Aglaia Coronio (''née'' Ionides; 1834 – 20 August 1906, ) was a British embroiderer, bookbinder, art collector and patron of the arts.

Family life

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

descent, she was the elder daughter of businessman and art collector

Alexander Constantine Ionides Alexander Constantine Ionides (), also known as Konstantinos Ioannou or Iplixis (; 1 September 1810 – 10 November 1890) was a British art patron and collector, of Greeks, Greek ancestry. Life Alexander Constantine Iplixes was born in Istanbul ...

, who had immigrated to London from

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

(present day Istanbul) in 1827. Her older brother was Constantine Alexander Ionides (b. 1833); her younger siblings were Luca or Luke (b. 1837), Alexander or Alecco (b. 1840) and Chariclea Anthea Euterpe (b. 1844). The Ionides family opened their home, 1

Holland Park Holland Park is an area of Kensington, on the western edge of Central London, that lies within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and largely surrounds its namesake park, Holland Park. Colloquially referred to as 'Millionaire's Row', ...

, to London's artistic and intellectual circles. Aglaia had a friendly personality and kept correspondence with many of these family friends, including Alma Tadema,

John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, politician and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of liberalism and social liberalism, he contributed widely to s ...

, Ford Maddox Brown, Samuel Butler,

Thomas Hood Thomas Hood (23 May 1799 – 3 May 1845) was an English poet, author and humorist, best known for poems such as "The Bridge of Sighs (poem), The Bridge of Sighs" and "The Song of the Shirt". Hood wrote regularly for ''The London Magazine'', '' ...

Ellen Terry Dame Alice Ellen Terry (27 February 184721 July 1928) was a leading English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born into a family of actors, Terry began performing as a child, acting in Shakespeare plays in London, and toured ...

Frederic Leighton Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, (3 December 1830 – 25 January 1896), known as Sir Frederic Leighton between 1878 and 1896, was a British Victorian painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and clas ...

George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. Being more renowned than either Victor Hugo or Honoré de Balz ...

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poetry, Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism, Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Balla ...

Sir Edwin Landseer Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (7 March 1802 – 1 October 1873) was an English painter and sculptor, well known for his paintings of animals – particularly horses, dogs, and stags. His best-known work is the lion sculptures at the base of Nelso ...

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...

Beerbohm Tree Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) was an English actor and theatre manager. Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre in the West End, winning praise for adventurous programm ...

George du Maurier George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier (6 March 1834 – 8 October 1896) was a Franco-British cartoonist and writer known for work in ''Punch (magazine), Punch'' and a Gothic fiction, Gothic novel ''Trilby (novel), Trilby'', featuring the char ...

, and Fantin Latour, among others.

Influence within artistic movements

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood

Within artistic circles, Aglaia Coronio and her two cousins (

Maria Zambaco Maria Zambaco (29 April 1843, London – 14 July 1914, Paris), born Marie Terpsithea Cassavetti (, sometimes spelled Maria Tepsithia Kassavetti or referred to as Mary), was a British artist's model of Greek descent, favoured by the Pre-Raphaelite ...

and

Marie Spartali Stillman Marie Stillman (née Spartali) (Greek: Μαρία Σπαρτάλη; 10 March 1844 – 6 March 1927) was a British painter, of Greek descent. A member of the second generation of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, she is regarded as the greatest fe ...

) were known as "the Three Graces", after the

Charites In Greek mythology, the Charites (; ), singular Charis (), also called the Graces, are goddesses who personify beauty and grace. According to Hesiod, the Charites were Aglaia (Grace), Aglaea, Euphrosyne, and Thalia (Grace), Thalia, who were the ...

of Greek mythology (the youngest of whom was also "

Aglaia Aglaia, Aglaea, Aglaïa, Aglaja, or Aglaya (Ἀγλαΐα) is an ancient Greek female name and may refer to: People and mythical figures * Aglaia or Aglaea (mythology) ** Aglaia (Grace), one of the Charites in Greek mythology * Saint Aglaia of ...

"). Along with her cousins, Coronio modeled for many of the

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), later known as the Pre-Raphaelites, was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, ...

artists including

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti ( ; ), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator, and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brother ...

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August 183317 June 1898) was an English painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter. Burne-Jones worked with William Morris as a founding part ...

Holman Hunt William Holman Hunt (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolis ...

, and

John Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest s ...

. All three cousins are featured in Edward Burne-Jones' '' The Mill''. Being friends with Burne-Jones, Coronio would consult him regarding fashion designs, and he would send her sketches.

Friendship with William Morris

Aglaia Coronio had a close, platonic friendship with

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

, an artist closely connected with the Arts and Craft movement. They wrote many correspondences to each other throughout their lives. Coronio became a confidante to Morris on personal and artistic matters. Morris sought her comfort and sympathy during the most turbulent times in his marriage when his wife,

Jane Morris Jane Morris (née Burden; 19 October 1839 – 26 January 1914) was an English embroiderer in the Arts and Crafts movement and an artists' model who embodied the Pre-Raphaelite ideal of beauty. She was a model and muse to her husband Will ...

, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti had an affair.

Artistic creator

Bookbinder

Through her acquaintance with Morris, Coronio learned how to bind books. While none of her books have been recovered, Morris recorded her progress within his letters. Coronio is reportedly one of the first women to become a bookbinder in the late nineteenth century. Morris taught her about

Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He ...

. Due to accounts of women like Jane Morris and

Georgiana Burne-Jones Georgiana, Lady Burne-Jones (''née'' MacDonald; 21 July 1840 – 2 February 1920) was a British painter and engraver, and the second oldest of the MacDonald sisters. She was married to the Late Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones, and wa ...

occasionally working at the

Kelmscott Press The Kelmscott Press, founded by William Morris and Emery Walker, published 53 books in 66 volumes between 1891 and 1898. Each book was designed and ornamented by Morris and printed by hand in limited editions of around 300. Many books were illus ...

, it could be assumed that Aglaia Coronio, with her background in bookbinding, might have assisted as well.

Embroiderer

Aglaia Coronio was recognized for her skill as an embroiderer. Coming from a family of textile traders, she was intrigued with Morris' textiles. In partnership with Morris, Coronio worked not only as an artistic consultant but also as an embroiderer of some of his patterns. She contributed to the embroidery of “mediaeval-like curtains which orrisdesigned for the intention of Alexander Ionides’s wife”. Although her embroidery has not been easily located, records report that her work was displayed during the Arts and Craft Exhibition on October 4, 1888 in the New Gallery. Coronio understood and most likely helped with the processes of dying thread, a method described by Morris in various letters. Through her family's textile trade, Coronio occasionally provided Morris with rarer wools or dyes.

Art collector

In similar fashion to her older brother and father, Aglaia Coronio participated as a patron of the arts while she grew her collection of artwork. She possessed several paintings created by her acquaintance

James McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter in oils and watercolor, and printmaker, active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral a ...

. She was listed as a collector lender for the 1885 Arab and Persian exhibition. Some scholars attribute William Morris' interest of the

Oriental The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

motifs and colors to Coronio's influence. File:James_McNeill_Whistler_-_Grey_and_Silver-_Old_Battersea_Reach_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg, James McNeill Whistler, ''Grey and Silver - Old Battersea Reach'', 1863. By 1892, this painting belonged to Aglaia Coronio. File:Dante_Gabriel_Rossetti_-_A_Christmas_Carol_(chalk).jpg, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, ''A Christmas Carol'' (chalk), 1867. Aglaia Coronio was the first to acquire this piece. File:Edward_Burne-Jones_-_The_Madness_of_Sir_Tristram.jpg, Edward Burne-Jones, ''The Madness of Sir Tristram'', circa 1892. Aglaia Coronio acquired this painting in 1893. File:Dante_Gabriel_Rossetti_-_Mariana_(1868).jpg, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, ''Mariana'', 1868. This chalk study was part of Aglaia Coronio's collection.

Later life

She married Theodore John Coronio on 1 September 1855. They had two children, Calliope "Opie" Despina (1856-1906) and John Coronio (1857-1910). Aglaia Coronio's daughter died 19 August 1906. So consumed with grief Coronio took her own life, the next day, by stabbing herself in the neck and chest with a pair of scissors.''ODNB''

References

*; cited as ''ODNB''
History of Art Portal - Familiar, Social and Artistic Connections: amidst three generations of the Anglo-Greek Community in London
. ''hoaportal.york.ac.uk''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Coronio, Aglaia 1834 births 1906 deaths 1906 suicides 19th-century British philanthropists 19th-century British women artists 19th-century English artists Artists from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Arts and Crafts movement artists Bookbinders British embroiderers English art collectors English people of Greek descent English philanthropists British women art collectors Suicides by sharp instrument in England Women of the Victorian era