Detail from The Canal, Amsterdam, 1889, James McNeill Whistler, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

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Portrait of Hetty Pettigrew

Titles

Only one title has been suggested:

  • Portrait of Hetty Pettigrew (1980, YMSM).

Description

Unknown. The sole information is that it was 'an important picture'. 1 This could mean it was a portrait or a figure study.

Sitter

E. L. Sambourne, Hetty and Lily Pettigrew, photograph, Leighton House
E. L. Sambourne, Hetty and Lily Pettigrew, photograph, Leighton House

Harriet (Hetty) Pettigrew (1867-1953) was the oldest of the Pettigrew sisters. She was the daughter of William Pettigrew, a cork cutter, and Harriet Davis, a needleworker: they had married in 1853 and had thirteen children in all. Hetty's younger sisters Rose, Amy and Lily were also models. According to Rose, Hetty had 'soft straight hair, like a burnished chestnut, glorious skin, and big hazel eyes.' 2

The Arabian, The Hunterian
The Arabian, The Hunterian

She posed with her sisters for Whistler for pastels such as The Arabian [M.1273].

E. L. Sambourne, Hetty Pettigrew, photograph, Leighton House
E. L. Sambourne, Hetty Pettigrew, photograph, Leighton House
E. L. Sambourne, Hetty Pettigrew, photo
E. L. Sambourne, Hetty Pettigrew, photo
E. L. Sambourne, Hetty and Lily Pettigrew, photograph, Leighton House
E. L. Sambourne, Hetty and Lily Pettigrew, photograph, Leighton House

She was a popular model, as were all the sisters, modelling for Théodore Roussel (1847-1926), Edward Linley Sambourne (1844-1910) – who took the photographs reproduced above – and others.

She was a sculptor as well as an artist's model, and exhibited her work in several exhibitions, particularly The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Art, between 1893 and 1898. 3

Notes:

1: Rose Pettigrew memoirs in GUL MacColl P/64; quoted by Laughton 1971 [more], pp. 113-14, 116-17.

2: MacDonald, Margaret, 'Pettigrew sisters', in Jiminez, Jill Berk (ed.), Dictionary of Artists' Models, Chicago, 2001, p. 425.

3: 'Harriet S. Pettigrew', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, website at https://sculpture.gla.ac.uk.

Last updated: 27th October 2019 by Margaret