Ernest Walter Histed (Brighton, England, 1860 - 1947, Jupiter, Florida)
Nellie Melba, 1899
Platinum print, 55.9 x 48.3 cm (22 x 19 in.)
This black and white print is a head and shoulders view of a woman with light skin wearing a dark hooded cape with a bright white lining. Her unsmiling face is slightly upturned with a faraway, dreamy expression in her dark, deeply-set eyes. Dark wavy hair frames her square jaw and tight tendrils brush her forehead. She has dark eyebrows and a straight nose. Her neck is swathed and her face framed by the generous folds of her hood with its white satin lining. The hood is attached to her cape by four large covered buttons at her shoulder to our left. The background of the photograph is dark, making it difficult to distinguish the contours of her shoulders. The print is signed by both the subject, Nellie Melba, and the photographer.
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Commentary
Operatic soprano Dame Nellie Melba was a Gilded Age celebrity and admirer of both Gardner and her museum. She performed at Fenway Court in 1905, where she sang into the courtyard from the top of the stairs to the Dutch Room.