Mary Linwood died in 1845 at almost 90 and the gallery closed soon after.
Her work had fallen out of fashion and was sold at auction for just £300. She wanted her embroideries kept together for the nation but no institution was able to take them. Some works went to her family and around 20 pieces are known in museums and private collections.
We don’t know what happened to the rest of her embroideries. What do you think happened to them? The contents of her home and school were also sold including valuable art collections, jewellery and antiques. Her estate was worth over £45,000, the equivalent of around £7 million today. She never sold her work and we think that most of her fortune was made from gallery ticket sales. Her money was left to friends, family and charities.
Lion emerging from a Cave, attributed to Mary Linwood
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF MARY LINWOOD
WHOSE GENIUS HAS SHED LIGHT ON HER AGE HER COUNTRY AND HER SEX: AND WHOSE WORKS ARE A SPLENDID MONUMENT OF ART AND PERSEVERANCE IN CALM AND GRATEFUL RESIGNATION SHE CLOSED A LIFE OF UNWEARIED ACTIVITY AND BENEVOLENCE ON THE 2ND DAY OF MARCH A. D. MDDCCCXLV IN THE NINETIETH YEAR OF HER AGE.
Memorial at St Margaret’s Church, Leicester