English: The Countess of Warwick's Costume Ball. Illustration for The Graphic, 16 February 1895. Front cover of the 16 February 1895 edition of The Graphic showing the 1 February 1895 Costume Ball (or Bal Poudré: powdered wig ball), held by Frances Evelyn Maynard, "Daisy Greville", Countess of Warwick. The ball was held within Warwick Castle, with dancing in The Cedar Room which contained family portraits by Van Dyck, and was a belated what the Countess called "housewarming", as a two-year-later celebration of her husband Francis Greville, 5th Earl of Warwick and her elevation to Earl and Countess. There were 500 guests dressed in the style of Louis XV and XVI, with the rooms lit by electric light and five thousand candles and hung with embroidered drapes and Beauvais tapestries. Daisy became Marie Antoinette "in a dress of rose-tinted brocade, with woven pink and blue flowers and roses embroidered in gold thread. A sapphire-blue train fell in folds from her shoulders, secured by a rivière of diamonds." Dance music was provided by a celebrated Austrian band. Guests included the Countess of Sutherland, the Portuguese minister, Prince Henry of Pless, Lord Lovat, the contemporary Earl of Rosslyn (Harry), Joe Laycock (Daisy's later lover), and Alice Keppel. Forty tables had been set for supper and dancing lasted till dawn. Daisy thought the ball a complete success, this reflected in society journals, but radical papers criticized the extravagance.
Some text a precis description and quotation from 'The Life and Loves of the Countess of Warwick' by Sushila Anard, Piatkus Books, pp.61-62
Daisy Greville, sole beneficiary of the Maynard fortune, and of Easton Lodge, Little Easton, Essex, was an English courtesan and socialite, later turned champagne socialist.