If there are two things in life that I love doing —— they’re picking up sticks for the fire and gathering 19th century pictures, even older! Of course, both activities are governed by the state of my liquidity and the will of the wind plus one other thing —— providence; I believe it!
So much of my journey through ‘Brontëland’ has been all about timing – as in there seems to be an order to the arrival of the pictures that I’ve researched in relation to the ‘lost’ portrait of Emily Brontë – as in each one seemingly has happened of its own volition. Whenever a picture ‘happens’ —— I have the strangest feeling that my hand has been guided.
The latest happening – is a beautiful drawing after the ‘Wood-Nymph’ by Samuel Woodfoode RA. Someone that I have never met in a physical sense – kindly messaged me on the 2nd of October 2020 —— about a somewhat familiar drawing with ‘no name’……that messenger was Gerda from the Netherlands @‘Black Hat Gallery’ —— and this is the very drawing reproduced here with Gerda’s kind permission.🎩
…you’ll read how we got our wires crossed a bit – as in we both identified Gerda’s drawing independently —— yet despite the miles that separate us – somehow we did it together if that makes sense!
It’s clear that the series of ‘Bonnet Portraits’ that I have ardently researched since July 2016 —— have been copied of a sort —— nay descended —— from an engraving of Samuel Woodforde’s original painting of the ‘Wood-Nymph’. Unfortunately, I have not been able to source any reference or image of Woodforde’s original – however the engraving, is a different matter. Here is an original Georgian engraving of Woodforde’s ‘Wood-Nymph’, engraved by John Raphael Smith —— and published in 1787 —— no less!
As far as I’m concerned, Samuel Woodforde’s ‘Wood-Nymph’ only reinforces the argument FOR the ‘lost’ portrait of Emily Brontë; it’s what Charlotte did —— she copied engravings then made them her Own. I can just imagine Charlotte seeing her sister, ‘Emily’ looking back at her from Smith’s engraving of Woodforde’s ‘Wood-Nymph’ —— that no doubt was reproduced in one of the Literary Annuals that all the Brontës siblings loved to leaf through and ‘meticulously’ copy the engravings therein.
This detached spine belongs to a timeworn 1832 edition of ‘The New Year’s Gift’ literary annual – which contains the engraving of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ née Emily Anderson as its frontispiece.
Emily was ever happiest being at home —— and out walking over the Moor beyond the Parsonage. For all Emily’s extraordinary writing prowess and intellectual giftedness – she was also a domestic goddess; collecting wood for the hearth would have been a routine task for Emily – a ‘chore’ that I think Emily would have robustly embraced —— and taken great pleasure in gathering underarm.I can’t help but notice in the case of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ – there is a ‘churchman’ link —— a thread —— that runs through both pictures other than the obvious; pater of the Brontës, Revd. Patrick Brontë!
‘Little Red Riding Hood’ is after an engraving of Sir Thomas Lawrence’s original portrait of Emily Anderson —— another cleryman’s daughter. Very little is known about ‘Emily Anderson’ – other than she was born around 1805 to 1810 to the Rev. William Anderson of Udale, Cromarty Bay, Firth, Scotland. I think Emily Anderson was just the kind of figure that would have fired Charlotte’s fascination and imagination —— even her name ‘Emily’.🔥
Artist, Samuel Woodforde was the nephew of diarist, Revd James Woodforde —— James Woodforde (B:1740 –D:1803) was an English clergyman, known as the author of ‘The Diary of a Country Parson’ —— published in the early part of the 20th century.
Of course, Charlotte would not have read, Revd. James Woodforde’s diary —— but his nephew’s ‘Wood-Nymph’ is a different matter. The engraving as shown above was published in 1787 – twenty-nine years before Charlotte was even on’t World!
Talking of the World —— metaphysically speaking, it seemingly moves and revolves in mysterious ways around the ‘Bonnet’ – and in the case of Gerda and I —— it’s a mighty small one too! Thank you Gerda —— this post is dedicated to you! —— and your beautiful pencil drawing after Samuel Woodforde’s ‘Wood-Nymph’ —— still available to buy at the sign of the magick ‘Black Hat’!🎩
The state of my liquidity at present —— alas won’t allow me to buy Gerda’s beautiful pencil drawing – otherwise I’d readily snap it up —— but I can still go out collecting sticks!!! Finally, here’s one more link today —— to a post published on the 26th. April 2016.
‘Funny’ in hindsight —— how I didn’t set off on my ‘Bonnet’ journey until the 4th. July 2016!
Like I said at the start of this post – there is seemingly a providential order to the ‘Bonnet’ —— that dictates when stuff happens —— and from which direction —— much like the wind that blows where it will!💨
As a girl and as an adult, I’ve always lived in the country and gathered wood for a pastime —— it’s no chore, I love doing it!
So Smith’s 18th century engraving of Woodforde’s ‘Wood-Nymph’ —— has that strange feeling of looking into and back through an oval-shaped mirror…
Although, please don’t get me wrong —— I’m NO ‘Wood-Nymph’ to look at! —— but I am most definitely in spirit. Gosh! —— I even talk to trees; a conversation that invariably starts with “Thank you”!
I believe in providence, only in this instance I spell it Samuel Woodfordë!!! Thank’s Gerda for the ë-loan of your picture.
Of course, ‘The Bonnet Haters’ must make of Samuel Woodforde’s ‘Wood-Nymph’ —— and it’s relevance to the ‘Lost’ Portrait of Emily Brontë – what they will…
Some more Bob Dylan rolled-over from yesterday’s post, 5th October 2020; them ‘Bonnet Bells’ just keep on ringing…love this live performance.
This blogpost is about ‘The Butterfly Ëffect’ in my particular sphere of Brontëism; ‘The ‘lost’ Art of Charlotte Brontë.
As far as the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ DRAWING is concerned —— I reached a decision about a fortnight ago —— to metaphorically stop ‘chasing the butterfly’; the pencil sketch is what it is —— I mean Charlotte couldn’t have made it anymore ‘obvious’ or unchangeable…
‘EMILY’ the name is integral…
Once Charlotte’s art of word integration is perceived and understood – it’s impossible not to see E.M.I.L.Y as Charlotte intended – woven through the drapery; ‘EMILY’ The Name and ‘Emily’ The Sister are indivisible.
With my decision about the ‘Bonnet portrait’ drawing made —— something then happened quite out of the blue; a same, same but different ‘butterfly’ settled not on my shoulder —— or on my hand —— but straight in my lap —— on Friday, 18th. September 2020… On page 246 of my well-thumbed copy of ‘The art of the Brontës’ – there’s an instantly recognisable image of a watercolour painting attributed to Charlotte Brontë —— titled No 138 ‘Welsh Peasants’; recognisable as in —— I knew I’d seen the figure on the right of the painting countless times before!
The ‘Butterfly’ that landed in my lap – is a pencil drawing on ‘J Whatman’ watermarked paper —— Charlotte’s paper of choice no less!
Apart from the obvious —— the becloaked wearer’s broad-brimmed ‘Gipsy-straw’ —— the other detail that instantly struck a cord with me – was literally the cord tied around her long, columnar neck! To my way of reading Charlotte’s drawings —— the bow’s heart-shaped loops figuratively speaking are ‘wings’ —— and the loose ends ‘antennae’ —— whilst the rest of this exquisite ‘creature’ represents the flesh, heart and soul of a butterfly. And perhaps the ‘ballad’ held in the hand is not a ballad or a poem at all —— but represents an essay by the same name! A nod perhaps from Charlotte —— in acknowledgement of Emily’s remarkable insight and output.
Emily was initially resistant to Charlotte’s idea to go to print but thankfully Emily allowed herself to be persuaded by both her sisters…
“One day, in the autumn of 1845, I accidentally lighted on an MS. volume of verse in my sister Emily’s handwriting. Of course, I was not surprised, knowing that she could and did write verse: I looked it over and something more than surprise seized me——a deep conviction that these were not common effusions, nor at all like the poetry woman generally write. I thought them condensed and terse, vigorous and genuine. To my ear they had also a peculiar music —— wild, melancholy, and elevating.”
After reading Emily’s poems – without Emily’s prior knowledge or permission!!! —— Charlotte determined that a joint book of verse written by Emily, and Anne and herself —— would be published for sale no matter what!
And so it was in 1846, that the three Brontë Sisters self-financed the publication of a volume of their poems. Alas, their first joint enterprise in the commercial world of the printed word —— ‘Poems’ by Currer Bell, Ellis Bell and Acton Bell—— sold only two copies; even their pseudonyms couldn’t help generate more sales! It was only after the publication of their first novels – that their literary talents began to pay dividends. In the spirit of the newest ‘Gipsy-Straw Portrait’ —— the Brontë Sisters proved themselves to be no run-of-the-mill 19th century ‘Ballad Sellers’ —— and it was Charlotte’s discovery of Emily’s extraordinary lyricism that was the catalyst.🦋
And so returning to the ‘new’ drawing, circa 1840’s —— this next passage from Charlotte Brontë’s third novel ‘Shirley’ rings more bells…
“It chanced that Shirley, the moment before, had been gazing from a window down on the park; she had seen that stormy moonlight which ‘le Professeur Louis’ was perhaps at the same instant contemplating from her own oak-parlour lattice; she had seen the isolated trees of the domain – broad, strong, spreading oaks, and high-towering heroic beeches – wrestling with the gale. Her ear had caught the full roar of the forest lower down; the swift rushing of clouds, the moon, to the eye, hasting swifter still, had crossed her vision: she turned from sight and sound – touched, if not rapt, – wakened, if not inspired.
She sang, as requested. There was much about love in the ballad: faithful love that refused to abandon its object; love that disaster could not shake; love that, in calamity, waxed fonder, in poverty clung closer. The words were set to a fine old air – in themselves they were simple and sweet: perhaps, when read, they wanted force; when well sung, they wanted nothing. Shirley sang them well: she breathed into the feeling, softness; she poured round the passion, force: her voice was fine that evening; its expression dramatic: she impressed all, and charmed one.
On leaving the instrument, she went to the fire, and sat down on a seat – semi-stool, semi-cushion: the ladies were round her – none of them spoke. The Misses Sympson and the Misses Nunnely looked upon her, as quiet poultry might look on an egret, an ibis, or any other strange fowl. What made her sing so? They never sang so. Was it proper to sing with such expression, with such originality – so unlike a school-girl? Decidedly not: it was strange, it was unusual. What was strange must be wrong; what was unusual must be improper. Shirley was judged.”
It’s broadly accepted that Charlotte’s main character ‘Shirley Keeldar’ is based on her sister; had Emily been born into healthier, wealthier circumstances…
When one looks closely at the watercolour in ‘The art of the Brontës’ and compares it to the drawing – one notices ‘the face’ is changed —— yet every detail apart from the heart-shaped butterfly bow —— has been meticulously reproduced again only in pencil…
I know just who these kind, kindling, liquid eyes put me in mind of…
And look at the slope of those noses!
I just don’t get what it is about Emily’s love of the Gipsy aesthetic – that those who reject the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ don’t get? have they actually read ‘Wuthering Heights’!!! Or ‘Shirley’ – or ‘Jane Eyre’ for that matter! The ‘powers that be’ that have systematically rejected the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ for more than a century —— certainly don’t seem very gifted at reading between the lines of Charlotte’s prose – and when it comes to the hidden messages in her art —— forget it!
Both of Charlotte’s novels make mention of Emily’s signature hat… I think Charlotte was obsessed by Emily (and her hat!) – and because of that she produced several versions of the same portrait type – only this variation on the ‘Bonnet’ adds a heart-shaped twist that hopefully will help close the gap between those that believë in the ‘Bonnet’ and those that refuse too see all the significances in Charlotte’s prose and drawings —— that point to the fact that Emily’s hat of choice was nowt fancy —— but simply a large, wide-brimmed hat made of ‘common straw’!
I mean —— if it wasn’t for the so called experts —— conditioning us ‘all’ into believing that outdoorsy Emily rests easy with her décolletage permanently on display in the National Portrait Gallery —— the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ could be seen in a fairer light. No slight either on Branwell’s profile portrait of so called ‘Emily’ – it’s just that all the evidence points to the fact that the ‘Profile Portrait’ is Anne Brontë. Charlotte too painted her sister Anne in a low cut, off-the-shoulder dress – but I really can’t imagine Emily being comfortable in a dress that exposed her bare shoulders; Emily was surely a hat and cloak type person? But alas, still the so-called experts cling to their reputations —— insisting that the ‘Profile Portrait’ is ‘Emily’.
Follow the link above to read about the relevance of a ‘Gipsy-Straw’ in Charlotte Brontë’s ‘Shirley’…
As for a ‘Gipsy Straw’ in Jane Eyre’…
I’m fascinated by the similarities between the illustration above and the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ in the ‘Woman at Home’; it’s an illustration by C. E. Brock — of the moment Jane Eyre comes face to face with a mysterious Gipsy ‘woman’ – Mr Rochester in disguise!
The ‘Bonnet Portrait’ photogravure – published in the ‘Woman at Home’ 1894.
I wonder whether C. E. Brock looked to the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ in the ‘Woman at Home’ for inspiration before illustrating Jane Eyre’s encounter with the strangely familiar ‘woman’ wearing “a broad-brimmed gipsy hat tied down with a striped handkerchief under the chin”?
C. E. Brock was born in 1870 and received his first book commission in 1890; he went on to illustrate many classic novels.
Detail from the ‘Blue Version’ of the Bonnet Portrait’ – with a minuscule date for 1837.
The ‘Blue Version’ of the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ (above) predates both the 1894 ‘Bonnet Portrait’ photogravure and C. E. Brock’s ‘Jane Eyre’ illustration by a clear half century; indeed it even predates ‘Jane Eyre’ the novel by ten years —— yet all three feature the very style of hat described by Charlotte Brontë in ‘Jane Eyre’ and again in ‘Shirley’. It’s the mention of the word “striped” as opposed to ‘checkered’ that rings ‘Bonnet’ bells with me – but more about that in another post that’s still in my head at present —— or should I say under my hat!
In light of the latest variant of the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ – I confidently predict in my crystal ball —— that the winds of change will shift from fair to full-blown wuthering, in a favourable direction of the ‘Bonnet’ —— whilst blowing the opposition right out of the water!!!
It’s said the effect of a Butterfly flapping it’s wings in one hemisphere can cause a storm in the other – only this beautiful ‘Butterfly’ first flexed her wings many years ago; not in a tropical rainforest but in a quiet parsonage on the edge of the moor —— in a place called, Haworth.🦋
“With wide-embracing love
Thy spirit animates eternal years
Pervades and broods above,
Changes, sustains, dissolves, creates and rears…”
Emily, I believe it.
Eye of the Storm – ‘The Emilie Borealis’ butterfly ëffect.
The ‘Lost’ Portrait of Emily Brontë: There’s Methodism In My ‘Madness’…In the name of The Father —— and of The Son —— and of the unseen energiës that guide my hand —— and help me in my Quest to uncover the Truth about the ‘lost’ portrait of Emily Brontë.Even though the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ may lack provenance — I don’t doubt for a second where it’s come from; last reported seen in Haworth by Sir William Robertson Nicoll in 1879! It is true to say my faith in the pencil portrait — and in William Robertson Nicoll never wavers.
I bought my latest ‘Bonnet’ related acquisition just a week or so ago; it’s a biographical study by William Robertson Nicoll — published in 1908 by ‘Hodder and Stoughton’ — purchased as an experiment to see whether I get the same vibes from the book as I do the portrait; transferred touch is a powerful medium.🤚🏼
What makes this biographical study attuned to the portrait — is that it’s signed by its author. I bought ‘My Father — An Aberdeenshire Minister’ online from @webuybooks — via @abebooks 📚
” MY FATHER: AN ABERDEENSHIRE MINISTER, 1812-1891. Robertson Nicoll, W.
Price: 15.20
Description: Signed. A rare copy, inscribed and signed by the author. The cover is slightly shelf worn, without a dust jacket. Page edges lightly tanned and untrimmed. A fascinating insight into his life. Good condition is defined as: a copy that has been read but remains in clean condition. All of the pages are intact and the cover is intact and the spine may show signs of wear. The book may have minor markings which are not specifically mentioned. Most items will be dispatched the same or the next working day.
Order Date: 05 September 2020 “
Note —— there’s no mention of who Nicoll dedicated this particular copy of ‘My Father’ to in the above listing; I feel like I’ve unwittingly received a BOGOF deal! Must be divine intervention – I believe it! Once in receipt — Friday, 11th September 2020 — I googled my ‘new’ book’s original recipient… I entered ‘Professor A. S. Peake’ and ‘William Robertson Nicoll’ as one query — and got a RESULT(S); ⚡️ ⚡️ —— it’s true then —— lightening can —— and does strike twice!
In the case of how many ‘Bonnet Portrait’ versions there are as in paintings, it’s thrice and counting ⚡️ ⚡️ ⚡️ —— but there is only one true “very clearly and boldly drawn pencil sketch” – as in the ‘lost’ portrait —— described —— and seen by Sir William Robertson Nicoll in 1879 —— in Haworth.
Arthur Samuel Peake was well-known to Nicoll — and vice versa. Oxford educated Peake was a Methodist layman — “the first non-Anglican to become a professor of divinity in an English University” Wikipedia.
I love how opening up this still warm copy of Nicoll’s ‘My Father’ has introduced me to not one — but two eminent gentlemen of Divinity — not to mention the author himself — equals three!✝️Below is a link to a fascinating obituary written for Nicoll by his friend, Peake — published in the ‘Primitive Methodist Leader’ May 10 1923.
Love this frontispiece. There’s one other photogravure – between pages 36 and 37 – of the ‘Free Church Manse, Auchindoir, Lumsden’ where William Robertson Nicoll grew up…
Back to my in hand copy of ‘My Father’—— the vibrations get ever stronger; because on page 37 — Charlotte Brontë gets a shout-out! Nicoll’s father, Rev’d Harry Nicoll ardently admired Charlotte too — “but more for her fortitude of her life than for her books.”
I ardently admire Charlotte for the fortitude of her ‘lost’ art too…
In light of page 37 above —— and in the name of The Father – Nicoll’s Father —— indeed Nicoll and friend —— “Professor a. s. Peake” – I find it utterly inconceivable that Reverend Harry Nicoll’s son would have printed fake news in his role as chief editor of the ‘Woman at Home’ in 1894 —— when he published this photogravure of the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ of Emily Brontë…
Here endeth today’s lesson —— Sunday, 20th. September 2020.
De-light-ful ‘Tabbykins’ —— a neighbourly, somewhat nervy little cat from somewhere? – who comes to my garden and even into my house and takes a wander! First seen on Wednesday, 16th September 2020. No idea where ‘Tabbykins’ comes from – or where Tabbykins goes?
Thank you @yorkshirecathie on Instagram – for deciphering the middle line of Nicoll’s dedication to Peake – says “with warm regards”. Sir William Robertson Nicoll reportedly had ‘indecipherable’ handwriting; I’m saying nowt!
I’m starting today’s blog-post – Thursday, 30th July 2020 where I signed off last time —— with this same glorious rainbow-coloured sunbeam of heaven-sent light…
The view through my window. Sunday, 19th. July, 2020.
In the context of my previous post ‘The ‘Lost’ Portrait of Emily Brontë: Lost In Translation Only!’ —— published Sunday, 19th. July, 2020 —— I made mention that I didn’t have the ‘British Weekly’ to hand; the ‘British Weekly’ being the newspaper that Sir William Robertson Nicoll launched in 1886. The day after posting – late Monday evening, 20th. July, 2020 —— I chanced upon a ninety-seven year old newspaper cutting for sale on eBay for a fiver; not cut from the ‘British Weekly’ —— but from ‘The Times’…
A ‘Buy It Now’ heaven-sent gift!
If anything backs up my Quest for the Truth that the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ photogravure as featured in the ‘Woman at Home’ – was NO fake news back in 1894 or NOW – then this rare ribbon of antique newspaper is surely it!
Read Nicoll’s obituary in its entirety and it makes no sense at all that Journalist and Bookman, Sir William Robertson Nicoll —— would have been party to printing fake news.
Sir William Robertson Nicoll was Editor of the ‘Woman at Home’ as well as the ‘British Weekly’. He was also an eyewitness to the ‘lost’ portrait of Emily Brontë drawn by Charlotte…
Nicoll’s eyewitness account is highlighted here in blue —— reliably reprinted word for word in a 1981 edition of ‘Brontë Society Transactions’…
First Class service. Here by Wednesday morning, 22nd. July 2020. —— suitably protected in a secure cardboard casket!
This is ‘The Times’ obituary for Sir William Robertson Nicoll that came to me —— photographed in four sections for easier reading. Nicoll died on the 4th May 1923 —— aged 72.
It’s not just Charlotte’s portrait of Emily that’s been lost all these years —— but also Sir William Robertson Nicoll’s description of it; lost in translation that is —— despite that it’s in plain English!
The National Portrait Gallery’s interpretation of Nicoll’s description would have us all accept that the ‘Lost Portrait’ was found in 1914 – in the form of Branwell’s ‘Profile Portrait’ of ‘Emily’ —— yet nowhere did Nicoll state that the ‘Lost Portrait’ was an oil on canvas by Branwell —— as in the ‘Profile Portrait’ in the National Collection.
Nicoll saw Charlotte’s sketch of Emily Brontë when he visited Martha Brown at home in Haworth – in 1879.
So how exactly did Sir William Robertson Nicoll transcribe his 1879 Haworth experience? The excerpt below was originally published on the 5th November 1886 —— in an article in ‘The British Weekly’ – a Nonconformist newspaper launched by Nicoll —— and publishers, Matthew Hodder and Thomas Stoughton – in October 1886.
Not having a hard copy of Nicoll’s newspaper article to hand —— here it is instead —— reiterated word for word in a 1981 edition of ‘Brontë Society Transactions’ —— the Society’s own scholarly journal dedicated to Brontë family research.
Highlighted excerpt from a 1981 edition of ‘Brontë Society Transactions’ – the Society’s very own journal dedicated to Brontë family research.
Sir William Robertson Nicoll —— was himself an early President of the Brontë Society —— which was formed in 1893. “It is proposed to establish a Bronte Society… The chief desideratum is the excellent pencil sketch of Emily Brontë, drawn by Charlotte, which was in the possession of Martha Brown, the old servant of the family, and is now lost. “I saw it thirteen years ago, and vainly endeavoured to purchase it. I have vainly endeavoured to trace it since.” Sir William Robertson Nicoll, 1893
Again, Nicoll shone a light on the medium and the artist responsible; it was a pencil sketch by Charlotte —— quite probably this very sketch on J. Whatman watermarked paper, Charlotte’s favourite make of drawing paper.
AND AS INDISPUTABLE —— IT IS NOT A PENCIL SKETCH or A PORTRAIT BY CHARLOTTE!
“…if the soul, as I believe, forms its own body, this single portrait, alone among the portraits of the Brontë sisters, deserves to be Emily, for here only, through Branwell’s inexpertness, shine the power and poetry which were her unalienable characteristics.” Virginia Moore
From ‘The Life and Eager Death of Emily Brontë’ – a biography by Virginia Moore – published 1936…
‘Nero’ Emily’s pet Merlin on’t front cover – a design after Emily’s own exquisite watercolour.
Apart from the obvious pull of the front cover —— I had another reason for wanting to acquire a copy of this now hard to find biography; one page specifically! Beneath a heading ‘Note On The Portrait Of Emily Brontë’ —— Virginia Moore surmises about the whereabouts of the ‘Lost Portrait’ as seen by Nicoll —— “…doubtless it would have come to light by now…” she concluded in 1936!
Maybe if she hadn’t been quite so blind to all but Branwell’s profile portrait of ‘Emily’ – she might have actually noticed that a pencil portrait of Emily by Charlotte came up for auction three years earlier at Sotheby’s in 1933! That said —— if the pencil sketch in Lot 115 was the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ drawing (which I deduce are One and the Same) it would explain why neither the National Portrait Gallery —— The Brontë Society —— or Virginia Moore et al —— bid for it.A portrait with a semblance to the ‘Bonnet’ photogravure would have put-off serious collectors of Brontëana.
When journalist and literary critic, Clement Shorter —— took it upon himself to dismiss the ‘Bonnet’ photogravure —— the die was unfortunately and unfairly cast. From 1900 to the present day —— Shorter’s completely baseless opinion of the ‘Bonnet’ photogravure in the ‘Woman at Home’ has held sway; even three recently found ‘Bonnet’ originals —— that are so obviously created before the ‘Bonnet’ photogravure was published and therefore are not copies —— are powerless in the face of what can only be described as entrenched ‘Bonnetism’!
‘Bonnetism’ as in perish the thought that Emily Brontë ever wore such a thing as a ‘Gypsy-Straw’ and a thick cloak around those famous exposed shoulders of ‘hers’…Strikes me from what I’ve read and understood about Emily —— is that she comes across as a practical hat and cloak type person rather than a dressy type that would have been comfortable to bare her shoulders for her brother to immortalise on canvas; think about it!
What’s not to like? Emily in her heart of hearts felt most at home when she was out on the wiley, windy moors…
Emily in her element.’MoorWalk’ from an original artwork by ‘EmilyInGondal’.
On the subject of Emily’s headgear, Charlotte Brontë made reference to ‘Pamela – Or Virtue Rewarded’ by Samuel Richardson in chapter one of ‘Jane Eyre’. The ‘Pamela Hat’ or Gypsy-Straw’ takes its name from Richardson’s heroine ‘Pamela’…
Page 27 of ‘Costume’ – The Journal of the Costume Society – Number 26 1992.
Detail from a painting by Joseph Highmore of Pamela wearing her ‘Gypsy-Straw’ – one in a series of twelve – circa 1745 – to illustrate ‘Pamela Or Virtue Rewarded’.
Please be sure to CLICK ON THE LINK below to read about the significance of Shirley Keeldar’s ‘Gypsy-Straw’ in Charlotte Brontë’s novel ‘Shirley’ ——
“; a photogravure of the same, proof;” means a reproduction of the original drawing of Emily by Charlotte.
The fact that the pencil sketch was sold in “a small parcel” that included “a photogravure of the same” suggests that it was the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ —— because to my knowledge there is no other photogravure of a portrait of Emily with an attribution to Charlotte —— except that is for the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ in the ‘Woman at Home’…
And so it’s easy to see how the pencil sketch of Emily by Charlotte slipped into obscurity again to a buyer called ‘Halliday’. Alas, Sir William Robertson Nicoll died ten years too early to buy it or identify it as the true ‘Lost Portrait’; he died in 1923 —— aged 72.
Referencing page 369 of ‘The Life and Eager Death of Emily Brontë’ once more —— Virginia Moore euligises that the ‘Profile Portrait’ of ‘Emily’ by Branwell in the National Collection “deserves to be Emily” —— as in preference to Anne…
Click on the page to enlarge it in a new window.
In Virginia Moore’s book it’s plain to read how Nicoll’s eye-witness account of the ‘Lost Portrait’ of Emily by Charlotte was overwritten by emotions not cold hard facts;“…a pencil sketch of Emily Brontë by Charlotte, which was very clearly and boldly drawn…” went out the window!
Yet unbelievably Virginia Moore’s feelings towards the ‘Profile Portrait’ in 1936 —— sum up the general feeling towards Branwell’s painting today; it’s idealised as a portrait of ‘Emily’ —— regardless of evidence to the the contrary that identifies its bare-shouldered sitter as Anne Brontë.
Such is the devotion. An old newspaper cutting of Branwell’s portrait of ‘Emily’ doubles up as a homemade frontispiece in an earlier biography by Agnes Mary Frances Robinson.
Icon-like.
Please don’t get me wrong —— I’m as fond of Branwell’s portrait of ‘Emily’ as the Brontë fan that sensitively preserved the above newspaper cutting – but all the while the National Portrait Gallery maintains the myth that the original by Branwell is the ‘Lost Portrait’ – the real deal is consigned to remain in the shadows.
But there are some things that refuse to be sidelined —— especially when they’ve been systematically wronged by those that only think they are ‘the powers that be’!
The ‘Bonnet Portrait’ photogravure has been reproduced in print (and published online) multiple times since it first appeared way back in 1894 in the ‘Woman at Home’ magazine —— as shown above. The chief Editor of the ‘Woman at Home’ and the ‘The British Weekly’ was One and the Same, Sir William Robertson Nicoll!
Here are a some examples of the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ in print – a portrait that refuses to be cast out for the good reasons I’ve explained…
‘Bonnet Portrait’ illustrating an article in The Guardian by Kathryn Hughes in 2018…
And again in issue 12 of ‘The Great Poets’ series by The Independent.
1st edition ‘The Life and Private History of Emily Jane Bronte’ – biography by Romer Wilson published 1928 – and ‘Wuthering Heights’ – published by Longmans, Green and Co 1967
The next example is paradoxical and ever so slightly absurd! Having thrice written without success to the BBC’s ‘Fake or Fortune?’ programme for help to establish the authenticity of the ‘Bonnet’ drawing —— yet the corporation happily features the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ photogravure on the BBC Bitesize website! I’m not complaining though; Vive la Chapeau!
As seen on the BBC’s ‘Bitesize’ website – direct link below. “Bitesize is the BBC’s free online study support resource for school-age pupils in the United Kingdom.”
So, to reiterate what I said at the start of this blog post —— ‘The Bonnet Portrait’ is NO bad penny…
Tails! That the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ drawing and the ‘Lost Portrait’ seen by Sir William Robertson Nicoll in 1879 —— are One and the Same; a wager not based on an emotional response —— but on findings.
NOT AFTER the photogravure in the ‘Woman at Home’ —— but significantly BEFORE.
An expansive canvas copy of the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ drawing —— made possible because the original sketch is very clearly and boldly drawn.
“In the end of July, 1879, I paid a visit to Haworth and stayed a night at the Black ‘Bull Inn, too closely associated with the memory of Patrick Branwell Brontë…On the second day I had an interesting. interview with Martha Brown, the faithful servant who nursed all the Brontës and saw them all die. She lived for the most part in Ireland, but had a room in Haworth and paid occasional visits to her relatives there. She seemed for her station an intelligent and refined person, and was very ready to converse about the Brontës, for whom she had a warm love…She had all the Brontës’ works and a good many relics which Mr. Brontë had left her, but of which she had sold some. One of the most interesting was one of the microscopical manuscript magazines in 32 mo. grey paper. She had once a copy of the Poems of Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell, with an inscription by Emily Brontë, but had sold it for £5 and a new edition. There were also a good many drawings, of which Charlotte’s were much the most careful. There was only one rough sketch by Emily Brontë and Patrick’s drawings were unfinished. But the most precious of the whole, one of surpassing interest, was a pencil sketch of Emily Brontë by Charlotte, which was very clearly and boldly drawn, and which Martha pronounced an excellent likeness. I endeavoured in vain to purchase it…
“On Martha Brown’s death, which occurred some time after, I endeavoured to procure some of her relics, and especially the drawing of Emily Brontë. What she left was divided among four sisters, with all of whom I communicated, but was unable to procure or even to trace this. I purchased, however, a pencil sketch of Anne Brontë by Oharlotte. It bears the inscription ‘By my daughter Charlotte. P. Brontë, Minister.’ and is identified as an excellent likeness of Anne Brontë by two of Martha Brown’s sisters…”
Sir William Robertson Nicoll.
“Shirley is indeed the exterior Emily…” Agnes Mary Frances Robinson —— ‘Emily Brontë Eminent Women Series’ 1883.
A simple exercise to compare facial similarities and expressions between two portraits —— one of Dylan Thomas by Alfred Janes in the National Museum of Wales collection – and the other being the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ of Emily Brontë by Charlotte…A post inspired by a fascinating excerpt I came across in a precious old paper copy of ‘Brontë Transactions’ volume 14, 1963 – issue 3.
And for the purposes of this exercise only – I have cloned —— nay borrowed Dylan Thomas’ outward twinkle where Charlotte couldn’t! Charlotte —— and Thomas’ beloved Emily —— passed away over half-a-century afore he was born —— on the 27th. October 1914.
For what my opinion is worth —— I think there is quite a strong likeness between both faces in these portraits – and Branwell’s ‘Pillar Portrait’ of Emily’s face – in the National Portrait Gallery. Agree or disagree? why not leave a comment.
One cosmic gene Emily Brontë and Dylan Thomas undisputably got —— is the same wild head o’ hair! Or as Ellen Nussey once said of Emily’s hair “Her hair, which was naturally as beautiful as Charlotte’s, was in the same unbecoming tight curl and frizz…”
Though can’t help thinking of Dylan Thomas’ wife, Caitlin…
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DYLAN THOMAS AND EMILY BRONTE
The only woman I’ve ever loved
“I was reading a good deal in the (British) Museum at this time, and used to spend my lunch hours drifting about the manuscript room. It is always thrilling to see a page of the original Don Juan, or something in Keats’s own handwriting. I never tired of it. One day, in an unfrequented corner of the room, I saw what I took to be a page of Dylan Thomas. I was surprised to find it was a page of an Emily Bronte MS, and I was so struck with the similarity that I bought a sixpenny facsimile and posted it to Thomas. The next day he wrote: ‘Strange that facsimile by E.B. I thought it was a rejected poem of mine when I opened it. Yes, it’s my handwriting, and I can read every word ofit’. A day or two after this I happened on a picture of the three Bronte girls (is it by Branwell, unfinished?) and I was struck by the resemblance between Emily and Dylan Thomas. The dark, slightly popping eyes, the toneless skin and dark hair . . . I told him about it, and he was amused and delighted; and when I accused him of being a reincarnation of her he agreed at once and added: ‘And what is so strange about that? She’s the only woman I’ve ever loved!”
LAWRENCE DURRELL From Dylan Thomas: The legend and the poet edited by E. W. Tedlock, first published by William Heinemann Ltd in 1960; first published in Mercury Books,a Heinemann paperback, in 1963.
A post about what happëns when thrëëë ëntitiës join forcës and gël with one another; the thrëëë Ës —— Ëmily Brontë —— ËmilyInGondal —— and —— Ëmily_Brontë_In_Thë_Framë!
Saturday, 23rd May 2020 — ought really to have been my birthday, because I received a most generous gift from ËmilyInGondal in the post; a collection of stunning —— original prints that feature the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ drawing of Ëmily ‘lost’ in her element!
Charlotte’s ‘lost’ portrait of her sister looks totally at home set in Ëmily’s natural habitat of the West Yorkshire Moors and the rocky dells hidden therein. Where Cotton-grass and other wildflowers bob tirelessly even in the slightest of breezes —— and scant trees are inexorably bent sideways by the prevailing wind.
Here is the entire collection that I received in the post on Saturday, 23rd May 2020 —— complete with titles by ËmilyInGondal from (1) — (9):
(1) ‘BellCurls’
(2) ‘VanishingMoor’
(3) ‘FaeryTread’
(4) ‘Unforgotten’
(5) ‘BonnetBranch’
(6) ‘BonnetBrook’
(7) ‘BonnetBells’
(8) ‘BonnetSky’
(9) ‘MoorWalk’
(10) shows the back of ‘BellCurls’ — with details about the ‘lost’ Portrait & Artist —— ËmilyInGondal.
I believe that some —— if not all, will be available to buy from ËmilyInGondal’s Etsy shop in the near future…
Thanks to ËmilyInGondal — and a growing number of supporters of the Bonnet portrait’s authenticity — it’s tangibly beginning to feel like Charlotte’s ‘lost’ portrait of her beloved sister has awoken from its ‘hundred year sleep’.
From the wicked spell that Clement Shorter cast over the portrait ‘type’, when he said without a jot of evidence, that the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ photogravure in the ‘Woman at Home’ 1894 edition — was “entirely spurious”. Shorter never saw the original drawing —— EVER, because it was ‘lost’ already by 1894. His statement against the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ photogravure has absolutely no weight at all —— yet ‘the powers that be’ persistently give weight to it by repeating it parrot-fashion. They don’t like the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ —— therefore the Brontë community is denied the chance to learn to love the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ through open-minded —— and helpful discussion.
I salute you ËmilyInGondal — you are a true good faëry; thank you so much for creating these hauntingly beautiful artworks of Ëmily back in her own landscape.
Feeling so lucky!
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The first verse in particular of ‘Annie’s Song’ by John Denver —— instantly sprang into my mind when I first set eyes on the collection...
“You fill up my senses Like a night in a forest Like the mountains in springtime Like a walk in the rain Like a storm in the desert Like a sleepy blue ocean You fill up my senses Come fill me again…”
My ‘Shirley’ is a precious paperback edition given to me by my manager, Kirsten —— as a Christmas gift in 2019.
On my bookshëlf — secondhand paperbacks sit alongside first editions from an earlier century — all are invaluable in my Quest for the Truth regarding the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ of Emily Brontë.
One first edition is ‘Emily Brontë — Eminent Women Series’ published in 1883 by W. H. Allen and Co.’ It is the first full-length biography about Emily Brontë — by Agnes Mary Frances Robinson — b.1857 d.1944 — also known under the surnames, Darmesteter —— and also Duclaux. To read more about this ënlightened writer — poet — even scientist’s assistant…I highly recommend coming back to this linkafterwards!
Chapter XVI of Agnes Mary Frances Robinson’s ‘Golden Book’ about Emily — throws light on how Charlotte based the character ‘Shirley Keeldar’ on her sister Emily —— had Emily been born into wealth and good fortune.
Now I haven’t read ‘Shirley’ — as I’m a Brontë scholar of a different kind; I discovered my love of the Brontës through reading their Art — not their novels. Therefore I am indebted to Agnes Mary Frances Robinson for giving me the heads-up to another vital clue about the identity of the ‘Bonnet Portrait’. It’s my experience that the likes of Agnes Mary Frances Robinson — and Sir William Robertson Nicoll, both who are no longer alive in a physical sense — outshine today’s Brontë experts by a mile…
Or maybe it’s just that the so-called experts today just aren’t capable of penetrating the underlying messages in Charlotte’s narrative? Hence one must spell them out —— highlight them —— underline them.
Shirley Keeldar fetched her “Gipsy-Straw” — it’s official: There it is —— as bold as typeface! —— in chapter XXII of ‘Shirley’!
Shirley, therein Emily —— wore a ‘gipsy-straw’.
It’s evidently clear that Charlotte Brontë left clues to the identity of the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ in her novels — just in case anyone should inadvertently overlook —— or conveniently overlook —— that it’s E—M—I—L—Y —— as can be read from left to right in the folds of the sitter’s drapery. I ask you —— could Charlotte have made the title of her portrait of her sister anymore bigger or bolder or clearer?!!!
Like Sir William Robertson Nicoll said of the lost portrait in 1891, “…a very clearly and boldly drawn pencil sketch of Emily by Charlotte…” And he should know because he saw the portrait in 1879 in Haworth, when he paid a friendly visit to Martha Brown, the Brontë’s faithful servant who was the keeper of the portrait then. It was only after Martha’s death in 1880 that the portrait was thought to have become “irrevocably lost” to quote Nicoll again – from 1891.
140 years on from Martha’s death —— the portrait has miraculously resurfaced —— like long lost things have a tendency to do; not lost at all but temporarily mislaid.
The novel that made the wearing of the ‘Pamela Hat’ or ‘Gipsy-Straw’ fashionable in the first half of the nineteenth century — gets a subtle shout-out in chapter I of ‘Jane Eyre’ too — ‘Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded’ by Samuel Richardson:In short — “Emily provided the stuff from which Shirley is made,…” and that included Emily’s ‘GIPSY-STRAW’!
‘the brontës and the art of ë-design’:A blogpost detailing the design process of my ‘new’ Brontë inclusive Website Header —— inspired by a Sketch, a Song, a Room, a View, a ‘Postcard’, some Overhead Power Lines —— a Master Mason and his Three Sisters —— ‘The Three Graces’ of Haworth, West Yorkshire. As represented in my new ‘Triple Goddess’ design derived from three original ‘lost’ portraits all by the recognisable hand of the Eldest of The Sisters —— One Charlotte Brontë.
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A brief ë-history:
I started my website in 2013 but it was only following the arrival of ‘The Bonnet portrait’ in 2016 – that things went off at a tangent – away from Dartmoor and the West-Country —— up North to Haworth! The sisters’ takeover was imperceptible at first but it would be fair to say that takeover is more or less complete now – indeed, they even wanted to takeover my header —— as well as my head!!!
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On my radar:
left: Anne, aka ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ appeared in 2008.
centre: Emily aka the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ appeared in 2016.
right: ‘Charlotte Brontë’ appeared in 2020.
Charlotte’s portrait plainly says on the back “Charlotte Brontë drawn by. M Héger” ——— written in black ink by an old hand; the ink shines and sits proud of the paper. Seen here as it is written on the back of the portrait —— only photographed in three sections so as to illustrate the shininess. Best appreciated in a new window —— by clicking on this image:
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The view and the overhead power lines:
It’s impossible for me not to be reminded daily of the ‘lost’ portrait of Emily Brontë aka ‘The Bonnet Portrait’ —— because as soon as I lift my eyes skywards —— over and above my computer screen and the backyard fence, there it is —— a huge reversed ‘E’ suspended in midair —— framed in the image below by open french windows. I think the ‘E’ is called a ‘cable stay’?
Whatever the correct terminology for it is —— its constant presence in my field of vision has certainly Ëmpowered my thought processes; daily, I focus on the big ‘E’ when I’m in search of some ë-inspiration!
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The Room:
On Monday 2nd December 2019 — I was given a rare glimpse into another world —— the world of Freemasonry. I still can’t quite believe that there is an extraordinary meeting place that exists in the middle of a market town in rural North Devon; one would never guess its wondrous interior from its plain grey facade. One minute I was walking along the pavement in the bright morning sunshine, and the next minute I was stood at the centre of the Universe — that was how it felt. Daylight never comes in at the windows because they are kept permanently shuttered yet it was one of the most light-filled rooms I have ever been inside. I feel honoured to have been given the opportunity to stand under a ceiling full of stars. I put my heightened awareness of the three portraits down to the power of transferred touch – and on Monday, the 2nd of December 2019 – it felt like Branwell was somehow instrumental in arranging my pass! My private viewing opened my eyes to an aspect of Branwell’s world that I could not have imagined otherwise. The room —— ‘The Temple’ —— that’s around the corner of this door was truly jaw-dropping – and even though I was given permission to take some photographs, it’s not for me to give its secrets away any further than beyond this point:
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The Sketch:
On Monday morning, 4th. May 2020 —— whilst looking for a piece of material to complete another Brontë related project – I came upon this wonderful sketch of ‘The Man In The Moon’ that was oddly in my airing cupboard on top of a pile of material. I don’t know how it got there or even who drew it – but it certainly shone a light on the rest of my day; suddenly the ‘Triple Goddess’ design started to wax!
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The Postcard:
I love Jocelyn Horner’s 360° bronze sculpture of the three sisters; seen in the flesh —— it is as beautiful from the back as it is the front. The thing I love about it too is that the three figures don’t conform to preconceived ideas of what the Brontë Sisters supposedly looked like by those that never met them – there’s nothing prettified about Jocelyn’s interpretation of Charlotte, Emily and Anne. Instead, the sculptress has captured them in the raw so to speak —— their inner essence is what’s particularly outstanding.
In the spirit of Jocelyn Horner’s sculpture – I created an alternative header using only the three portraits; it was an exercise in image manipulation rather than any serious intention of supplanting my original header without an image of Dartmoor —— let alone my website name! The Sisters may have taken over my head but not my header!
I must confess I like the crookedness of their features —— their enhancement is rather beautiful I think. However I must try harder to appeal to the sensitivities of the Brontë community rather than contorting three portraits that already aren’t believed to be genuine —— apart by a judicious few.
I’m reminded of the so-called expert that saw ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and ‘The Bonnet Portrait’ in April 2019 – who commented that the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ of Emily was “grotesque”; so unjust —— ‘unforgivable’! However, when I use the word ‘saw’ – I mean, quickly scanned them from a distance of at least a metre away —— in’t dark-side o’t room! Indeed, said ‘expert’ never once touched either ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ or ‘The Bonnet’ —— which in view of MY sensitivities to both —— was a very good thing in hindsight.
My Jocelyn Horner inspired header can be enlarged in a new window by simply clicking on the image.
‘There Is Not Room For Death’ —— the ë-version of ‘The Bonnet’ portrait of Emily Brontë at the top of this blogpost – is inspired by Jocelyn’s sculpture too.
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The original header: The ‘hill’ on the horizon is ‘Fur Tor’ – or ‘Far Tor’ —— Dartmoor’s wildest and remotest tor. There are no paths that lead to it – only open moorland —— much of which is bog! The ‘bird’ in my hand is made from Ganite that has been naturally hewn by the elements —— probably over several millennia —— into the shape of a Raven; my favourite wild bird. The stone is a foundling that along with my watch strap represents Time imperceptibly shifting and shaping a landscape that has essentially remainedunaltered since it was heaved from the Earth’s core. Dartmoor’s granite peaks are called ‘Tors’.
Rather like Dartmoor’s landscape my website header was not for changing – only twëaking!!!
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The new ‘Brontë Inclusive’ header:
Apart from all the outer influences – the portraits naturally lent themselves to the ‘Triple Goddess’ design; they determined each and every click of my mouse! Once I had cropped thëm, formatted thëm and circled thëm…I noticed that the outline of the space created by the contours of both Emily’s and Anne’s faces – was roughly crescent-shaped. Charlotte being the creator of all three portraits —— and the elder; I naturally saw ‘The Whole of the Moon’ in her beautiful, luminous —— translucent face:
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How ‘they’ The Brontës —— appear to me:
The meeting room Bronte Parsonage.
It’s my experience that the Brontës make their presence felt in many shapes and forms —— and places; as in they’re not limited to their former residence and the streets of Haworth only!
The Research Library window as pictured above —— didn’t exist in the Brontë’s day – indeed the very room itself didn’t exist. The tall gable end of the Parsonage where the Research Library is located was built in 1872. Relics of their lives are showcased throughout the Parsonage —— but are only accessible up to a point; as far as the ropes and glass barriers allow you to get close enough. I understand from the offers I get sent as a Brontë Society member that the the museum offers by arrangement —— opportunities to look at chosen items in the collection more closely —— with gloves on and for a price that is.
There is nothing that compares to having the real thing in one’s own possession though; no barrier not even the thickness of a thin cotton glove to come between oneself and the hand of Charlotte Brontë. There’s an energy attached —— a transmittable essence still on the paper that’s impossible to put into actual words —— but take my word for it, it’s there.
Below is an an ë-image I created from my original photograph of the Research Library window. It was inside this room where the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ of Emily was denied on Monday, the 15th April 2019 —— along with ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and three others.
My digital artwork represents the free-spirits of Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne exiting the Research Library window in concurrence with my own feelings that day! I found the atmosphere inside closeted; one speaks as one finds. After the meeting —— I couldn’t be asked to go in the souvenir shop —— let alone around the museum itself, I’d seen enough! Instead, I found solace in the graveyard and the church of St Micheal and All Angels; the museum itself felt dead to me that day.
The Ë-Research Library Window is in the gothic style of Charlotte’s and Emily’s novels, ‘Jane Eyre’ and ‘Wuthering Heights’ respectively. It was inspired by the scene in ‘Wuthering Heights’ when Catherine Earnshaw’s ghost comes a-tapping at the window —— only in my version the spirits are scrëaming to get out in an act of solidarity!!!
My ë-artwork is called, ‘Get Me Out Of Here!’
And the colourised ‘Moorland’ hues version:
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The song:
This is where shared videos from YouTube go on this website – always last but by no means least. No prize either for guessing which song helped in the making of my new Brontë inclusive header ——
‘The Whole of the Moon’ by The Waterboys!
I’ve loved this song ever since it was first released in 1985; I could never have dreamt back then how it would become a soundtrack for my ‘imaginings’ —— imagings —— ë-maginings!!!
Today’s blogpost was inspired by ‘yesterday’s poem’ – a brilliant poem written by Rosemary aka ‘An Englishwoman In Vienna’ —— @shine_reflect on Instagram.
‘Picture In A Gallery’ published on Instagram, 4th May 2020 – and dedicated to All Art Lovers everywhere —— by shine_reflect
It’s about Rosie’s words rather than typing my own today – so I’m keeping it short – especially too as ‘The picture in the gallery’ communicates all by herself. She is a fine looking lady called ‘Emily Chamly’ who leaves me in a whirl every time our eyes meet across our parlour room! I love her bird-like face that peeps out of the blackness at me —— from ‘The Tunnel of Time’ that surrounds her. I don’t know from what period she dates – or anything about her other than her name – ‘Emily Chamly’ – she is Emily’s ‘significant Other’! Considering her size she has a big presence; she’s gotta lotta soul.
Make no mistake, Charlotte Brontë integrated words, names —— whole sentiments into her art —— fact, and it is my intention to prove it —— HERE.
It is an ancient and modern practice —— known as ‘Steganography’:
The following three examples of Steganography can be ‘seen’ in an authenticated artwork by Charlotte Brontë in the Brontë Parsonage Museum collection in Haworth. Shown below —— on page 261 in ‘The art of the Brontës’ by Christine Alexander and Jane Sellars.
‘The art of the Brontës’ is a ‘catalogue raisonné’.
‘catalogue raisonné’ “- a descriptive catalogue of works of art with explanations and scholarly comments.” The Oxford Dictionary.
‘The art of the Brontës’ was first published in 1995 – in light of my findings —— it could now be considered to be in need of an update.
The scene depicts Charlotte bidding a fond farewell to her best friend Ellen Nussey – whose body is turned towards the open arms of her beau labelled ‘The Chosen’. The gulf that separates them is the English Channel —— note the steamboat on the horizon. In a self-deprecating style, ‘Charlotte’ cuts a lonesome, rather stunted —— even ugly figure —— compared to Ellen. Charlotte suffered a lot of insecurities about the way she looked —— particularly over her petiteness. The sketch dates to 1843 when Charlotte was on her second sabbatical to Brussels – to study at the Pensionnat Héger – to further broaden——her——horizons and fine-tune her love of the French language.
1. “My Kindred”
‘My Kindred’ is ’embroidered’ along the hem of Ellen’s dress as if by a seamstress. The wearer is Ellen Nussey – Charlotte’s best ‘kindred’.
In the author’s own words, “I want my kindred: those with whom I have full fellow-feeling.” from Jane Eyre.
A ‘kindred’ in Charlotte’s book was a ‘brother’ or a ‘sister’ – a kindred soul that she could confide everything in and vice versa; Ellen Nussey was Charlotte’s best kindred – exactly like it says on her dress!
2. “His”
Charlotte’s insecurities about herself —— go some way to explaining Charlotte’s cryptic dig at Ellen; a classic case of Charlotte drawing out loud methinks!
3. “étude”
And now for a flourish of pure genius; the ‘musical’ steamboat on the horizon – symbolising Charlotte broadening hers!
Next, I turn my attentions on an unauthenticated self-portrait of Charlotte Brontë that features exactly the same trait as the authenticated sketch above. It is surely Charlotte’s pièce de résistance!
‘pièce de résistance’ “(especially with reference to creative work) the most important or remarkable feature.” The Oxford Dictionary
4. “MY ALL”
Charlotte’s genius method of conflating Jane Eyre’s feelings for Mr. Rochester with her own feelings for M Héger —— condensed into just two words that say it ALL —— and that importantly, fit in the limited space of her lace collar!
Jane Eyre to Mr. Rochester: “All my heart is yours, sir; it belongs to you; and with you it would remain, were fate to exile the rest of me from your presence forever.”
M Héger was the Belgian schoolmaster Charlotte fell hopelessly and madly in love with but couldn’t have. On the back of the drawing is an inscription dated 1842 – the year Charlotte first studied under M Héger. The trick to reading anything ‘Charlotte’ is to read between the lines, through the surface —— or ‘en filigrane’, through the watermarks —— as the French —— and undoubtedly Charlotte would say!
Whose writing it is on the back of the portrait? —— I don’t profess to know – but I know whose writing —— or example of ‘Steganography’ – is on the front of the portrait; it’s Charlotte’s without a shadow of doubt!
In matters of the heart – Charlotte WAS drawn by M Héger; as a moth is drawn by a flame. Charlotte would have given her ALL to M Héger, but unfortunately for Charlotte he was a happily married man. Charlotte’s attentions and intentions went unrequited – it was an ‘affair’ in Charlotte’s life that damned well near destroyed her❣️ —— but Charlotte picked up her writing pen and wove it through her novels – like she did her collar.
5. E——M——I——L——Y
Charlotte’s portrait of her sister, Emily —— needs no defining —— only highlighting. Most especially for ‘the powers that be’ who refuse to see it —— nay want to see it – because Charlotte’s portrait of Emily, doesn’t fit with their preconceived idea of what Emily looked like; surely Charlotte is the better judge?
And a final reminder again about the meaning of the word ‘fact’; please be sure to read the small print!
My ‘ability’ (for want of a better word) to read between the lines of Charlotte Brontë’s Art —— has its roots in this rather plain-looking line of trees silhouetted against the sky at the edge of a field…
It’s an ability that’s very much in the spirit of a poem by Emily Brontë. “Every leaf speaks bliss to me…” she wrote.
‘My’ trees —— ALL trees —— are anything but plain ordinary though. They’re the lungs of the Earth for starters —— the air we breathe without thinking, depends on them; they ARE super extraordinary —— selfless beings —— that ‘ask’ only for a space to grow in. Our dependency on trees isn’t just a physical thing though —— it’s mindful too; they speak to us —— they inspire us —— they L💚VE us. This World —— as we know it —— and as we may think we know it —— would be nothing at all in the absence of ‘Tree Magick’. So don’t EVER underestimate the benevolency of even the smallest or unruliest-shaped specimens – or the Ones that don’t appear to stand out in a crowd —— a wood!
Aspects of ‘Tree Magick’ —— are ‘HERE’ —— there —— and everywhere, but you have to learn to speak the language. Like say —— learning French only different. I think Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Anne Brontë, Branwell Brontë —— all the Brontës —— were fluent in ‘IT’ when they were alive. And it is something that doesn’t end when death comes —— it goes on in perpetuity —— ‘you’ become ‘IT’.
‘IT’ —— is what Emily wrote so powerfully about in her poems; Emily understood ‘IT’ to the very highest of levels. It was this group of trees captured in the click of a shutter —— that gave me the first clue that there is MORE to the art of Charlotte Brontë than first meets the eye! It was only after I got home from my afternoon walk and uploaded the image to my computer —— that suddenly ‘E.M.I.L.Y’ jumped out of the screen at me, like joined up handwriting.
As a believer in Elementalism, it was no real surprise to me that trees can spell out words and names too! Together, they told me to get up off my spinney chair that instant, and go fetch the ‘Bonnet’ to my desktop without another moment delay. In a second flash, there was the name that identifies the sitter beyond doubt as —— ‘E.M.I.L.Y’. Without the trees ongoing benevolency, I might still be in the dark about it all. As it was —— ‘E.M.I.L.Y’ had been under my safe keeping for four months before the ‘name’ penny dropped – in 2016.
Whether or not you believe that ‘Elementals’ or Nature spirits – directly communicated with me – or you’re doubtful still that it’s a portrait of EMILY Brontë drawn by her sister, Charlotte Brontë —— that’s up to you to decide —— but please don’t ignore the ‘obvious’. The folds in the sitter’s drapery clearly and boldly spell-out, E.M.I.L.Y —— I defy anyone to argue against this truly Elemental finding…
Let me elucidate some more…
Firstly, I have no doubt whatsoever that the portrait is indeed the ‘lost’ portrait of Emily by Charlotte that William Robertson Nicoll described as “a clearly and boldly drawn pencil sketch…” —— as seen when Robertson Nicoll visited the Brontë’s faithful servant, Martha Brown in 1879. Indeed, Robertson Nicoll was the portrait’s only independent witness – without his written statements about the portrait – Charlotte’s portrait of her beloved sister, Emily —— whom she loved and feared in equal measure, would probably have been lost beyond all chances of recognition.
Robertson Nicoll was the chief Editor of the ‘Woman at Home’ magazine – that first published a photogravure of the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ – in 1894. The photogravure featured in an article by Frederika Macdonald —— titled: ‘The Brontës at Brussels’; Frederika herself attended the ‘Pensionnat Héger’ at a later date to Charlotte – and Emily —— in 1859.
The photogravure is titled: ‘EMILY BRONTË’ in uppercase – and is attributed to Charlotte.
I see no reason whatsoever to doubt Robertson Nicoll’s integrity and professionalism as Editor. He was a consummate gentleman in all his dealings; it makes no sense that he would have been party to printing fake news. Robertson Nicoll also served as an early President of the Brontë Society – such was his interest in Brontë matters – he was an honourable all-rounder; SIR —— William Robertson Nicoll, to use his correct title.
And again, there is no reason either to doubt the integrity of Frederika Macdonald – author of ‘The Secret of Charlotte Brontë’ …
Frederika certainly knew a thing or two about Charlotte – indeed she filled a whole volume —— cover to cover —— with her unique inside knowledge on the subject!
Provenance or Providence? a touch of both I’d say!
My particular copy of ‘The Secret World of Charlotte Brontë’ by Frederika Macdonald —— is a 1st edition, ex-library book complete with a library stamp for the ‘Red House Museum’ – Oxford Road – Gomersal – Cleckheaton – formerly the family home of Charlotte’s other best ‘Kindred’ – Mary Taylor. Definitely another vibrational Internet find – especially as Frederika’s book helped me locate Charlotte’s tiny signature on another ‘lost’ drawing.
‘Where there’s smoke there’s fire’ Charlotte’s micro-script signature integrated into a plume of wood-smoke. The whole of Charlotte’s signature ‘C Bronte’ measures only 1 cm in length!
‘Coincidences‘ abound!
Back to ‘E.M.I.L.Y’ and proving my point that Charlotte ‘hid’ names —— and words —— indeed entire messages in her portraiture —— and sketches.
E.M.I.L.Y is the stuff of genius! Once you have perceived E.M.I.L.Y in the folds of the drapery – it’s impossible not to see E.M.I.L.Y ever after…
It’s ‘funny’ though —— how ‘the powers that be’ deny that ‘E.M.I.L.Y’ exists in the bold lines of the drawing; ‘honestly’ just who are they trying to kid?
One possibility of getting through to them – is to prove that Charlotte integrated names and words into her art —— but in order to substantiate Charlotte’s giveaway trait as seen in the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ – it must also be recognised in an authenticated drawing by Charlotte already in the ‘Brontë Parsonage Museum’ collection in Haworth.
So, what better place to look than my trusty, well-thumbed copy of ‘The art of the Brontes’ by Christine Alexander and Jane Sellars —— greatly expanded with my own notes —— particularly in the Charlotte section…
Not anywhere in ‘The art of the Brontës’ —— do the authors themselves even hint that Charlotte Brontë ‘signed’ her drawings cryptically – in the way that I’m suggesting. If they had done, the handful of ‘lost’ drawings that I’ve identified as being Charlotte’s —— probably wouldn’t have slipped through the auction net repeatedly – and thereby through the hands of several ‘nameless’ art dealers/historians —— all of whom I noted have letters after their names; I’m suggesting nowt!!!
I think Charlotte made her ‘mark’ as integral as possible — that way ensuring that no one in the future could erase or strike-through her wording without destroying the very integrity of the artwork itself. Surprisingly, there are a number of authenticated works by Charlotte that have suffered at the hands of their keepers through the years — one such case is a drawing featured on page 261 of ‘The art of the Brontës’ – titled: 159. ‘Good-bye’: a comic sketch. It’s an illustrated farewell letter from Charlotte to her best friend and confidante, Ellen Nussey…
In a self-deprecating style, ‘Charlotte’ cuts a lonesome, rather stunted —— even ugly figure, waving ‘Goodbye’ to her beautiful best friend ‘Ellen Nussey’ – who bodily is turned away from Charlotte towards the open arms of her tall, handsome beau – aka ‘The Chosen’. The gulf in between Charlotte and the party on the right of the sketch is the English Channel. Charlotte’s sketch depicts the time in her life when she returned to Brussels in January 1843 —— to continue her studies at the Pensionnat Héger.
Fast-forward, back to the matter in hand…
After Charlotte died in 1855, Elizabeth Gaskell asked Ellen for material for her ‘Life of Charlotte Brontë’. In an act of censorship, Ellen vandalised Charlotte’s ‘Good bye’ sketch before handing it over — even striking through her own name for heaven’s sake! She also cut out the male figure on the right — which has since been restored. You can see the repair.
Charlotte need not have worried though —— that she was about to lose her closest friend to the amorous gentleman in the stovepipe hat…
Because Ellen never, ever married.
The hem of Ellen’s skirt holds another ‘secret’ — that when highlighted reads, ‘My Kindred’ — because that was what Ellen was to Charlotte; they were all but sisters…
‘My Kindred’
I think Charlotte only included ciphers when the subject —— or recipient, was dearest to her heart. In Charlotte’s book —— ‘Kindreds’ is a term not solely reserved for those in her immediate family. Charlotte uses the very expression ‘My Kindred’ in ‘Jane Eyre’ – when orphan Jane discovers the true relationship between herself and St John Rivers —— and his kind sisters, Mary and Diana. When Jane discovers that they are cousins – she feels that she has found a family at long last – a ‘brother’ and ‘sisters’ – not cousins. To quote ‘Jane Eyre’ —— “It is not saying too much: I know what I feel, and how averse are my inclinations to the bare thought of marriage. No one would take me for love; and I will not be regarded in the light of a mere money speculation. And I do not want a stranger — unsympathising, alien, different from me; I want my kindred: those with whom I have full fellow-feeling. Say again you will be my brother: when you uttered the words I was satisfied, happy; repeat them, if you can, repeat them sincerely.”
In the author’s own words —— a ‘Kindred’ was someone Jane felt “a full fellow-feeling” with❣️
In Charlotte’s case, Ellen Nussey was undoubtedly Charlotte’s best ‘Kindred’; Mary Taylor of ‘The Red House’ in Gomersal, coming a close second. The three of them met at Roe Head school – when Charlotte was 14 and Ellen and Mary, 13. It was during their time together at Roe Head – that they made a pact never to marry, which would go some way to explaining Charlotte’s cryptic dig at Ellen; a classic case of Charlotte drawing out loud methinks!
“HIS” Charlotte declares on Ellen’s ‘Leg O Mutton’ sleeve —— ‘Gigot’ in French!!!
Oh! And then there is the steamboat broadening Charlotte’s horizon. Now this little flourish took a bit more figuring because I can’t speak French except for the odd phrase or word! Charlotte’s steamboat is no regular steamboat —— it’s musical! Because the word disguised in a cloud of steam is ‘étude’ – a noun meaning —— a short musical composition, typically for one instrument, designed as an exercise to improve the technique or demonstrate the skill of the player. The word ‘étude’ comes from the French for “study” – et voila!
It wasn’t just on sleeves —— and hems —— and cloaks and in clouds —— that Charlotte drew out loud on; it was on pretty lace collars too…
“All my heart is yours, sir; it belongs to you; and with you it would remain, were fate to exile the rest of me from your presence forever.” Jane Eyre to Mr. Rochester.
All Jane’s feelings for Mr. Rochester wouldn’t fit in a lace collar…
However, if like the author of ‘Jane Eyre’ – one takes only the first two words of Jane’s declaration of everlasting love for Mr. Rochester – and simply switches the ‘All’ and ‘MY’ around – they become ‘MY ALL’; same difference, same meaning!
Says it ALL – quite literally!
‘MY ALL’ — needs NO more defining in itself.
Charlotte poured out her heart to the unattainable M Héger in a series of impassioned love letters —— sent to M Héger after she reluctantly returned home to Haworth; none were answered though.
I imagine that Charlotte’s exquisitely drawn ‘selfie’ was intended as a gift for M Héger at the onset of Charlotte’s cerebral love affair —— with the French language! It was an affair that quickly developed into a full-blown crush for her Belgian Professor that spoke to her in a way that no one had spoken to her before —— or after; Charlotte fell hopelessly —— and madly in love. M Héger and Charlotte spoke fluently in French together — but that was apparently ALL. M Héger was a happily married man —— hence Charlotte’s attentions went unrequited❣️
Interestingly, the portrait says on the back of it: “Charlotte Brontë drawn by. M Héger 1842″ —— 1842 being the year that Charlotte along with her sister, Emily – first studied at the Pensionnat Héger in Brussels. To my knowledge, Constantin Héger had a clear gift for ‘painting by words in French’ but not as in portraiture! I have no doubt at all that this is a self-portrait by Charlotte, because for a start —— it contains a certain other characteristic trait that’s evident in the ‘Bonnet’ drawing also; the art of shading by teeny-weeny numbers.
In matters of the heart – Charlotte WAS drawn by M Héger; as a moth is drawn by a flame❣️ The burning desire Charlotte felt for the man she could not have – is woven through the lace collar of her little grey dress —— indeed through the very fabric of her Being. Her soul could barely live with the thought of never seeing —— or speaking French with her Master again, but her broken-heart mended after a fashion; Charlotte picked up that burning thread again, then wove it through each and every one of her novels instead.
I’d say the trick to reading anything ‘Charlotte’ is to read between the lines, through the surface —— or ‘en filigrane’, through the watermarks —— as Charlotte would say it!
Dressed to impress. Everything about this portrait says, “Look at me – I am a School Teacher in my own right.”
Jane Eyre! Lucy Snowe! Eat your hearts out! Stand up the real Charlotte Brontë❣️
It is my conclusion then, that Charlotte’s heartfelt inscriptions —— nay encryptions, were Charlotte’s own unique form of wearing her Art —— and her Heart on her sleeve❣️
Charlotte’s unique —— but oblique way of integrating ‘hidden’ meanings into her most precious drawings ensured that no one – not even her best ‘Kindred’ – could even begin to erase —— or strikethrough —— or cut out Charlotte’s intentions – without destroying the whole of the artwork in the act❣️
First though, one has to perceive what’s written there – just beneath the surface as it were.
And if you’re still in any doubt about Charlotte’s message in the collar – her eyes say it ALL.
E.M.I.L.Y requires NO further spelling out —— other than to point out that there appears to be a ‘heart’ in her left eye —— in contrast toher right eye that has three lines of teeny, weeny ‘indecipherable’ script written across it…
Methinks another nod and a wink it is Charlotte’s!
So don’t be put off by this portrait of ‘E.M.I.L.Y’ because it doesn’t fit with your own image of Emily Brontë and how you think she ought look; allow Charlotte to be the better judge! Don’t let the sitter’s wayward frizz of curls —— beneath the brim of a large ‘Pamela Hat’, distract your attention away from what is undeniably an exquisitely drawn face…
““coincidence” comes with a lot of Angelic effort…” – anonymous.
Some other inspirations along the way…💛
‘Heart On My Sleeve’
A blast from the past! I’ve always loved this song from 1976 by Gallagher and Lyle; I even kept my tape cassette of it —— I loved it that much💛
“coincidences” abound.
A late night vibration – a ‘new’ music video that randomly shuffled on whilst I was putting together today’s post —— ready for publication, Friday, 1st May 2020 —— Beltane🌿💚🌿.
In a flash, the row of bright green laser lights reminded me of some trees I happen to know. I have a tendency to read things —— in all manner of things —— but rather funnily —— I rarely read books! It’s true to say, I’m certainly no Brontëscholar of the more traditional type.
…that messenger was Gerda from the Netherlands @‘Black Hat Gallery’ —— and this is the very drawing reproduced here with Gerda’s kind permission.🎩 
After a series of interesting exchanges available to read here at the foot of: http://somethingaboutdartmoor.com/2020/04/12/a-bevy-of-bonnets-for-easter-sunday-the-pamela-hat/ 
I can’t help but notice in the case of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and the ‘Bonnet Portrait’ – there is a ‘churchman’ link —— a thread —— that runs through both pictures other than the obvious; pater of the Brontës, Revd. Patrick Brontë!
