“A drawer full of Guggums…”
Posted on 09 October 2008
It was well known within their circle of friends that Lizzie and Gabriel referred to each other by the pet name of “Guggums”. Ford Madox Brown wrote about this curious nickname and Rosseti’s obsessive drawing of his beloved “Guggums”:
“Called on Dante Rossetti. Saw Miss Siddal, looking thinner and more deathlike and more beautiful and more ragged than ever; a real artist, a woman without parallel for many a long year. Gabriel as usual diffuse and inconsequent in his work. Drawing wonderful and lovely Guggums one after another, each one a fresh charm, each one stamped with immortality, and his picture never advancing.”
In another entry, Ford Madox Brown said that Rossetti showed him “a drawer full of ‘Guggums’, God knows how many, but not bad work, I should say, for the six years he had known her; it is like a monomania with him. Many of them are matchless in beauty, however, and one day will be worth large sums.”
Here are a few of Rossetti’s “Guggums”:
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I know Lizzie firsthand. I had an amazing connection with her and Gabe in the early 1970s. One of the strangest, yet fascinating times of my life. I was majoring in Life Drawing at ASU at the time when a friend loaned me a PRB book of pix. I fell in love with Rossetti’s paintings and started to copy them. I had the drawings on my walls in my home. A few days later I could smell the sweet scent of Jasmine and Apricot. I felt a presence and saw footsteps in the carpeting. My girlfriend and I held a seance and Elizabeth presented herself. After about 3 gatherings I began to see her. She would walk into the room and sit next to me. She was fascinated with my work and wanted me to meet her husband, Gabe. I met Dante’ soon after. He gave me drawing lessons in my sleep improving my grades from Cs to As. So many more things happened in the course of several months…I cant write it all here. She is still close to my heart and I have a painting I did while under her spell on my bedroom wall to this day. This is pulling up many tears. Please write me if you want more.
Robert rsampler@juno.com