Black History Month: 13 October 2020
Fanny Eaton was a Jamaican-born model and domestic worker. She is best known for her work as a model for the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and their circle between 1859–1867. She was the first British supermodel of mixed heritage whose face graced several artworks. Her public debut was in Simeon Solomon's painting 'The Mother of Moses', which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1860. Her 'exotic' mixed-race features made her an irresistible model for artists, some of them still famous today such as the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. As a result, her likeness hangs in the galleries at Tate Britain, in the British Museum, the Yale Centre for British Art, and the Princeton Museum of Art.
Fanny made women of colour visible at a time when they were elsewhere invisible. Pictures of her hung in galleries across the country, her image was reproduced, and she was held up as an example of perfect beauty. The fact that she was a Pre-Raphaelite muse has ensured her name continues. By age 63, Fanny was on the Isle of Wight working as a domestic cook. She returned to London to live with her children and grandchildren, where she died at 88, immortalised on canvas forever.
Want to find out more about Fanny? Click here for more information, or here for a video about Fanny by the BBC New Creatives.
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