitious historical renovation project to restore its rooms to their eighteenth-century state.
During World War II, when the British Navy had a manpower shortage, Lady Cholmondeley advocated the recruitment of women to perform onshore work so men could go to sea. Following several years of service in the high command of the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS), she was appointed superintendent in 1945.
Charcoal on paper, 1912
Private collection
This is the National Portrait Gallery sign in the exhibit. |