William Egley
(1798-1870), ArtistArtist associated with 85 portraits
William Egley was employed as a bookkeeper and taught himself to paint in his spare time. By 1824, he had reached a sufficiently high standard to have his work accepted by the Royal Academy; that year he exhibited portraits of Lieutenant Colonel Sir David Ogleby and of actor Frederick Yates. Egley gave up his other employment and became a full-time miniaturist, exhibiting almost every year at the Royal Academy until his death. He produced portraits of many distinguished figures and was particularly adept at portraying children. He painted in watercolour on ivory, which was a standard technique of the period.
John Robert Townshend, 1st Earl Sydney
by William Egley
watercolour on ivory, 1836
NPG 6300
Emily Caroline (née Paget), Countess Sydney
by William Egley
watercolour on ivory, 1836
NPG 6301
by A.M. Huffam, after William Egley
mezzotint, early 19th century
NPG D16535
Fenella Fitzhardinge Armytage (née Berkeley)
by William Henry Mote, after William Egley
stipple and line engraving, published 1838
NPG D7358
W.C.H. Price; Mrs Ferguson; Mr Watson; Mrs Leach; possibly Mr Corstons and an unknown woman
attributed to William Egley
pencil and watercolour, 26 March 1839
NPG D23313(1)
attributed to William Egley
pencil and watercolour, 7 April 1839
NPG D23313(2)
attributed to William Egley
pencil and watercolour, May 1839
NPG D23313(3)
Miss Powell; Mr Vizer; Mr Boyce-Connaught; Miss Dickenson; Mrs Goskar-Lynn and an unknown man
attributed to William Egley
pencil and watercolour, 1839
NPG D23313(4)
Mr Goskar-Lynn; Miss Carlow; Mr Dickenson and two unknown sitters
attributed to William Egley
pencil and watercolour, 1839
NPG D23313(6)
Miss Anderson; G. Mole; Miss Cook; Mr Reid; probably Mrs Cook and an unknown man
attributed to William Egley
pencil and watercolour, before 24 June 1839
NPG D23313(8)
G.S. Layton and five unknown men
attributed to William Egley
pencil, 24 June 1839
NPG D23313(10)
Mr Bolton and four unknown sitters
attributed to William Egley
pencil, June 1839
NPG D23313(12)
G.S. Archer and five unknown sitters
attributed to William Egley
pencil, 3-12 July 1839
NPG D23313(14)
Mr Gibson; Mrs Leach; Mr Cook; Mrs Cook and two unknown sitters
attributed to William Egley
pencil, 20 July 1839
NPG D23313(15)
attributed to William Egley
pencil, August 1839
NPG D23313(16)
Leopold Redpath and five unknown men
attributed to William Egley
pencil, August 1839
NPG D23313(18)
Sketch of an unknown man with notes on other sitters
attributed to William Egley
pencil, pen and ink, 20-30 August 1839
NPG D23313(20)
Sketchbook notes with three unknown sitters
attributed to William Egley
pencil, pen and ink, 3 September 1839
NPG D23313(22)
Mr Peyton; Dr Patch; Mr Piper; Mr Carr with sketchbook notes
attributed to William Egley
pencil, pen and ink, 27 September 1839
NPG D23313(24)
Two unknown women and a third face study (Miss Roberts?)
attributed to William Egley
pencil and watercolour, 1839
NPG D23313(26)
Comments back to top
We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.
If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.