Lot 23: Carlo Pellegrini 'Ape' (Italian, 1839-1889)

Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar, 'Guards'
Military Officer
signed 'Ape' (lower right)
pencil, watercolour and bodycolour
12 x 6 3/4 in. (30.5 x 17.2 cm.)

Hendon, Church Farm House Museum, Vanity Fair 1869-1914, 10 September - 18 December, 1983.

Thomas Gibson Bowles.
Original Drawings for Vanity Fair; Christie's, London, 5 - 8 March 1912, lot 691 (3 gns. to Craig).
Stanley Jackson.

P R I N C E S

H.R.H. Prince [William Augustus] Edward of Saxe-Weimar, K.P., G.C.V.O., P.C. (1823-1902), Military Officer, was born in Surrey, England, to German parents. His father was Charles Bernard of Saxe-Weimar and his mother was Princess Ida of Saxe-Coburg-Meiningen (whose sister, Adelaide, was King William IV's wife). Edward's military career began in 1841, when he joined the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot as an Ensign. He was quickly promoted and, in 1854, was made a Major in the Grenadier Guards. He fought honourably in the Crimean War and, afterwards, was awarded for his services. In 1855, he was made Colonel and finally became a full General in 1879. In 1851, he married Augusta Katherine Gordon-Lennox, daughter of Charles Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond; however, the couple had no children. Edward's military career reached its pinnacle in 1897 when he was promoted to Field Marshal. During his career, Edward received many honours, including the Légion d'Honneur, and also served as Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, thereby becoming a member of the Irish Privy Council. He died at his home in London in 1902 and is buried at Frogmore, Windsor Great Park.

Prince Edward is a remarkable instance of the success which may be achieved by steady devotion to and decent and popular conduct in the profession of arms even by a person of exalted rank.... He is popular among guardsmen who appreciate his good comradeship.... He always appears to be frank and straightforward; his nickname, 'Guards', bears testimony to the appreciation in which he is held by his fellow-soldiers.

Vanity Fair, 'Men of the Day', No. 114, 1875.

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