Phoebe Anna Traquair: The Progress of a Soul - The Victory, 1902 (detail)

Phoebe Anna Traquair (1852-1936) was an Irish-born artist, who achieved international recognition for her role in the Arts and Crafts movement in Scotland, as an illustrator, painter and embroiderer. Her works included large-scale murals, embroidery, enamel jewellery and book illuminations. In 1920 she became the first woman elected to the Royal Scottish Academy.

One of her major works is a key Arts and Crafts illuminated manuscript of Sonnets from the Portuguese by the Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Illuminated manuscripts held a particular attraction for Traquair. In her childhood she had regular access to the medieval Book of Kells, whose image and technique she much admired.

The Progress of a Soul: The Victory is one of four panels of richly detailed embroidery Traquair  created during the years 1895-1902. This fourth panel represents ultimate salvation by the grace of Higher Powers rather than the merits of the individual. The panels were first exhibited at the 1903 Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society in London where they were much admired by critics and public.

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HC-630: card size 7" x 5" (178mm x 127mm)