Lady Charlotte Schreiber, Extraordinary Art Collector - by Caroline McCaffrey-Howarth (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

This book emphasises Lady Charlotte Schreiber (1812-1895) -- also known as Lady Charlotte Guest, née Bertie -- as one of the most significant women in the history of collecting. An extraordinary collector, historian and philanthropist, Charlotte subverted gendered norms and challenged Victorian conventions. This new study establishes Charlotte's contribution to ceramic history and cultural education, and demonstrates her influential role in transnational artistic networks.

Charting Charlotte's eventful life, McCaffrey-Howarth focuses on her identity as a renowned connoisseur, whose donation of thousands of objects to the Victoria & Albert Museum and the British Museum marked a pioneering move for a female benefactor. Lady Charlotte Schreiber, Extraordinary Art Collector presents unique insight into the social and cultural world of Victorian England and the role of women within this.

Review Quotes

'Caroline McCaffrey-Howarth's punchy new biography of Lady Charlotte Schreiber, combining rigorous new archival research with nuanced observations, deftly reanimates this extraordinary Victorian woman. A range of primary sources (some published for the first time), including notebooks, correspondence, diaries and press cuttings, enables the author to describe not only her subject's life and legacy but also to bring her character and motivations to life. This will be a go-to book for countless readers.' - Dr Susanna Avery-Quash, Senior Research Curator (History of Collecting), National Gallery, London

This must-read new book brings the inveterate art collector Charlotte Schreiber to life through freshly transcribed diaries and secures her position as a great scholar of ceramics. McCaffrey-Howarth brilliantly introduces us to Schreiber's world and her peers, other knowledgeable Victorian art collectors and curators, among whom she was truly a Goddess. - Patricia F. Ferguson, ceramic historian

About the Author

Caroline McCaffrey-Howarth is Lecturer in History of Art at the University of Edinburgh. She was previously Curator of Ceramics and Glass at the Victoria and Albert Museum and Curator of The Chitra Collection.