In 1938, Helen and Henry Winslow donated a Japanese artwork to the British Museum in memory of Charles Ricketts. The museum gives the following description:
Amida sanzon raigo zu 阿弥陀三尊来迎図
Painting, hanging scroll mounted as a panel. Amida standing on lotus pedestal, his hands in mudra, and halo with fifteen rays of light; on left Seishi kneeling on lotus pedestal, hands clasped in prayer; on right Kannon on lotus pedestal holding lotus pedestal for the worshipper. Ink, colours and gold on silk.
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| 'Amida sanzon raigo zu' British Museum Museum number1938,0108,0.1 © The Trustees of the British Museum [Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution -NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence] |
The painting (124.40 by 56.30 cm) dates from the fourteenth century and was in the collection of Baron Kawasaki Shozo, which was dispersed at auction in 1928. The Winslows probably owned it between that year and the year of the donation.
The pair had a daughter, called Florian, or Ann. She married Thomas Julian Johnstone on 11 May 1935. On 20 September 1951 she married Charles Francis Carr. Later in life she lived on Guernsey. Florian Carr died on 2 May 2007.
The pair had a daughter, called Florian, or Ann. She married Thomas Julian Johnstone on 11 May 1935. On 20 September 1951 she married Charles Francis Carr. Later in life she lived on Guernsey. Florian Carr died on 2 May 2007.
In 1973, after Helen Winslow had died, Florian Carr donated some wood-engravings by Ricketts to the V&A. These were proofs of 'Psyche in the House' and 'The Flight of Cupid' (on Chinese paper, numbered '2'), published in the Vale Press edition of Apuleius, De Cupidinis et Psyches amoribus fabula anilis (1901).
We might assume that Florian Carr was also involved in a posthumous exhibition of her father's work in the Gerald M. Norman Gallery in Duke Street in February 1975: 'Henry Winslow (Whistler's pupil)'. Winslow was born exactly one hundred years earlier.
She certainly contacted the British Museum to provide biographical information about her father:
Draughtsman and printmaker. b.Boston, trained at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. For a time a pupil of Whistler. Large collection in MFA, Boston (Information from Mrs C F Carr, a descendant in 2004).
It is likely that the life dates in the BM database are also based on her information: 1875-1953. She left sixteen Japanese woodblock prints to the Ashmolean Museum. Her name was mentioned as Florian (Winslow) Carr. She also supported the London Library, enabling 'major building improvement'.
However, the sources – newspapers, museum and library websites, etc. – never mention Thom Winslow’s name. For now, he remains an enigma.
Henry Winslow's Poems
In 1953, Henry Winslow's book Poems was issued in Locarno, probably a posthumous publication, intended for his friends.
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| Henry Winslow, Poems (1953) |
It seems that Winslow wrote these poems towards the end of his life, as he was losing his sight. There are a few dedications, but none to his wife or child(ren). The poetry offers no insight into his family life, apart from his love for Helen.
What brought you on that day you sat for me?
Although I strove so hard to draw your head
Without a flaw, I could not ever see
Aught save those eyes of yours [...]
Still in my studio the drawing lies,
Begun but never finished, save the eyes.
(p. 28)
In another poem, he argues that he gave his heart and soul away, like the fool of fools:
and found a heart more brave,
A soul more tender, true; so I was wise
For all my folly, winning such a prize.
(p. 40)
The question remains: who is Thom Winslow, who, in 1929, received a dedication copy of Ricketts's Beyond the Threshold?