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Notes
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The German Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Queen Victoria’s eldest grandchild, had a love-hate relationship with his British royal cousins. But he was a well-received guest at Kingston Lacy where he stayed for a week in 1907. Wilhelm sent this terracotta bust of himself to Henrietta Bankes, the chatelaine of Kingston Lacy, after his departure. He had been quite taken with the widowed Mrs Bankes, who spoke high German and had travelled the courts of Europe in her youth. In her childhood memoir, Henrietta’s daughter, Viola, recalled that the bust ‘was rather out of place amongst the marble and bronzes of Kingston Lacy so it was placed in an inglorious corner of the Saloon.’ After the outbreak of the First World War, it was relegated further still and swiftly put into storage.
The bust, having survived two World Wars, is now back on display – a reminder of the family ties between the last German emperor and the British royal family.
Title
Wilhelm II (1859–1941), Emperor of Germany
Date
c.1908
Medium
terracotta
Measurements
H 29 x W 25.5 x D 15 cm
Accession number
1257633.1
Acquisition method
gift from the sitter, 1908 (?)
Work type
Bust
Inscription description
inscribed: Cadinen
