Another Regency 'Sapphist': Anne Seymour Damer at Strawberry Hill House
Currently on at Strawberry Hill House, Twickenham: Celebrating Sculptress Anne Seymour Damer 17 October 2021 - 3 January 2022.
Damer was the god-daughter and heiress of Horace Walpole, who left her the house remodelled by him him in 'queer gothic' style. During her life, Anne Damer challenged gender roles not only in relation to her artistic environment, but in many other ways. Her intense relationships with women in her circle, from actress Elizabeth Farren to author Mary Berry, were often the subject of gossip, while contemporary sources referred to her as a ‘Sapphist’. Jibes were also made about her so-called ‘masculine’ pursuits, as the diarist Joseph Farrington observed: ‘the singularities of Mrs Damer are remarkable - She wears a Mans Hat, and Shoes, - and a Jacket also like a mans - thus she walks about the fields with a hooking stick…’.
Interview with Dr Caroline Gonda about Damer and Strawberry Hill for International Women's Day 2021.
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