Delightful Diminutive Needlework Collage

Depicting a Lady and her Maid in a Furnished Interior
Hand Stitched Fabric Collage
English c.1870

4.75" high x 4.75" wide (framed)

With inscribed handwritten labels to verso: "Worked by Winifred Beatson at Menteith Canterbury" and "The black satin dress is a small piece of a dress worn by Queen Alexandra" 

Queen Alexandra married Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, (later King Edward VII), on 10th March 1863, at St George's Chapel, Windsor

Born 1844, Died 1925, Alexandra of Denmark, later Queen Alexandra, wore a black dress on multiple occasions. Alexandra wore a plain black dress to her engagement to the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) in 1862 as she arrived back in the UK, as a sign of respect for Queen Victoria's recent mourning for Prince Albert. This act of deference helped solidify Alexandra's positive reception by the Queen. 

Menteith was a house on New Dover Road in Canterbury. In the Victorian era the buildings consisted mostly of large grand villas set in extensive landscaped plots. many of the "genteel houses" including Menteith villa did not survive the redevelopment of the  area designated in 1982.

Miss W.H. Beatson was listed in 1926 as a new subscriber to the Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald as a new subscriber, residing at Canterbury 628, Menteith. It would be safe to assume she was a wealthy spinster. She may have been a distant relation of George Stewart Beatson who was the Honorary Physician to Queen Victoria.

Ref: 11612