Isabelle de Steiger
Isabelle de Steiger (1836–1927) was one of the earliest English Theosophists – an occultist, painter, and writer. She was a member of the Theosophical Society, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and the Anthroposophical Society, and was a close friend of Anna Bonus Kingsford.
Personal life
Isabelle Lace was born on February 28, 1836 in Liverpool to Joshua Lace, a solicitor. The family had seven children.
She died on January 1, 1927 in Rock Ferry, Cheshire.
Theosophical Society involvement
Mme. de Steiger was admitted to the Theosophical Society in Birmingham, England on April 12, 1879, making her one of the earliest members of the Society. She resigned on June 28, 1905.[1] She introduced her neighbor Mabel Collins to Theosophy in 1881, when she loaded Mabel's husband Robert a copy of H. P. Blavatsky's first book Isis Unveiled.
Colonel Olcott wrote of a "friendly competition" in June, 1884,a psychic experiment among artists, to improve upon the portrait of Master M. drawn by Monsieur Harrisse six years earlier. Mme. de Steiger best captured "the luminous aura that shimmers about his head."[2] That same month, Olcott met Professor Elliott Coues for the first time, leading to Coues' membership and involvement in the Theosophical Society.
Mme. de Steiger was a member of the London Lodge and joined in signing a letter to Master K.H. and Master M. for permission to form an Inner Group for serious students of Theosophy, which was granted.
Other organizations
Art works
Isabella was certainly the most prominent Golden Dawn artist. She exhibited a lot, the National Art Gallery at the Victoria and Albert Museum holds records of her showing pictures on 60 to 70 occasions. Her works made frequent appearance in the big public exhibitions which selected entries on merit, such as the Manchester Art Gallery, the Liverpool Art Gallery, the Grovesnor Gallery in London and, most prestigious of all, the Royal Academy. Her work also featured in exhibitions by the Royal Society of British Artists, the Royal Hibernian Society, Royal Scottish Society, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, the Royal Society of Birmingham Artists and the Society of Woman Artists. Her works appeared alongside those of the major artists of the day and sold for substantial prices. She was preparing for a one woman show, one of the very first to be accorded to a female artist, when a warehouse fire destroyed much of her output, seriously hindering her recognition as an artist and making her work very scarce now. A number of her pictures were reproduced in monochrome in the Unknown World, the journal edited by A.E. Waite.[3]
Writings
- On a Gold Basis: A Treatise on Mysticism. London: Philip Wellby. 1907.
- Superhumanity. 1916.
- Memorabilia: Reminiscences of a Woman Artist and Writer. London: Rider & Co., 1927.
- A Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery: With a Dissertation on the More Celebrated of the Alchemical Philosophers Being an Attempt Towards the Recovery of the Ancient Experiment of Nature by Mary Anne Atwood. 1910. De Steiger was the editor.
She also translated The Cloud upon the Sanctuary by Karl von Eckartshausen in 1896.
Additional resources
- Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas. "Western Esoteric Traditions and Theosophy" Handbook of the Theosophical Current (Leiden: Brill, 2013), 290-294.
Notes
- ↑ Theosophical Society General Membership Register, 1875-1942 at http://tsmembers.org/. See book 1, entry 187 (website file: 1A/14).
- ↑ Henry Steel Olcott, Old Diary Leaves Third Series (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1972), 162-163.
- ↑ "Isabella de Steiger, Castles in the Air" at Caduceus Books website.