“It’s wonderful to escape when one loves solitude. My whole life I have loved being alone, free from the obligations imposed by society. Solitude has given me a certain energy.”
Determined and independent, the young Irish aristocrat born in 1878 arrived in London in 1900 to study drawing. She explored the Victoria and Albert Museum, where she first discovered the history of furniture and Chinese and Japanese lacquer screens. The slow and intricate process of lacquer work fascinated her...