Description

Address to Queen Victoria, photo, Glasgow University Library

According to the Pennells, on 9 August 1900 Whistler gave them an account of the creation of an Address to Queen Victoria:

'First came this beautiful binding in yellow morocco, and the inscription to Her Majesty, every word just in the right place, most wonderful. You opened it, and on the first page you found a beautiful little drawing of the royal arms that I made myself; the second page, an etching of Windsor ... On the third page, the address began.

I made decorations all round the text in water-colour - at the top, the towers of Windsor, down one side, a great battleship, plunging through the waves, and below the sun that never sets on the British Empire ... The following pages were not decorated, just the most wonderful address, explaining the age and dignity of the Society, its devotion to Her Glorious, Gracious Majesty, and suggesting the honour it would be if this could be recognised by a title that would show the Society to belong especially to Her. Then the last page. Then you turned, and there was a little etching of my house in Chelsea.' 1