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Fanny Eaton

Sitter Fanny Eaton (née Antwistle/Entwistle) British, born Jamaica
October 2, 1860
Not on view
This sitter was born Fanny Entwistle in Jamaica in 1835 to a Black mother recently freed from slavery. Her father may have been a white Scottish soldier who died soon after her birth. Mother and daughter moved to London in the 1840s, where Fanny married a horse-cab driver in 1857 and began to model for artists by 1859. Her biracial features helped Solomon breathe new life into Old Testament subjects. The young artist explored his Jewish heritage and followed Pre-Raphaelite precepts when he added authentic archaeological details to biblical compositions. He used studies of Fanny to reimagine ancient Hebrew heroines as dark-skinned and Semitic rather than white European. This drawing—dated October 2—is, however, more of a sensitive portrait than a study "in character."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Fanny Eaton
  • Artist: Simeon Solomon (British, London 1840–1905 London)
  • Sitter: Fanny Eaton (née Antwistle/Entwistle) (British, born Jamaica, 1835–1924)
  • Date: October 2, 1860
  • Medium: Graphite
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 8 1/16 in. × 7 in. (20.4 × 17.8 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Gift of Jacqueline Loewe Fowler, 2020
  • Object Number: 2021.16.28
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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The Veiled Bride (in "Good Words for 1862," p. 592)
Multiple artists/makers
1862
The Haunted House (No. 7 in "Passages from the Poems of Thomas Hood, Illustrated by the Junior Etching Club, in Thirty-Four Plates")
Multiple artists/makers
1858
Hosannah!, from "Dalziels' Bible Gallery", Simeon Solomon British, Wood engraving on India paper, mounted on thin card
Hosannah!, from "Dalziels' Bible Gallery"
Multiple artists/makers
1863–81
Abraham and Isaac, from "Dalziels' Bible Gallery", Simeon Solomon British, Wood engraving on India paper, mounted on thin card
Abraham and Isaac, from "Dalziels' Bible Gallery"
Multiple artists/makers
1863–81
Naomi and the Child Obed, from "Dalziels' Bible Gallery", Simeon Solomon British, Wood engraving on India paper, mounted on thin card
Naomi and the Child Obed, from "Dalziels' Bible Gallery"
Multiple artists/makers
1863–81

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