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Michael
Michael
@mdstamper.bsky.social
11 months ago
Anna Maria Russell, Duchess of Bedford was a lifelong friend of Queen Victoria, whom she served as a Lady of the Bedchamber between 1837 and 1841. According to the British Museum, the Duchess invented the custom of taking afternoon tea, around 1840. Due to increasing urbanization and industrialization, wealthy English people were having their evening meal later, but still eating lunch at midday. The Duchess became despondent at the void between the two meals, and its consequent “sinking feeling.” She therefore asked that some tea, bread and butter, and cake be delivered to her room late in the afternoon, and "an afternoon ritual was born.” However, this claim has been contested and cannot be verified. Several versions of this miniature exist, including one in the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, and three at Woburn Abbey. Although the miniature in Dublin is catalogued as a self-portrait, the Woburn versions are said to be after the oil painting at Woburn Abbey by Frank Stone that is likely after this miniature from around 1810. A self-portrait of the artist with her sisters around 1805, together with a group of miniatures of the artist's family, in the National Gallery of Ireland, prove the Duchess to have been an exceptionally talented amateur miniaturist. Russell was a valued Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Victoria who found her “such a nice person, so good-natured and obliging, and very agreeable to have in the House.” Her family was intimately connected with Lord Melbourne's Whig ministry, and she was one of the Queen's Ladies-in-Waiting whom Sir Robert Peel insisted should be replaced in the so-called “Bedchamber Plot” of 1839, not least because she had played a central role in the damaging affair involving Lady Flora Hastings earlier that year. Melbourne himself was no great admirer of the Duchess, regarding her as a “cunning woman” whose attendance at court was self-serving. She eventually resigned from her position in August 1841.

Anna Maria Russell, Duchess of Bedford was a lifelong friend of Queen Victoria, whom she served as a Lady of the Bedchamber between 1837 and 1841. According to the British Museum, the Duchess invented the custom of taking afternoon tea, around 1840. Due to increasing urbanization and industrialization, wealthy English people were having their evening meal later, but still eating lunch at midday. The Duchess became despondent at the void between the two meals, and its consequent “sinking feeling.” She therefore asked that some tea, bread and butter, and cake be delivered to her room late in the afternoon, and "an afternoon ritual was born.” However, this claim has been contested and cannot be verified. Several versions of this miniature exist, including one in the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, and three at Woburn Abbey. Although the miniature in Dublin is catalogued as a self-portrait, the Woburn versions are said to be after the oil painting at Woburn Abbey by Frank Stone that is likely after this miniature from around 1810. A self-portrait of the artist with her sisters around 1805, together with a group of miniatures of the artist's family, in the National Gallery of Ireland, prove the Duchess to have been an exceptionally talented amateur miniaturist. Russell was a valued Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Victoria who found her “such a nice person, so good-natured and obliging, and very agreeable to have in the House.” Her family was intimately connected with Lord Melbourne's Whig ministry, and she was one of the Queen's Ladies-in-Waiting whom Sir Robert Peel insisted should be replaced in the so-called “Bedchamber Plot” of 1839, not least because she had played a central role in the damaging affair involving Lady Flora Hastings earlier that year. Melbourne himself was no great admirer of the Duchess, regarding her as a “cunning woman” whose attendance at court was self-serving. She eventually resigned from her position in August 1841.

A Self-Portrait by Anna Maria Russell (British) - Watercolor on ivory laid on card / c. 1810 - Royal Collection (United Kingdom) #womeninart #art #womanartist #RoyalCollection #femaleartist #miniature #womensart #portraitofawoman #BritishArt #AnnaMariaRussell #DuchessofBedford #AfternoonTea #TeaTime

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