GUTHRIE, MRS. MURRAY
Neg. No: GP (L) 1323
Neg. Size: 15"x12"
Neg. Date: 05-07-1897

Biog: Director of the Chelsea Book Club; daughter of Sir John Leslie, 1st Bt; m 1stly (1894) Walter Murray Guthrie, merchant banker and MP; m 2ndly (1914) Lieutenant-Colonel John Alexander Stirling D.S.O., M.C. (div 1920).

Role: 'La Bella' (after Titian).⁽¹⁾

Date: 5 July 1897.

Occasion: The Devonshire House Ball, 2 July 1897.

Location: Devonshire House, Piccadilly, London, W.

Descr: TQL standing.

Costume: "...costume of peau de soie pale blue silk, and pale blue velvet tissé with relevé of gold; bodice of same with bands of blue silk embroidered gold, the bodice ornamented with profusion of diamonds." (The Gentlewoman, 10 July 1897, p 56b).

Costume Designer: -

Furniture & Props: Painted backdrop; studio column and balustrade.

Evidence of photographer at work: -

No of poses: 1 (but see also neg nos 1324 and 1324A).

Walter Murray & Mrs Guthrie 1897		Walter Murray Guthrie 1897

Copyright: V&A

All images on this site are copyright V&A. For further information on using or requesting copies of any images
please contact the V&A Picture Library: vaimages@vam.ac.uk including the URL of the relevant page

Biog: Burke's Landed Gentry (see Guthrie of Craigie); Burke's Peerage (see Leslie, Bt.); Who's Who (see Guthrie, Mrs Walter Murray).

Occasion: Sophia Murphy, The Duchess of Devonshire's Ball, London, 1984.

Role and Costume: (Role only) (Marguerita Grimani) The Morning Post, 3 July 1897, p 7e; The Times, 3 July 1897, p 12a; (Costume) The Standard, 3 July 1897, p 4b; Vanity Fair, 8 July 1897, p 27b; The Gentlewoman, 10 July 1897, p 49 [line drawing] & 56b.

Costume Designer: -

Reproduced: Devonshire House Fancy Dress Ball, July 2 1897: A Collection of Portraits in Costume of Some of the Guests, privately printed, 1899, p 109, (National Portrait Gallery Archives).

1. Titian, Portrait of a Lady, also known as 'La Bella', 1536, Pitti Palace, Florence (see G.C. Argan, The Renaissance, London 1969).