Footnotes

Provenance
W. Rees Jeffreys
His sale; Christie's, London, 26 November 1954, lot 68
With Thomas Agnew & Sons, London
Dr. P.A. Toller
With Leicester Galleries, London, where acquired by
Richard J.B. Walker, 1959, thence by family descent to the present owner
Private Collection, U.K.

Literature
Alfred Thornton, 'Walter Richard Sickert', Artwork, Spring 1930, p.9 (ill.)
Wendy Baron, Sickert, Phaidon Press, London, 1973, p.305, cat.no.47
Wendy Baron, Sickert: Paintings & Drawings, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2006, p.182-3, cat.no.52.3 (ill.b&w)

The Lloyd sisters of the title were part of the celebrated family of the same name, known for their work in the theatres and music halls of the period. The most famous exponent was Marie Lloyd who earned both criticism and praise in equal measures for her use of innuendo in her performances but enjoyed a long and prosperous career, during which she was affectionately called the 'Queen of the Music Hall'.

The composition of the group who played as 'The Sisters Lloyd' changed over the years. The original two sisters were Rosie Lloyd (sister of Marie) and her cousin Bella Orchard. Their career, according to the music-hall gazettes, began in 1888. Bella Orchard was dropped from the group as soon as two more Lloyd sisters, Gracie and Alice, were old enough to go on stage.

The subject is one Sickert revisited a number of times with The Sisters Lloyd (circa 1889, Government Art Collection) being the most accomplished of the group despite The Times commenting 'the only definite fact as to them is that they wear large orange hats' on the painting's exhibition at the NEAC in 1894. The present example is thought to depict Gracie and Alice. Although beautifully illuminated by the footlights of the title, in their monochrome dresses set against a dim background, the colours and general tonality is more sombre here than the other 'Sisters Lloyd' paintings.

We are grateful to Dr. Wendy Baron for her assistance in cataloguing this lot.