Katharine Ada Esdaile (née McDowall, 23 April 1881 – 31 August 1950) was a British art historian, particularly of English post-medieval sculpture, "the subject she made peculiarly her own".

Early life

She was born Katharine Ada McDowall on 23 April 1881, in London, the daughter of Andrew McDowall, secretary to the Girls' Public Day School Trust, and his wife, Ada Benson, sister to

Edward White Benson Edward White Benson (14 July 1829 – 11 October 1896) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1883 until his death. Before this, he was the first Bishop of Truro, serving from 1877 to 1883, and began construction of Truro Cathedral. He was previousl ...

, the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

, and the first headmistress of each of Norwich, Oxford, and Bedford High Schools. She was educated at

Notting Hill High School Notting Hill and Ealing High School is an independent school for girls aged 4 – 18 in Ealing, London. Founded in 1873, it is one of the 26 schools that make up the Girls' Day School Trust. It has a Junior Department of 310 girls (ages 4–11) ...

, followed by a scholarship to

Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located on the banks of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The college is more formall ...

, where she earned a degree in Classics in 1903.

Career

Esdaile was early on interested in the sculpture of ancient times, and from 1904 onwards her articles regularly appeared in periodicals including the

Journal of Hellenic Studies ''The Journal of Hellenic Studies'' is an annual peer-reviewed academic journal covering research in Hellenic studies. It also publishes reviews of recent books of importance to Hellenic studies. It was established in 1880 and is published by Camb ...

and the

Numismatic Chronicle The Royal Numismatic Society (RNS) is a learned society and charity based in London, United Kingdom which promotes research into all branches of numismatics. Its patron was Queen Elizabeth II. Membership Foremost collectors and researchers, bo ...

on the subjects of Greek and Roman coins and on classical portrait sculpture. In the First World War, she worked for the publishers

Batsford Batsford is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. The village is about 1½ miles north-west of Moreton-in-Marsh. There is a falconry centre close to the village and Batsford Arboretum is nearby, ...

, on their British architecture books, and after the war, her interest shifted to English post-medieval sculpture, "the subject she made peculiarly her own". She was often interested in funerary monuments in English churches, and photographed and wrote about them, such as in her 1946 book ''English Church Monuments 1510-1840''. Esdaile rehabilitated the reputation of the sculptor Roubiliac with two books, ''Roubiliac's Work at Trinity College, Cambridge'' in 1924, and her 1928 monograph ''The Life and Works of Louis François Roubiliac''.

Personal life

In 1907, she married Arundell James Kennedy Esdaile (died 1956), secretary of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

from 1926 to 1940, and they had a daughter followed by two sons.

Legacy

The Katharine Esdaile Papers are held at the

Huntington Library The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, known as The Huntington, is a collections-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington (1850–1927) and Arabella Huntington (c.1851–1924) in San Mar ...

, in

San Marino, California San Marino is a residential city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It was incorporated on April 25, 1913. At the 2010 census the population was 13,147. The city is one of the wealthiest places in the nation in terms of househol ...

, US.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Esdaile, Katharine 1881 births 1950 deaths British art historians People educated at Notting Hill & Ealing High School Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Women art historians British women historians Writers from London 20th-century British historians Women classical scholars