Social Victorians/People/Lister-Kaye

Also Known As

Gen. Sir John P. Lister-Kaye, 1910

• Family name: Lister-Kaye
• Baronet Lister-Kaye of Grange
  • Sir John Pepys Lister-Kaye, 3rd Baronet (13 April 1871 – 27 May 1924)

Acquaintances, Friends and Enemies

Friends

John Lister-Kaye

• Albert Edward, Prince of Wales

Organizations

John Lister-Kaye

• Royal Horse Guards
• Yorkshire Hussars
• Groom-in-Waiting to King Edward VII (4 June 1908 — 10 June 1910)

Timeline

1876 May 22, Consuelo Iznaga y Clement and George Victor Drogo Montagu married in Grace Church, New York City. Emilia Yznaga moved to England with Consuelo.

1881 December 5, John Lister-Kaye and Natica (Maria de la Natividad) Yznaga married in New York City.

1897 July 2, Friday, Sir John and Lady Natica Lister-Kaye attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House. (He is 97 in the list of attendees; she is 499.)

Costume at the Duchess of Devonshire's 2 July 1897 Fancy-dress Ball

Catherine de Cleves, or Catherine, Duchess of Guise, 17th century

Lady Natica Lister-Kaye as the Duchesse de Guise, time of Henri III. © National Portrait Gallery, London.

Lady Natica Lister-Kaye

At the Duchess of Devonshire's 2 July 1897 fancy-dress ball, Lady Natica Lister-Kaye was dressed as the Duchess de Guise.

Lafayette's portrait (right) of "Natica (née Yznaga), Lady Lister-Kaye as the Duchesse de Guise in the time of Henri III" in costume is photogravure #4 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "Lady Lister Kaye as the Duchesse de Guise in the time of Henri III," with a Long S in Duchesse.

Even though Lafayette was the photographer for Lady Lister-Kaye in costume, no poses of her are available in the Lafayette Archives.

The Historical Catherine de Cleves, Duchess de Guise

Catherine de Cleves (1548 – 1633) was Duchess de Guise during the reign of Henri III (1574–1589). She was Duchesse de Guise from 1570 to 1588. The portrait of Catherine de Cleves (left) does not look like the original of Natica Lister-Kaye's costume; none of the available portraits does. Lady Natica Lister-Kaye is 38 years old in her portrait. The portrait of Catherine de Cleves was painted in the 16th or 17th century, so it is not possible to calculate her age in this portrait.

Commentary on Lady Natica Lister-Kaye's Costume

Lady Lister-Kaye's dress looks a lot more Victorian than 17th century, especially the general line of the dress and the waistline. The difference arises from the Victorian corset, because the Elizabethan corset would have been flat in front; the tighter lacing that Victorians were able to achieve depended on the metal grommets in the laces' holes, which prevented the fabric from tearing.

• Lady Lister-Kaye appears to be holding a folding fan.
• Attempts at an Elizabethan look can be seen in the pearl necklace, the collar, and those sleeves.

Sir John Pepys Lister-Kaye, 3rd Bt. in costume as Sir Kaye Morte d'Arthur. ©National Portrait Gallery, London.

Sir John Lister Kaye, Bart.

Sir John Lister Kaye, Bart. was dressed as "Sir Kaye" or "Sir Kay," knight of the Round Table. He was 44 years old at the time of the ball.

Henry Van der Weyde's portrait of "Sir John Pepys Lister-Kaye, 3rd Bt as Sir Kaye Morte d'Arthur" in costume is photogravure #123 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "Sir John Kaye as Sir Kaye Morte d'Arthur."

Even though Lafayette was the photographer for Sir Lister-Kaye in costume, no poses of him are available in the Lafayette Archives.

The Times lists Sir Lister-Kaye as a part of the procession of Queen Guinevere and the Knights of the Round Table of King Arthur, for which Arthur Hugh Grosvenor is listed King Arthur, but no other newspaper does.

Truth says the knights, of which he was one

King Arthur

Burne-Jones, The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon, 1898

The 19th century saw a revival of the Arthurian myth. Thomas Mallory's 15th-century retelling of earlier Arthurian stories, Morte d'Arthur, was known and reprinted frequently in the 19th century. Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King (1859–1885) is a narrative cycle of blank-verse poems about the ideals and court of King Arthur. The last Idyll in the cycle is "Le Morte d'Arthur," or "The Passing of Arthur." J. M. Dent published an edition of Mallory's Morte d'Arthur with Aubrey Beardsley's distinctive and important illustrations in 1893, although he does not seem to have drawn Sir Kay. Edward Burne-Jones's 1894 The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon was followed in 1898 with a painting also called The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon, painted 1881–1898, with 17 mourners plus the recumbent Arthur, likely the same painting further worked. Burne-Jones worked in a style associated with the pre-Raphaelites.

Newspaper Reports of Sir Lister-Kaye's Costume

• "'Sir Kay' in the Arthurian legend."
• "'Sir Kaye,' in white tunic, embroidered gold, over an armour shirt, with jewelled belt and short knife, drapery of blue and white brocade."
• "Sir Lister-Kaye ("Sir Kaye”), white tunic, embroidered in gold; armour shirt; jewelled belt, short knife; blue and white brocade drapery."

Commentary on Sir Lister-Kaye's Costume

• Sir Lister-Kaye's collar and mustache are very 19th century in style.
• He appears to be wearing a wig.
• The way his cloak is attached looks like it would drag the neck of his tunic up against his throat, so either he spent the evening adjusting his tunic, or perhaps he was able to take the cloak off.
• The boots do not have a historical precedent as far as we know; they're a fantasy of what Sir Kaye in 1897 might have worn as an Arthurian knight. Are they influenced by American cowboy boot design? Are they made of leather worked to go with the design on the tunic? If it's leather, then it must be very soft leather because of the wrinkling around the ankles; if it's fabric, how are they staying up? They look tight on the feet and calves.

Demographics

• Nationality: he, British; she, Cuban American

Residences

• Denby Grange

Family

• Sir John Pepys Lister-Kaye, 3rd Baronet (18 February 1853 – 27 May 1924)
• Natica (Maria) de la Natividad Yznaga Lister-Kaye (2 May 1859 – 13 February 1943)

1. John Digby Lister-Kaye (15 September 1882 – Oct 1882)

Relations

• Natica (Maria) Yznaga Lister-Kaye, Consuelo Iznaga, Duchess of Manchester, and Emilie Yznaga were sisters, daughters of Antonio Modesto Yznaga del Valle and Ellen Maria Clement.