Rossetti and his Steyning muse

Posted byHorsham Museum FriendPosted inLocal History, Looking backTags:, , ,

The Tate Britain in London currently has a fascinating exhibition on the ‘romance and radicalism of the Rossetti generation’.

But did you know one of the models of Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti was born in the West Sussex town of Steyning!

Fanny Cornforth was Rossetti’s housekeeper, but she became his mistress and his muse.

Although she later adopted the name Fanny Cornforth, she was born Sally Cox on January 3 1835, in Steyning, the daughter of a blacksmith.

Fanny was known as having ‘a mass of the most lovely blonde hair – light-golden or harvest yellow’ and features in several of Rossetti’s works. However, her lower-class upbringing brought her into conflict with some of Rossetti’s family and friends.

Despite Rossetti’s wandering eye, the couple remained very fond of each other throughout their lives. Even when Fanny’s modelling career ended Rossetti referred to her as ‘elephant’ – a fun but perhaps none too flattering nickname!

After a number of years and with Rossetti moving on to new models, he ensured Fanny could move into a new home and then, after she married one John Schott, enabled the couple to run a London pub.

When Rossetti died in 1882, his family made sure Fanny wasn’t invited to the funeral and tried to eradicate her from the painter’s history.

However, Rossetti had given her some of his painting (with proper documentation) so she could live a more comfortable life with her husband.

Sadly, after her husband’s death Fanny ended up in Bognor Regis and developed signs of dementia. With no money, her landlady took her to the workhouse and she ended up in Graylingwell Asylum, near Chichester.

Nearly two years later, Fanny died of pneumonia on February 24, 1909 at the age of 74. She was buried in an unmarked communal grave in Chichester.

She may have had a sad demise but her beauty and name is immortalised in various paintings across the world.

Recent posts:

Discover more from Friends of Horsham Museum & Art Gallery

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Published by Horsham Museum Friend

Helping Horsham Museum & Art Gallery preserve the past

Discover more from Friends of Horsham Museum & Art Gallery

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading