Elizabeth Gaskell Derived Portraits
'My precept is, "Do something, my sister, do good if you can; but, at any rate, do something.’"'
– North and South (1855) Chapter XXX –
Elizabeth Gaskell was a celebrity in her day, so it is, perhaps, surprising that only a few portraits of her exist. There are images showing her in her twenties in the 1830s, in her forties in 1851, and in her fifties in the 1860s.
This is an attempt, by Anthony Burton, to survey the known portraits (authentic and suppositious) of Elizabeth Gaskell. It will be updated from time to time (most recently 25/05/2023).
Drawing after a photograph by McGlashon, 1910
Commentary. This, by an unknown hand, is clearly based on the McGlashon photograph. It seems to have first appeared in the Lady’s Own Paper, 1 June 1867, p.1 (see The Gaskell Society Newsletter 79, Spring 2025, pp.15-20), and subsequently in the Illustrated Midland News, 18 June 1870.
It was then reproduced as an illustration in Mrs Ellis Chadwick, Mrs Gaskell: Haunts, Homes and Stories, London: Pitman, 1910, facing p.350. It did not appear in the second edition of Mrs Chadwick’s book (1913). Most of the illustrations appear in both editions, but there are half a dozen differences, some 1910 illustrations (including this one) being dropped in the 1913 edition to make way for new ones.
Achille D’Orsi (1845-1929). The Gaskell Medallion
Medallion relief portrait of Elizabeth Gaskell
Bronze
Dimensions
On the Gaskell Tower, Knutsford
Commentary. ‘In February 1898, a beautiful bas-relief was erected on the front of the Knutsford Post Office, at the Tatton Gates end of King Street, by Mr. R. H. Watt. The work was admirably carried out by an Italian artist, Cavalliere Achille D’Orsi, Professor of the Fine Arts in the Royal Academy of Naples.’ (George Payne, Mrs. Gaskell and Knutsford, 2ed., Manchester: Clarkson & Griffiths, 1900, p.103.) R. H. Watt, Knutsford’s idiosyncratic architectural patron, subsequently designed the Knutsford Tower, opened 1907, to which the relief was transferred. (Mrs Ellis Chadwick, Mrs Gaskell: Haunts, Homes and Stories, London: Pitman, 1910, pp.449ff.) The sculpture is based on a MacGlashon photograph (see above A10).
Relief sculpture of Elizabeth Gaskell in a roundel
Morning Room, Elizabeth Gaskell’s House.
Joan Hassall, (1906-1988), wood-engraved portrait
Title-page for an edition of Cranford.
Wood-engraving
6½ x 4 ins
1940
Commentary. Among the most esteemed of illustrated editions of EG’s works is Cranford, London: Harrap, 1940, illustrated by Joan Hassall. The portrait on the title-page is obviously derived from Richmond (A4 above). Although Hassall’s image appears to be still in copyright, it has been much reproduced. One firm (Granger Art on Demand, within Fine Art America), mistakenly claiming that the image is a 19th century wood-engraving, offers it for reproduction in the form of prints, posters, tapestries, tote bags, stationery, phone cases, beach towels, coffee mugs, T-shirts, etc. See
Hassall’s illustrations were re-issued in an edition of Cranford published by the Folio Society (London) in 1987.
Book cover design by Roger Hall, 1977
Cover design by Roger Hall for Elizabeth Gaskell by Barbara Brill, published by Ladybird Books, 1977, in their Series 561, Adventures from History. See
Portrait by Alan Bennett, 1999
Alan Bennett (b.1945)
Portrait of Elizabeth Gaskell
Oil on canvas
94 x 94.4 cm
1999
Brunel University, London
Commentary. This was commissioned from Alan Bennett, an artist who did much work for Brunel University, to stand in their new Gaskell Building for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Bennett has combined the face of the Richmond portrait (A4) with the costume of the McGlashon photograph (A10). Knutsford is shown dimly in the background. On the book held by EG is a lily, since ‘Lily’ was her nickname. See
https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/elizabeth-gaskell-18101865-180517
Portrait by Neil Morris, 2011
Portrait drawing by Neil Morris, 2011. Commissioned for use on the Gaskell Newsletter cover by the then editor, Helen Smith, in 2011.
Brief Lives series cover design, 2010
This cover design is for Alan Shelston, Brief Lives: Elizabeth Gaskell, London: Hesperus Press, 2011.
Brian Grimwood (b.1948) screen print
https://gerrishfineart.com/product/elizabeth-gaskell/
A screenprint by Brian Grimwood (b.1948), produced by Gerrish Fine Art, said to be “one of a series of literary figures commissioned by Macmillan”. (Includes also Thomas Hardy and “Lord Byron” actually = Dickens)