Tomb of Blanche Roosevelt Macchetta, Brompton Cemetery

MATERIALS: Marble monument set within granite kerbing.

The statue depicts a woman in classical dress, holding a rose to her chest with her left hand and wearing a bracelet with a shawl clasped in the right. It is likely to have been imported from Italy but bears a resemblance figuratively to a statue in Brookwood Cemetery, Surrey, of Elaine Lady Faulkiner, however the heads are individual portraits, the facial likeness is close to that of Blanche as seen in photographs of the day. Sandalled feet stand on a rocky plinth with a floral motif carved close to the left foot, below which is a cuboid marble block with chamfered corners on the upper surface, and an inscription inset to the front that includes the epitaph 'By her brilliant accomplishments / and rare graces of mind and person / she gave distinction / in the world of literature and art / to the name of Blanche Roosevelt'. A two stage plinth completes the monument, the lowermost is set into the grass and that above contains further inscription denoting the renovator, APK, and 'A life that all the muses deck'd / with gifts of grace that might express / all comprehensive tenderness / all subtilising intellect'. The monumental masons were also the undertakers, Griffin House of Regent Street.