Fanny Eaton - Supermodel and Artists Muse

Fanny Eaton was born in Jamaica in 1835 to a former slave, her father was thought to have been a British soldier. She moved to London with her mother as a child.

Eaton was a sough after artist muse and model. She posed for some of the most celebrated *Pre-Raphaelite artists of the 19th century including Dante, Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, Rebecca Solomon, Simeon Solomon, Joanna Boyce, and Frederick Sandys.

She quickly became a favourite, her striking features caught their eye and shook up what was the visual norm at the time which was dominated by Eurocentric ideals – fair skin and European features. 

*Pre-Raphaelite artists painted subjects as they are - natural, realistically and  with simplicity.

Many of the depictions of Eaton are painted in a style that honours her humanity rather than painting her as an exotic creature - this approach was rare at that time as Mixed-Race and Black people were often stereotyped. Eaton often depicted roles – for example,  biblical figures as seen in the painting The Mother of Moses (1860) by Simeon Solomon. She appears in paintings hanging in Tate Britain, the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Princeton University Art Museum.

Eaton was working-class - the money earned from modelling helped support her family. She also worked as a domestic servant and cook – a role she continued with when her muse/modelling career came to an end.

Fanny Eaton passed away in March 1924, she was 88 years of age.

The Mother of Moses (1860) by Simeon Solomon

Fanny is the older woman, the young girl is thought to be one of her daughters

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