Henrietta Jenny Fraser, Mrs Walter Ralph Bankes (1871-1953)
Lafayette Ltd
Category
Photographs
Date
1892
Materials
Photographic paper
Measurements
255 mm (Length)300 mm (W)340 mm (Length)395 mm (W)
Order this imageCollection
Kingston Lacy Estate, Dorset
NT 1251576
Caption
Miss Henrietta Jenny Fraser (1867–1953) holds her pose perfectly, diligently following the astute direction of the Lafayette Studio. Her slightly reclining posture, shoulders wide and hand held delicately at her neckline, deliberately draw attention to her profile, intricate bodice and cinched waist. The stylish hair and flowing folds of her presentation court dress are made clearly visible, adding to the shaping and softness of the photograph. Even her jewellery, including a bee-shaped brooch, is rendered in the finest detail. The photograph was made in 1892, five years before she became Mrs Walter Ralph Bankes and moved to Kingston Lacy, Dorset. The first Lafayette Studio was founded in Dublin in 1880 by James Stack Lauder (1853– 1923). By the time Fraser sat for her portrait, Lauder had assumed the Lafayette name, received medals from the Royal Photographic Society, photographed countless royal and highsociety figures and opened two further branches in Glasgow and Manchester. July of 1897, the year he launched his London studio, would prove exceptionally busy for both Lafayette and Fraser. While Lafayette recorded the illustrious guests at the renowned Devonshire House Ball, Miss Fraser and Mr Bankes were preparing for their own momentous occasion – their marriage later that month. The same eye for the fashionable that had driven her choice of Lafayette to photograph her was applied to the redecoration of Mrs Bankes’s new home. Family photographs gradually adorned her French-wallpapered, white-furnished bedroom. Framing marks on the back of this mounted print show it was once proudly shown off, too.
Summary
Monochrome platinum print photograph, with inscription in pencil on reverse 'Mrs Bankes (nee Henrietta Jenny Fraser) in presentation Court dress 1892', photographed by the Lafayette studio, reference 756.
Makers and roles
Lafayette Ltd, photographer