Elizabeth Gaskell Ascribed Portraits
But what Mrs. Gaskell is this? Surely not the authoress of “Mary Barton” and “Ruth.”
– Illustrated Times, 28 May 1859, –
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).
Jacques Pierre Theodore Blard (1822-1902), Ivory Relief
Oval relief portrait of Elizabeth Gaskell
Ivory
h. 3 ins.
Philip Mould Fine Paintings
Commentary. This little relief portrait, in the possession of dealer Philip Mould, makes a pair with another relief of a woman, who may well be Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The grounds for arguing that these memorials of English ‘literary lionesses’ might plausibly have been produced by a vigorous ‘dynasty’ of French ivory-carvers, the Blards, are set out in
Louis Pierre Spindler, (1800-89) Oil Portrait
‘Femme des lettres’
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
?1849
Sim Fine Art
Commentary. This portrait was bought in a Paris auction in 2017 by dealer Andrew Sim. Although it was then titled ‘Femme des lettres’, he speculated that it may be Elizabeth Gaskell, and commissioned considerable research. This established that, while Spindler hailed from Alsace and had his artistic training in Paris, he moved to England and worked in Manchester from 1835 to 1850. In Manchester he moved in circles which seem to overlap with those of EG, but no definite connection could be established. Sim consulted the Gaskell Society: their deliberations in February and August 2018 resulted in a suggestion that there seems some disjunction between the body and the head in the picture, which may suggest that, when EG leaped to fame with Mary Barton (1848), Spindler may have confected a portrait of her in the hope of exploiting her celebrity. It is not clear how at that date he could have obtained a visual record of her features without a sitting.
Herbert Luther Smith (1809-70), Watercolour Portrait
Portrait of Elizabeth Gaskell?
Watercolour
Dimensions: 47 x 37 cm
Elizabeth Rye
Commentary. Elizabeth Rye bought this painting in 1987, and since then it has been frequently argued over as a possible portrait of EG. Elizabeth Rye exhaustively surveys the diverse circumstantial evidence in her article ‘An Investigation into a Portrait Thought to Be of Elizabeth Gaskell’, Gaskell Journal, no.32, 2018, pp.55-76. No definite connection with EG has, however, been established.
William Percy (1820-1903), Portrait of Elizabeth Gaskell?
Portrait of Elizabeth Gaskell?
Watercolour?
Dimensions
Gaskell Society
While the original work of art belongs to the Gaskell Family Collection, a digital image is available in the John Rylands Library Digital Collections (Elizabeth Gaskell Collection):
https://luna.manchester.ac.uk/luna/servlet/Gaskell2~91~1
Its image reference number is: JRL15040284
Commentary:
Commentary. An inscription on the back records this as a portrait of Mrs Gaskell by William Percy. It came from a Knutsford family. William Percy was the most prominent portrait painter based in Manchester, and later (1872) did a portrait of William Gaskell, which is now at Cross Street Chapel. This circumstantial evidence persuaded the Gaskell Society to buy the picture, which is now on display at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House.
Sir Francis Grant (1803–1878)? Portrait
This portrait by Sir Francis Grant in the National Galleries of Scotland is there described as a portrait of Anne Emily Sophia Grant (known as ‘Daisy’ Grant), Mrs William Markham (1836 – 1880) 1857. Apparently it was “painted in February 1857, and first shown in Scotland at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1859”. It seems closely (but not exactly) to correspond with descriptions of a portrait by Grant entitled “Mrs. Gaskell” which was shown at the Summer Exhibition (catalogue number 183) of the Royal Academy in London in 1859.
Here are some descriptions from press reviews of the London exhibition:
F. Grant is not happy in his representation of “Mrs. Gaskell” (183), dressed in small round hat, red cloak, and black silk dress, the last partly raised to show an ample portion of one of those ugly red and black striped petticoats which are now so much worn.
Illustrated London News, 7 May 1859, p.441.
Mr. Grant occupies a great quantity of space with his portraits. … There is a certain picture, too, by the same artist (No. 183) called “Mrs. Gaskell,” which is very charming. But what Mrs. Gaskell is this? Surely not the authoress of “Mary Barton” and “Ruth.” And yet we would fain hope so. It would be charming, indeed, to our over-worked craft to ascertain that some dozen years of untiring literary exertion have left a popular authoress still in the semblance of a blooming “sonsie” damsel, such as Mr. Grant has here represented.
Illustrated Times, 28 May 1859, p.350.
Mrs. Gaskell (183), appears in full-length winter costume with a background of snow and most conspicuous boots.
Leamington Spa Courier, 9 July 1859, [p.1].
… Grant in (183) depicting delightfully for the satisfaction of all readers of “Mary Barton,” and “Cranford,” the truthful likeness of Mrs. Gaskell herself, in pretty piquant walking dress, as she may be met with by her friends in the winter time, when the snow lies besmirched on the ground under the smoky atmosphere of Lancashire.
Sun, 3 May 1859 [n.p.]
These descriptions testify that a portrait labelled “Mrs. Gaskell” obviously did appear in the Summer Exhibition of the (London) Royal Academy (2 May – 23 July 1859) but it has not been heard of since. The National Gallery of Scotland building, in which the Royal Scottish Academy exhibited, opened in March 1859. The RSA still possesses Grant’s portrait of his daughter Daisy, Mrs Markham. Obviously there is a mystery here which awaits clarification.
[Information supplied by Kate Raine]