White Suede Gloves


These glamorous white suede gloves embellished with pearls once contained the hands of an extremely talented musician.

White Suede Gloves

Pair of long white suede gloves. 3 ribs on back. Fasten at wrist with 3 pearls.

It perhaps should not come as a surprise that this – distinctly stylish – accessory belonged to the daughter of John Llewellyn, the partner of Arthur Lasenby who founded the luxury store Liberty & Co.

By the time Nesta Llewelyn was born in 1895, much of the pair’s lucrative business and fortune had already been made off the back of the Empire, importing sumptuous materials and silks from India and gaining much inspiration for their products from oriental designs.
Nesta did not follow in her father’s footsteps, instead pursuing a creative career in music. She studied piano with Evelyn Howard-Jones at the Royal Academy and later, in the 1920s, joined Dorotha Vincent, Lilian Gaskell and other successful artists on the staff of the Howard-Jones (later, the Howard-Jones Sammons) School of Music. She remained a close friend of Howard-Jones throughout his life and, with her sister Enid, nursed him during his final days.

Nesta may have worn these gloves along with beautiful ballgowns to many of the glitzy parties, concerts and evening events she attended and performed at. She gave her first pianoforte recital at the Wigmore Hall in 1924, returning subsequently on numerous occasions and giving her last recital there in 1958.
She retired to St George’s Hill in Weybridge for the last 30 years of her life. Here, she concentrated on recording, in the form of both private Long Playing records and tapes, thereby creating for her many friends and admirers a permanent legacy of her long career and musical talent.

Nesta died on the 20th March 1979, her final resting place not far from her former home, at St Peter’s Church Cemetery in Hersham.

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