1904 Portrait of Cynthia Trench – Gascoigne
Edward Hughes became acquinted with Frederick R.T. Trench-Gascoigne and Laura Gwendolen at Lotherton Hall in 1897. The 1898 Double Portrait has become the artist’s most famous work.
The 1904 Portrait is linked to this commission which was completed in the year that Cynthia was born.
The head and shoulder Portraits of Prince Edward and Prince Albert were put on public display in 1899 at Agnews Gallery, London. In the manner of Trench-Gascoigne, the famous portraitist is commissioned for a full-length portrait of Cynthia aged six.
Queen Mary’s diary entry of 28th October 1899:
’At 3. I went to see Mr Hughes’ pictures of the 2 boys’
later King Edward VIII
1894-1972
later King George VI
1895-1952
Hughes captures the innocent charm of childhood. The naval suits worn by the Princes and in the 1904 Portrait the young girl is shoeless (1)
Princess – little English Rose
The hill-side and lake features in the portrait must have resonated at Craignish Castle. Displayed 'pride of place’. Set-apart from the ancestral portraits at Lotherton Hall which were acquired from the disbanding of Parlington Hall in 1905:
’the impressive array of family portraits which still remain in the house, the most important work being Pompo Batoni Grand Tour painting of Sir Thomas Gascoigne, 8th Baronet’
’Lotherton Hall Remembered’ (page 5) by Daru Rooke
Published in Leeds Art Fund Calendar Issue: No.108 1991
see page: Edwardian Gilded Age 'Portraits’
(1) Linked to the 1846 Portrait of Prince Albert Edward in a sailors suit (later King Edward V11: 1841 – 1910) by Franz Xaver Winterhalter
1895 Portrait of the Duchess of York (Victoria Mary, later Queen Mary) was Hughes first Royal Commission.