Titles

The sole known title was that used in Whistler's one-man exhibition:

• 'Note in Green and Brown: Orlando at Coombe' (1886, Dowdeswell). 1
• 'Note in Green and Brown: Orlando at Coombe' (1980, YMSM). 2

Description

A figure study in vertical format. A woman (dressed as a man) stands with legs apart and arms folded on a grassy lawn in front of green trees. She wears close-fitting tights and a laced-up jacket, a three-quarter length cloak. She carries a flat bag with a long strap crossing over her chest. Her hair is concealed under a jaunty hat with a narrow brim. The panel is signed with a butterfly at lower right.

Site

Coombe Woods at Dr McGragh's hydropathic establishment near Coombe Hill Farm, Norbiton, Kingston on Thames.

There is a drawing by Whistler in the Hunterian that is related to Coombe Hill Farm, though not to this painting (r. and v.: Trellis [M.0848]).

Sitter

Janey Sevilla Campbell (Lady Archibald Campbell) (ca 1846-d.1923) posed in the early 1880s for several life-size full length portraits, only one of which has survived: Arrangement in Black: La Dame au brodequin jaune - Portrait of Lady Archibald Campbell [YMSM 242]. Lord and Lady Archibald Campbell lived at Coombe Hill Farm, Norbiton, Kingston on Thames.

Lady Archibald later recalled, 'It was the love of the Beautiful which led to the inception of playing pastorals under realistic conditions, no discordant note of colour was struck out of tune with Nature's key.'

In this small painting she is portrayed in the role of Orlando, the son of Sir Rowland de Boys, in the forest scene of Shakespeare's comedy, As You Like It. She is cross-dressed, wearing tunic and tights, 'feminine' in shape but in an aggressively male pose. 3 The costumes for the production were designed by Edward William Godwin (1833-1886), and reflect their shared interest in historic costume revival. Godwin's drawings for the costumes, dated 27 July 1884, are in the Victoria and Albert Museum. 4

Frank Harris recalled that about this time Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) 'went about declaring ... Lady Archie more charming than Rosalind, and Mr. Whistler an incomparable artist'. 5

According to a letter from the sitter, Whistler considered the portrait 'successful'. 6

Comments

An unsigned oil sketch, not painted by Whistler but about the same size as this oil, and with the same costume, is in the Honolulu Academy of Arts (Acc. No. 77.1). A painting attributed to Whistler of a woman in tights, 54 ½ x 19" (private collection, U.S.A.), was reproduced by Pousette-Dart with the title 'Lady Archibald Campbell as Orlando'. Prof. A. McLaren Young considered both the attribution and the identification most unlikely, as do the authors of this edition. 7