Adam's Country House Collections 12th & 13th October 2020

138 Country House Collections MARIE DOLORES ELIZA ROSANNA GILBERT, COUNTESS OF LANDSFELD (1821 - 1861) Although we are accustomed to the cult of ‘celebrity’ it is difficult now to comprehend the sensation that Lola Montez created in mid-19th century Europe. Headstrong, impatient and dynamic she was an explosive charge of sexual energy that brokered no resistance. She was also excessively proud that her mother, Eliza, was an Oliver of Castle Oliver, and emphasised her ascending ‘background’. Her father Edward Gilbert, how - ever, was a penny-less officer in the army in India who died in 1823. Unable to control the child, her mother sent her to her father’s rela - tives in Scotland in the hope that a stricter education would tame “the queer, wayward Indian girl”. In vain, she eloped aged sixteen with another penny-less Indian army officer, Lieutenant James. This marriage quickly failed and she fled to London and reinvented herself as Lola Montez - The Spanish Dancer - she caused a stir, not so much for the proficiency of her acting and dancing, but for her sheer physical allure. Some spoil-sport (probably female) revealed her to be ordinary ‘Mrs James’ so she moved to the continent. She was an immediate smash-hit, her reputation enhanced by an affair with Franz Lizt. Duels were fought over her, with the newspaper Baron Dujanier being killed by the Comte de Beauvallon. This necessitated decamping from Paris to Munich. Here the King, Ludwig I of Bavaria, was so captivated that she became his official mis - tress. Insisting on her high-birth he created her Gräfin von Landsfeld, installed her in her own palace. Her power and influence over the King, and intrusion into affairs of state, alienated the conservative ruling class. Her apogee of power and fame collapsed with the revolu - tions of 1848 and she was forced into exile in London. Here she married George Heald, a young man in line to a fortune. His relations brought an action of bigamy against her and Heald was found drowned. Nothing to be done but to clear out and so she took the United States by storm. Her dances became a sensation and popular songs were written about her. She married Patrick Hull, a newspaper tycoon. Later though, Hull accused her of having an affair with the local doctor who was subsequently murdered. About as far as she could go, she settled on Australia and became the idol of miners and prospectors. The staid society of Sydney found her famous ‘Spider Dance’ too much, especially at that stage when she lifted her skirts to the point where it became apparent to her audience that she was not wearing knickers. She shipped out to San Francisco in 1856, the trip blighted by the disappearance, unexplained, of her manager. Her final years were sad enough, showing the effects of syphilis, she devoted herself to helping women in bad circumstances and reminiscing about her fantastic life. She died in 1861, just thirty-nine years old. This work is a reduction of the portrait of 1847 by Joseph Karl Stieler, painted for Ludwig’s Schonheiter Galerie. The porcelain support was a popular base in Austria and Bavaria. Stieler is remembered for the best-known image of Ludwig van Beethoven. 472 JOSEPH KARL STIELER (AUSTRIAN 1842 - 1885) Portrait miniature of Lola Montez Oil on porcelain panel, 10 x 14cm Signed € 2,000 - 3,000 Day II LIVE AUCTION: Tuesday 13 th October 2020 starting at 11am