Charles Baugniet, ‘After the Ball’: a Lady in a Ballgown Asleep on a Sofa, c.1860–67 © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2024 | Royal Collection Trust
We are absolutely delighted to share details of The Edwardians: Age of Elegance, a new exhibition at The King’s Gallery which will run until 23 November.
About
The Edwardians: Age of Elegance charts the fashionable and glamourous lifestyles of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, and King George V and Queen Mary, through their artefacts held in The Royal Collection Trust. Circa 300 items are on display, half of which for the first time. Exploring their lives through art, photography, travel, fashion and books, the exhibition includes works by Carl Fabergé, Frederic Leighton, Edward Burne-Jones, Charles Baugniet, Laurits Tuxen, John Singer Sargent, Olive Edis, Philip de László, William Morris, Oscar Wilde and Edward Elgar.
Curator Kathryn Jones explains: “The Edwardian era is seen as a golden age of style and glamour, which indeed it was, but there is so much more to discover beneath the surface. This was a period of transition, with Britain poised on the brink of the modern age and Europe edging towards war. Our royal couples lived lavish, sociable, fast-paced lives, embracing new trends and technologies. Yet in their collecting we also see a need to retain tradition and record the rapidly changing world around them, as if to preserve a fading way of life. The outbreak of World War I shattered their world, marking the end of an age and forever changing the face of monarchy.”
Highlights of the exhibition include portraits by Frederic Leighton and Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, over 20 pieces by the Russian jeweller Fabergé, a Cartier pencil case encrusted with diamonds and rubies, an early edition of the first book printed on William Morris’s Kelmscott Press, a personally inscribed book of Oscar Wilde’s Poems and the score for Elgar’s Coronation Ode.
Getting there
The King’s Gallery is located next to Buckingham Palace, just 0.7 miles from Hertford Street. It can be reached by walking through Green Park, or we can arrange a taxi for you.