Edith Annie Burkitt

Identity:

Edith was the daughter of Mrs Burkitt, Whistler's landlady at 8 Fitzroy Street, London.

Her mother was Emma Maria Cranwell, daughter of the bootmaker Joseph Cranwell, who had married James Burkitt, a gold beater, in 19 August 1868. After his death, the widowed Mrs Burkitt was Whistler's landlady from 1898-1901, until, on 11 July 1901 she married Louis Edward Blackwell, who was described in the marriage certificate as an 'Art expert'. In the 1911 census 'Edith Burkitt' was listed as a Millinery saleswoman. living with the Blackwells at 1 Galway Road, London W.

Life:

In 1898 Edith saw Whistler at work at 8 Fitzroy Street: 'Whistler was making nude paintings at this time of a girl, Eva Carrington - or they might have been pastels. He discovered her also in one of the "alleys". She was quite brazen and when I went into the studio he had an understanding that his maid Marie should take her out of his studio to the kitchen - "while Miss Edith is here".'

Early in 1898 Whistler asked Edith to sit for him with 'an old fashioned sun-bonnet on my head'; she then posed for The Little Lady Edith of Eden y541. However, she was taken ill and her sister Sophie was sent to pose instead, and eventually painted Rose and Gold: The Little Lady Sophie of Soho y504.

When Sophie's picture was completed Whistler started to paint Edith again. She recalled, 'I was wearing a blue dress with a cerise yoke pleats & a black ribbon bow on my hair at the back' to contrast with her red-gold hair, which Whistler used to describe as 'burning gold'.

In 1901 Whistler, writing from Ajaccio, suggested to Rosalind Birnie-Philip that she could get 'Edie' to help her tidy up his London studio and make an inventory of certain items.

Bibliography:

Shaw, Edith and Margaret F. MacInnes, 'Four Years with Whistler', Apollo, vol. 87, March 1968, pp. 198-201.

UK census, 1891, 1901. 'Edith Burkitt' and 'Emma Maria Cranwell', Ancestry.com. Findagrave.com