Alice Butt
Nationality: British
Date of birth: 6 January 1879
Place of birth: London
Date of death: December 1954
Place of death: London
Category: model
Identity:
Alice Butt was Whistler's model, and according to the artist, posed for him in Chelsea, London. Her appearance in Alice Butt (1) y437 and Alice Butt (2) y438 suggests she was then between 10 and 15 years of age, but she could have been younger.
She was born on 6 January 1879 and baptised in St Luke, Chelsea, on 18 September 1881. Her parents were Eliza and Benjamin Butt, hairdressers. Her father had died by the time of the 1901 census, leaving his widow with six children, living at 399 Stephendale road, Fulham. The children were Benjamin, a 19 year old blacksmith; Alice, at 21, is recorded as 'Artist's Model', then Alfred (17, plumber's mate), and three younger siblings, Edith (14), Henry (11) and Annie (6).
In July 1902 Alice married William Brockway, a bus driver, and they had two children, Alice Adelaide (1905-1988) and William (1907-1959), both born in Fulham.
Life:
Butt posed for Whistler for Alice Butt (1) y437 and Alice Butt (2) y438. Her appearance suggests she was then between 10 and 15 years of age, but she could have been younger.The technique and butterfly signature, which appears to be part of the original painting, suggest that it was painted in the late 1890s.
Alice Butt (1) y437 may be a study for Alice Butt (2) y438. Butt looked Italian, and was depicted by Whistler with bright, although nervous expression.
Bibliography:
UK census 1881 and 1901. Ancestry.com/
Young, Andrew McLaren, Margaret F. MacDonald, Robin Spencer, and Hamish Miles, The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and London, 1980 .
