Pamela Coleman Smith at Smallhythe Place
Discover the work displayed at Smallhythe Place by Pamela Coleman Smith, illustrator, designer and close friend to Ellen Terry.
Pamela Coleman Smith at Smallhythe Place
Pamela Coleman Smith (1878-1951) designed the most famous and enduring set of tarot cards, the Rider-Waite deck. It was produced in 1907 and it is for this creation that she is best known today. Smith was a highly respected artist and illustrator, costume and set designer, publisher, storyteller and close friend to Ellen Terry and Edith Craig.
Two folios of her cartoons dedicated to Ellen Terry, dating from 1900 had languished largely unnoticed for decades in a chest in a storeroom at Smallhythe Place. They were uncovered ten years ago, and their significance recognised. The cartoons and drawings were produced by Smith whilst on tour with the Lyceum Company in America and on the voyage back to England in 1900. They feature Ellen Terry, Henry Irving, Bram Stoker, members of the company as well as passengers and friends. Several of the cartoons had been published in black and white but until now the forty coloured drawings and poems have never been exhibited or published in full.
Theatrical illustration
Ellen Terry playing Nance Oldfield in America. Note on the back in pencil recalls that the spotlight was mistakenly shone on the floor of the stage rather than on Terry.
A brief history
Corinne Pamela Coleman Smith was born in London in 1878. Her parents were both from eminent New York families and despite spending her first ten years in England and many in Jamaica she always considered herself an American.
I am an American,” she insisted, “though I was born in London, and have lived most of my life in Jamaica, and all the art training I have I got at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn”
She enrolled at the Pratt institute in New York at the age of 15 and had several high-profile exhibitions in the city before the age of twenty.
She came into the close circle of Ellen Terry and Henry Irving in 1899 following a meeting with Bram Stoker, author and manager of the Lyceum Theatre.
Stoker, who had published Dracula two years earlier, was suitably impressed by Smith’s portfolio to commission her to illustrate the souvenir programme for the forthcoming Lyceum Theatre tour of America. The 18-page booklet was written by Stoker and illustrated by Smiths hand-coloured prints.
Whilst working on the drawings for the programme Smith became very close to Ellen Terry who gave her the nickname of Pixie by which she became known.
She accompanied Terry and Irving on the 7-month tour often taking walk-on parts but all the time drawing and designing. Her father died during this time and concerned for her welfare Terry invited Smith to return to London with her. There she met Terry’s daughter Edith Craig, they became close friends and Smith joined Craigs artistic and influential circle collaborating with her on many projects.
Smith also worked with author W.B.Yeats who introduced her to The Hermetic order of The Golden dawn. It was here she met Waite who later commissioned her to produce a set of tarot cards in 1907. This set has endured as the most popular and artistically influential pack, its creation involved a huge amount of work for Smith who never received the recognition or financial reward she deserved.
Finding little commercial success, Smith moved to Cornwall after the first world war with her partner Nora Lake and ran a retreat for Catholic Priests. She was dogged by financial difficulties and died penniless at Bude in 1951.
Many faces on a boat
From left to right: Henry Loveday (stage manager), unknown woman, Ellen Terry, Henry Irving, Pamela Coleman Smith and another unknown woman, looking over the side of a boat at mermaids and sea creatures. By Pamela Coleman Smith.
The Barn Theatre Season at Smallhythe Place
Step into the theatrical world at Smallhythe Place and experience live performances in the National Trust's only working theatre.