A vintage press photograph captioned on the verso 'The Nation's Last Homage to Marquess Curzon at Westminster Abbey ...'
The gelatin silver print (120 × 167 mm) has a shallow v-shaped hairline crack in the emulsion at the top centre; overall it is in excellent condition. The photographer is not credited; the verso is ink-stamped 'Photo supplied Central News', and tipped in on it is the duplicate typescript caption. The image is impressive as it stands, even before the details in the balance of the caption are revealed: 'The widowed Marchioness Curzon with Lady Alexandra Curzon - the youngest daughter, followed by Mr. Oswald and Lady Cynthia Mosley entering the Abbey'. The marriage of Oswald Mosley (1896-1980) and Cynthia Curzon (1898-1933) took place on 11 May 1920 in the Chapel Royal. 'Their life together started on a high note of mutual passion which was not, however, sustained. Cimmie, as she was always known, was an idealistic, emotional, not very clever woman, who idolized her husband, and wanted to be adored and cherished in return. Mosley's love for her was genuine, and fervently expressed in letters full of baby talk, written in an illegible hand. But he was incapable of fidelity, resented her minding about his love affairs, and he abused her in public for what he saw as her simplicities' ('Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'). Mosley's numerous sexual encounters included relationships with his wife's younger sister Alexandra (1904-1995), and with their stepmother, Grace Curzon (1879-1958) ... in fact, all three women in this striking photograph.
Item #112988
Price (AUD):
$750.00