Vesta Tilley as Military Soldier LGBT Antique Hand Signed Photo

NP148 This is a rare opportunity to secure this original antique 5.5" x 3.5" hand signed photo for Vesta Tilley who has personally autographed the souvenir where her signature rests perfectly accompanying her portrait - has corner impressions from former album storage and light surface otherwise seems great condition (vg/vg+ grading - undedicated).  She would seem very young in this souvenir so possibly one of the earliest autograph opportunities for this historic male impersonator Edwardian actress of its kind.

Matilda Alice Powles, Lady de Frece (13 May 1864 16 September 1952) was an English music hall performer. She adopted the stage name Vesta Tilley and became one of the best-known male impersonators of her era. Her career lasted from 1869 until 1920. Starting in provincial theatres with her father as manager, she performed her first season in London in 1874.By the 1890s, Tilley was England's highest earning woman. She was also a star in the vaudeville circuit in the United States, touring a total of six times. She married Walter de Frece, a theatre impresario who became her new manager and songwriter. At a Royal Command Performance in 1912, she scandalised Queen Mary because she was wearing trousers. During the First World War she was known as "Englands greatest recruiting sergeant" since she sang patriotic songs dressed in khaki fatigues like a soldier and promoted enlistment drives.