FRANCES COUNTESS OF MORLEY - THE ARTIST

 

Countess of Morley - Frances Parker (nee Talbot)



 





When in London the Countess and her sister in law lived adjoining one another in Kent House, therefore there was no need for correspondence during this time. However, during the Lady Morley's frequent travels or when she was residing at Saltram House in Devon, her husband's country seat, daily correspondence was clearly an important part of her life and must have taken up a considerable amount of her time. 

 

Theresa Villiers nee Parker (1775-1856)

 

Frances was the most exquisite artist, as a girl she won prestigious awards, the first award in 1798 was the Silver Palette awarded by The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce which was of course later to become the Royal Society of Arts.  The following year she was awarded the Silver Medal for another oil painting.  These were prestigious awards, other winners number amongst their ranks George Romney, Edwin Landseer and Millais.  Although being a girl was unusual but not unheard of, her youth, she was just 16 in 1798 was remarkable although she was not the youngest Thomas Lawrence was only 14 years of age when he won the Silver Gilt Palette in 1784.  Neverthless her talent was duly recognised by the most eminent body of art cognosenti of the day.  Of course she painted entirely for her own pleasure and it would appear that there was not always time to indulge in this, her favourite, pastime during her early married life.   Her first paintings seemed to have been in oils including her two prize winning entries. Later she produced the most beautifully detailed water colours all of those remaining at Saltram House have been framed in similar gilded frames and are now displayed in the Western Apartments allowing the visitor a better appreciation of her prodigious output and undeniable talent.

 

The Silver Palette Awarded to Frances Talbot in 1798 aged 16 by
The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce

 

 

Surprisingly there is only one reference to her painting contained in the letters, a year after her marriage in 1810 she writes "I steal a little time for painting" her companion, Miss Smith, reads to her whilst she is at her easel "......which I like more than anything".  Given her prolific output this raises the question of whether her painting was largely accomplished later in her life, perhaps during her widowhood.  Certainly many of her paintings reflect her travels on the continent.  There were two periods of travel, the first, in 1818, was to recover from the deaths of two of her children, the journey took the whole family through France, Switzerland and Italy.  The second was after her husband's death in 1840 when she made various journeys both domestic and overseas.   In the collection at Saltram House there are numerous landscapes many of which seem to be locations on the continent. Some credibility is given to this as her grandson Albert, 3rd Earl of Morley, recalls as a child seeing his Grandmother painting at Saltram during the winter months. 

 

 

 

 

Amongst her artistic talents she illustrated her children's stories with whimsical characters, all of which are immediately recognisable as being from her quirky imagination.

 

 

 All these comical figures have movement and personalities, she recorded scenes from a ball in a series of tiny dancing ladies and gentlemen which together make up a frieze over six feet in length.  The figures are caught in the movements of all the popular dances and even the band is illustrated as little stick men playing their various instruments.

 

For the great ball in 1811, the Axminster carpet was rolled up and removed from the Great Room and Frances created a design which was chalked onto the floor by a Plymouth artist.  Presumably the chalk assisted the dancers twirling through the sets of dances, her design would have wowed the guests but would soon have disappeared under the energetic exertions of the hundreds of dancing feet.

 

 

 

 



Inspiration for her paintings came from many directions, the letters contain her comments regarding the new publication 'Rob Roy'; amongst the paintings on display in the Western Apartments at Saltram House are two paintings with a Scottish theme.  It is not difficult to imagine her being inspired by the landscape and characters and interpreting the story in her paintings. She was not shy of admitting to copying paintings that appealed to her, and it was her copies in oils that won her early awards.  Despite so few references to her artistic talents in her letters she is said to have given encouragement and guidance to other would be artists.  



Henry Viscount Boringdon

 modelled in wax by Lady Morley

 

Her creativity did not stop at painting, in a letter written in 1813 she tells of a visit from Mr Samuel Percy (1750-1820) wax modeller to the King.  He came to model the heads of the children but he also used the time to teach her how to model in wax herself.  In Lady Morley's bedroom at Saltram House there are a selection of framed wax models, it is entirely possible that these were her efforts after his visit, she also modelled the children herself which are still in existence within the Talbot family.  

 

Given her appreciation of colour and form, it is surprising to know that she did not have a great deal of interest in fashion or interior design.  She did put a few individual touches to their home at Saltram, including the pier glass and curtain poles in the Red Room, she also turned her artistic hand to cleaning and varnishing a number of existing paintings.  There are strong pointers to the fact that by the time she had married John Parker III the family finances were beginning to groan under inherited debt and she was encouraged to make do and mend rather than expend large sums on new decoration.  Compared with the impact on Saltram House made by her deceased mother in law her artistic legacy is in her art rather than decoration.  Her letters, however, do reveal that her favourite colour was apple green.

One artistic project that Frances did attack with relish was the compilation of a magnificent genealogy for both the Talbot and Parker families.  For the Parker family tree many letters passed to and fro between Frances and her husband, visits were made to the office of the Heralds to check the details, old documents located in the house were scrutinised and her brother and the Steward, Mr Yolland,  were drafted in to translate the Latin texts.  When all the information had been collected Frances set about creating the tree and the finished piece of work is magnificent.  Both the Genealogies are at Saltram House and in 2011 were unveiled in the presence of her 4 x great nephew, each coat of arms is illuminated in the finest detail.  Unlike many of her paintings she has signed the work which seems to indicate that she was particularly proud of her efforts.

  

 

A second series of letters to her friend Lady Grey stretches from 1825 to 1851 and again there are no references to her painting.  Reading letters in isolation therefore, can be misleading; without the physical evidence of her paintings her existing correspondence tells us next to nothing of her prodigious talent and prolific output.