Katrine Cecilia Compton, Countess Cowper. 1875. Watercolour and gouache on paper; 25 x 19 ⅞ inches (63.5 x 50.5 cm). Private collection. Click on image to enlarge it.
Katrine Cecilia Compton (1845-1913) was the eldest daughter of William Compton, the 4th Marquess Northampton. She married Francis Thomas de Grey Cowper, 7th Earl Cowper in 1870. She was one of the most notable society hostesses, particularly at her country home Panshanger in Hertfordshire, but also at 4 St. James' Square, her London house. The marriage of Earl and Lady Cowper, although it was childless, was apparently a happy one because they shared many of the same interests. Both were involved with educational and philanthropic institutions. Lady Cowper found many outlets for her talents. She made numerous alterations and embellishments to the décor and furnishings at their various properties. She was an amateur artist and had her own studio at Panshanger where she pursued her hobbies of sketching, painting, and woodcarving. She was an accomplished organist and was particularly fond of church music. She became involved in the restoration work at St Albans Cathedral and in the rebuilding of Hertingfordbury church. Although the Cowpers were never part of the inner circle of the group known as “The Souls” they did socialize with this set. Lady Cowper’s tastes were very much in accord with their intellectual and avant-garde artistic tastes. It is not surprising therefore that she chose Clifford to paint her portrait.
Clifford exhibited this portrait at the Dudley Gallery in 1876, no. 198, and then later at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1880, no. 237. It is very much in keeping with Angela Thirkell’s childhood remembrance of the artist: “Edward Clifford who so astonishingly united a deep and active feeling of religion, a passion for duchesses, and a marvellous gift of watercolour painting.” This is very much an Aesthetic Movement portrait and reminiscent of the Venetian-inspired fancy half-length portraits painted by Rossetti and his circle in the 1860s, initiated by Rossetti’s Bocca Baciata of 1859.
As a portraitist Clifford is best known for his portraits of the aristocracy, particularly women. For some reason he primarily preferred to paint his portraits in profile rather than in a frontal view, although this portrait of Katrine is not a strict profile view. Countess Cowper wears an “artistic” dress of a red-brown colour with a highly fashionable wide-cut square neckline with black embroidery featuring a stylised floral pattern. This type of dress required a dramatic necklace to offset the low cut neckline. Countess Cowper appears to be wearing a type of 'folk' jewellery necklace of North Indian origin much-collected in artistic circles at this time following the display of such jewellery at the Great Exhibition of 1851. This portrait of Countess Cowper once hung at Panshanger in the small dining room. Another portrait of her, this one by Edward Poynter, also hung in the home.
Bibliography
Abdy, Jane and Charlotte Gere. The Souls. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1984.
Thirkell, Angela: Three Houses. London: Oxford University Press, 1931.
Sheail, Philip. “The Panshanger Garden party of 1901.” Our Hertford and Ware. Web. 4 February 2023.
Last modified 3 February 2023