Lady Astor's Death Mask

Perhaps the best-known members of the Langhorne family of Virginia were two sisters who grew up in Richmond — Nancy and Irene. Nancy (1879–1964) eventually moved to England, married the wealthy William Waldorf Astor and became world famous as Lady Astor, the first woman to sit in the British House of Commons. A plaster death mask taken where she died at Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire, was sent by her son David back to the United States to be placed in a suitable public collection.

Irene (1873–1956) married the New York artist Charles Dana Gibson (1867-1944), creator of the iconic “Gibson Girl.” Irene’s oil portrait can be seen in the Valentine’s exhibition, This Is Richmond, VA.