4643

Lady Davson, née Margot Elinor Glyn 1923

Half-length turned slightly to the left, full face and looking to the viewer, wearing a pale gold dress with a dark shawl draped over her shoulders, and jade drop earrings

Oil on canvas, 84.5 x 60.4 cm (33 ¼ x 23 ¾ in.)

Inscribed lower left: de László / 1924

Sitters’ Book II, f. 37: Margot Davson July 26 1923

Private Collection

The sitter’s mother, Elinor Glyn, commissioned this portrait and had already been painted herself twice by de László in 1914 [5361] [5359] and again in 1927 [5363]. De László painted the sitter’s grandmother, Mrs. Kennedy, in 1915 [5865] and her aunt Lady Duff-Gordon in 1913 [13201] and her sister Juliet [7748] [7744]. A rejected portrait of the sitter [4650] was completed in July 1923 and remained in the artist’s studio until his death.

Margot Glyn was born at Sheering Hall, Essex in 1893, the elder daughter of Clayton Glyn (1857-1915) and his wife, the novelist Elinor, née Sutherland (1864-1943).

The sitter married 7 April 1921 Sir Edward Rae Davson, 1st Bt. (1875-1937) at St. Margaret’s, Westminster. There were two sons of the marriage, Geoffrey Leo Simon (born 1922) and Christopher (born 1924). Geoffrey would inherit his father’s title and changed his name to Antony Glyn, publishing several works, including a biography of his grandmother Elinor Glyn.

The sitter worked in the War Office during the First World War and was awarded an OBE for her services. During the Second World War she was chairman of a ladies’ committee set up by the West India Committee to look after the interests of the 9,000 men and women volunteers from the West Indies, British Ghana, British Honduras and Bermuda. She was described as: “an exceptional organizer, friendly and pleasant to all who worked for and with her, and ever ready to help the hundreds of West Indians who called at the committee headquarters for help with their military and personal problems.”^[1]

For more than 30 years Margot was a Fellow of the Royal Commonwealth Society, and served as vice-president. Lady Shiels wrote that she, “gave unstintingly of her time and knowledge. Her ability and sound judgment were valued by all who worked with her to promote knowledge of Commonwealth affairs.” Her efforts gave rise to summer schools at Oxford and Cambridge and she was also a founding member of the Society for the Overseas Settlement of British Women.

The sitter died while on holiday in Rome in 1966, having outlived her husband by nearly thirty years. Her funeral took place at St. Paul’s Church, Onslow Square, London.

EXHIBITED:

•The French Gallery, London, A Series of Portraits and Studies By Philip A. de László, M.V.O., June 1924, no. 26

•Hotel Jean Charpentier, Paris, Exposition P.A. László, June 1931, no. 38

LITERATURE:

•M.P., 25 June 1924

•“Society Women Seen by a Great Painter: de Laszlo Portraits,” The Illustrated London News, 5 July 1924, p. 20, ill.

•“Faces,” Time Magazine, 18 August 1924

•“Notable Portraits by Philip A. de Laszlo,” The Spur, Vol. XXXVI, No. 7 (1 October 1925), p. 64, ill.

•DLA115-0022, letter from Lady Davson to de László, 24 April 1931

KF 2013