Mrs. Charles Graves nee Jane Leigh Country Life Magazine Portrait February 15 1930

Mrs. Charles Graves nee Jane Leigh Country Life Magazine Portrait, Frontispiece, February 15 1930. LXVII No. 1726

The featured frontispiece this week is a portrait of Mrs. Charles Graves, published shortly after her recent marriage.

• The Subject: Jane Graves (née Leigh, 1901–1962), later a well-known society figure and author writing under the pen name Jane Gordon.
• The Occasion: The portrait marks her marriage in December 1929 to Charles Patrick Ranke Graves, a journalist and travel writer.
• Family Background: She was the only daughter of the Hon. Rowland Leigh and Mabel Leigh, and a niece of Francis Dudley Leigh, 3rd Baron Leigh.
• Literary Career: Under the name Jane Gordon, she became a successful writer on beauty, fashion, and etiquette, including works such as Technique for Beauty (1940).
• Husband’s Career: Charles Graves was a prolific author, known particularly for his popular “Candid” series of travel and society books.

This is an authentic original page from Country Life magazine, part of the iconic series often affectionately referred to as the “Girls in Pearls” portraits — elegant society images that captured a distinctive era of British publishing and portraiture.

Size: Approximately 13.75 x 9 inches (35 x 23 cm)

Condition: Very good for its age. As with all vintage magazine pages, light signs of handling or minor age-related blemishes may be present. Please review the large photo carefully for full condition details.

This original Country Life Magazine frontispiece portrait forms part of The Old Map Shop’s curated archive of society portraits published between 1897 and 2026.