Ethel Walker (1861-1951)

Ethel Walker, one of Britain’s leading painters, was known to Schwabe from when he lived in 43A Cheyne Walk, Chelsea (c.1913-1928). Walker painted ‘Birdie’ and their young daughter Alice (1914-2010) in her Chelsea studio: female portraits being her favourite subject.

Schwabe met ‘Birdie’ Gwendolen Rosamund Jones (1889–1978) at the Slade, where she was given the nickname ‘Birdie’ by fellow students, as she would perch on a shelf to eat her lunch, embarrassed that the family cook had packed her sandwiches in a tiny suitcase, with half a bottle of wine, napkin and a glass. They were married in St Luke’s Church, Chelsea in 1913. Birdie had been developing her own artistic career, creating fashion drawings for journals, including Vogue, but gave this up to support Schwabe.