In various forms to mould the painted wax;
Such shape, such beauty in each piece is shown,
Nature sits pale, or blushing on her own,
To see her pride by curious art out-done.
Between 1680 and 1690 Purcell's Dido and Æneas was given at this school. D'Urfey's Love for Money; or, the Boarding School (1691) has its scene "Chelsey by the River" and is supposed to refer to this school. It was here that Molly Verney learned to japan. The school maintained its repute under Mr. Portman, and later under Josias Priests.
In 1680 the school was advertised:
Josias Priests, dancing master, that kept a boarding school for gentlewomen in Leicester Field is removed to the great school-house in Chelsea, which was Mr. Portman's, where he did teach, and will continue the said master and others to the improvement of the said school.
Gorges House was demolished in 1726.
Two other notices belong in the reign of Queen Anne. The first one shows the continued popularity of the Hackney schools: