Addington, Charlotte
Gender:
Female
Date and place of birth:
ca.1798, London, Middlesex
Date and place of death:
dec. 12.02.1870. Sevenoaks, Kent
Worked:
(fl) ca.1810
Known places of work:
White Lodge, Richmond Park, Surrey
Known techniques:
Cutwork
Known materials:
Black paper
Frames:
"Hogarth" type
Signature:
Recorded
Introduction:
Only one example of CHARLOTTE ADDINGTON's (ca.1798-1870) work, illustrated in McKechnie, is recorded. This is a composition piece of 11 figures (now laid on silk) which were cut from a single piece of glossy black paper. In 1978, McKechnie described the work as being laid on card so the silk appears to be a recent replacement.
Housed in a "Hogarth" type frame which may be original, the work is distinctive for its balanced composition and neoclassical style. The piece is clearly signed on the reverse with what appears to be a contemporary hand: "Figures cut by Miss Charlotte Addington at Richmond Park".
It can be confidently stated she never cut works commercially. Recent research discovered her to be the 6th child of Henry Addington (1757-1844), 1st Viscount Sidmouth. Elected to the House of Commons in 1784, Addington became Prime Minister between1801 and 1804 and served as a famously reactionary Tory Home Secretary from 1812 to 1822. Addington was gifted for life the use of White Lodge, Richmond Park, by King George III when he became Prime Minister in 1801 and would die there in 1844.
In May 1838 Charlotte herself married clergyman Horace Gore Currie (1802-1875) at Mortlake, Surrey but continued to live at White Lodge until her father's death. She died at Sevenoaks, Kent on the 12th of February 1870.
Revised 10 October 2022 (Brian Wellings)
Additional research about Charlotte Addington:
Source: McKechnie (Author of, British Silhouette Artists and their Work 1760-1860)
Addington, Charlotte (British Silhouette..., Section 1, 1978)