Christabel Annie Cockerell, Lady Frampton (baptized 21 October 1864 – 18 March 1951
)
was a British painter of children, portraits and landscapes.
Marriage
She married sculptor Sir
George Frampton
Sir George James Frampton, (18 June 1860 – 21 May 1928) was a British sculptor. He was a leading member of the New Sculpture movement in his early career when he created sculptures with elements of Art Nouveau and Symbolism, often combining ...
, becoming Lady Frampton, but continued to exhibit her art using her maiden name. The couple had one child,
Meredith Frampton
George Vernon Meredith Frampton (17 March 1894 – 16 September 1984) was a British painter and etcher, successful as a portraitist in the 1920s–1940s. His artistic career was short and his output limited because his eyesight began to f ...
.
Biography
She was born in 1863, daughter of George Russell Cockerell of London,
and trained at the
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...
Schools from 1882, where she met her future husband, the sculptor George Frampton.
They married in April 1893
and their son,
Meredith Frampton
George Vernon Meredith Frampton (17 March 1894 – 16 September 1984) was a British painter and etcher, successful as a portraitist in the 1920s–1940s. His artistic career was short and his output limited because his eyesight began to f ...
was born on 17 March 1894.
She exhibited work at the Royal Academy from 1885, and continued until 1910,
always under her maiden name.
Her husband was knighted in 1908
and in 1910 they moved to a new house designed by him
at 90 Carlton Hill,
St John's Wood
St John's Wood is a district in the City of Westminster, London, lying 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Traditionally the northern part of the ancient parish and Metropolitan Borough of Marylebone, it extends east to west from ...
,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
which included a studio for each of them. Her studio in the house was described as "a perfect painting room in which comfort and utility are happily combined", with numerous pictures on the walls, and the carpet from the studio of
Leighton.
The house was featured in a 1910 article "Recent Designs in Domestic Architecture" in ''The Studio'',
complete with photographs, including one of the interior of Cockerell's studio. The exterior of the house is almost unchanged today.
Some insight into the household can be gleaned from an advertisement in ''The Times'' in 1919, in which she seeks a "Cook-General and House-Parlourmaid" for a "comfortable place in St. John’s Wood", and describes the household as comprising a family of three and three maids.
Cockerell modelled occasionally for her husband: his ''Mother and Child'' shows her with their infant son Meredith, and was exhibited at the 1897
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
and the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900.
Her husband also featured in her work: one of her smaller paintings shows him sitting by a window, working on his sculpture, watched by his young son.
Her husband died on 21 May 1928,
and in 1930 she presented several bronzes to
Camberwell Borough Council's art gallery in his memory, because of his affection for
Camberwell
Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross.
Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This e ...
.
Works
Paintings by Cockerell include:
* ''The day's work done'' (c. 1890), a study of an old woman, submitted to the
Grosvenor Gallery
The Grosvenor Gallery was an art gallery in London founded in 1877 by Sir Coutts Lindsay and his wife Blanche. Its first directors were J. Comyns Carr and Charles Hallé. The gallery proved crucial to the Aesthetic Movement because it provided ...
in 1890
* ''In the Hayfield'' (c. 1890), oil on panel (36.8 × 45.7 cm), Berkshire Associates, London
* ''And The Angels Were Her Playmates – from the childhood of St. Elizabeth of Hungary'' (1896), oil on canvas (82.5 × 76 cm), sold 12 November 1992 at
Sotheby's
Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...
, London
* ''John Passmore Edwards (1823–1911)'' (1899), oil on canvas (100 × 52.5 cm), a portrait of the elderly newspaper owner and philanthropist, held in the
Hackney Museum (Chalmers Bequest)
* ''Portrait Of Meredith Frampton'' (date unknown), oil on canvas (37.5 × 102 cm), sold 4 November 1999 at
Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...
, London
* ''Bluebells'' (1903), shown at the Royal Academy,
of which a copy was included in
Walter Shaw Sparrow
Walter Shaw Sparrow (1862–1940) was a Welsh writer on art and architecture, with a special interest in British sporting artists. He wrote a series of books on art, architecture and furniture.
Biography Childhood
Sparrow was born in 1862, th ...
’s 1905 ''
Women Painters of the World
''Women Painters of the World, from the time of Caterina Vigri, 1413–1463, to Rosa Bonheur and the present day'', assembled and edited by Walter Shaw Sparrow, lists an overview of prominent women painters up to 1905, the year of publication.
Th ...
''
* ''A Momentous Question'' (1903), oil on panel (22.8 × 30.5 cm), exhibited in London, The New Gallery, Summer Exhibition, 1903 and at the
Corporation of Manchester Art Gallery; sold 13 November 2003 at
Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...
, London for £1880
* ''Morning Play'' (1910), oil on canvas (54 × 36 cm), woman and baby
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cockerell, Christabel
1864 births
1951 deaths
19th-century English painters
19th-century English women artists
20th-century English painters
20th-century English women artists
English landscape painters
English portrait painters
English women painters
Date of birth missing
Wives of knights