Ellen Smith. English laundress who became a model for D. G. Rossetti,
Simon Solomon, E. Poynter, E. Burne-Jones, G. P. Boyce and others.
Rossetti saw her in the street in 1860 and persuaded her to come and sit
for him.
Some of the paintings she sat for are Joli Coeur, A Christmas Carol and The Beloved (she is the left-hand bridesmaid).
According to George Boyce’s diary, a soldier, who probably objected to
Smith's beauty being admired by others, cut her face to ribbons and
disfigured her so badly she could not model anymore. She eventually
married a cabbie and returned to Boyce to offer her services as a
laundress.
- "
Smith's thick dark auburn hair, her almond-shaped eyes, her round sweet face with strong brow and jawline..."
https://books.google.it/books…
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| Pastel portrait by Rossetti |
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| Portrait by G. P. Boyce |
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| Joli Coeur (1867) D G Rossetti |
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| A Christmas Carol (1867), D G Rossetti |
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| The Beloved (Smith is the bridesmaid on the left) |
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