A lady seated in an armchair covered with a fur rug.
Olive Edis
Category
Photographs
Date
1860 - 1986
Materials
Paper
Measurements
256 x 200 mm
Place of origin
Norfolk
Order this imageCollection
Felbrigg, Norfolk
NT 801240
Caption
At her Church Street studio in Sheringham, Norfolk, Olive Edis photographed Mrs Fanny Simpson (1838–1919). We know that Edis made at least two exposures on glass plate with this arrangement, as well as a few posing Simpson with playing cards. The choice of angle, natural lighting and furnishings are all stylistic approaches typical of Edis’s earlier studio photography. A mounted embossed print was purchased by Mrs Simpson, then widowed and living with her daughter and son-in-law, Fanny Nina Simpson Upcher (1865–1941) and Henry Edward Sparke Upcher (1870–1954). Henry later inherited Sheringham Park. In 1912 Edis took up the new autochrome format, receiving many accolades for her colourful work, but her pioneering status didn’t end there. The first British woman to be commissioned as an official war photographer by the Women’s Work Committee, Edis built on her studio experience to document women at work in France in 1919.
Summary
A monochrome platinum print of Mrs Fanny Simpson (1838-1919), mother of Nina Simpson Upcher (1865-1941), seated in an armchair covered with fur skin rug in the studio of photographer Olive Edis (1876-1955). Mounted on photographer's card embossed "Olive Edis" and printed on reverse "Miss Edis The Studio, Sheringham, Norfolk. London Address 34 Colville Terrace W".
Provenance
Acquired by the National Trust in 1986 with the aid of bequests from E.L. Elliot, H. Ridler, D.E. Swiffen and Alice M. Weeks, grant-aid from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Countryside Commission and funds raised by the East Anglian Coast & Countryside Appeal, and an endowment from Mildred Cordeaux, a cousin of Thomas Upcher.
Makers and roles
Olive Edis, photographer and publisher