Later Victorian Portraits Catalogue

Self-portraits
By other artists
Photographs

The Sambourne Family Archive and Linley Sambourne House collection (both administered by Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) are prime sources for Sambourne’s iconography. See the database at Kensington Central Library, http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/linleysambournehousearchive/. Of the 20,000 photographic items (cyanotypes, platinotypes) a large number of the photographs are of himself by himself and a selection is included under ‘Photographs’, below. These are not self-portraits in the usual sense but aids and working poses for his cartoons. [1] There is little non-photographic self-portraiture.

Self-portraitsback to top

1889
Pen and ink and coloured wash semi-caricature drawing, ‘Mr Punch in Paris’, whole-length, seated on bench, head turned in profile to left to girl at left; Punch Archive. Exh. Punch 150th Anniversary Exhibition, RFH, London, 1991(handlist no.29, ill.).

1891
Pen and ink drawing; see NPG 3034.

Pen and ink drawing for The Mahogany Tree, signed and dated June 1891, whole-length, from rear, profile to left, raising glass, with 13 other men around dinner table; untraced, formerly coll. Sir William Agnew. Engr. by Swain repr. Punch, 18 July 1891 (jubilee issue), frontispiece; Spielmann 1895a, frontispiece and p.536; and Ormond 2010, pp.230–31, fig.95; exh. Punch 150 Anniversary Exhibition, RFH, London, 1991 (handlist no.30, not ill.).
See also Agnew, Du Maurier, Furniss, Keene, Tenniel.

1895
Pen and ink caricature sketch, on letter to George Macmillan, with kilt and gun; Athenaeum Club, London. Ref. Tait & Walker 2000, no.1037.

publ. 1899
Semi-caricature drawing, whole-length, full-face, in riding clothes; untraced. Repr. H.B. Tree, Souvenir of the Charing Cross Hospital Bazaar, London, 1899, facing p.202 (copy NPG Archive).

By other artistsback to top

1881
Pen and ink caricature drawing by Harry Furniss, 3 Jan. 1881, profile to left, at right on Punch dinner invitation card (with two heads of George Du Maurier upper left); untraced. Repr. Furniss 1901, vol.1, p.218 (two further undated sketches of Sambourne pp.278, 294).

1882
Oil on canvas by George Reid, bust in oval, full-face, eyes to left; Aberdeen AG, ABDAG003996. Repr. McMaster 2009, inside front cover (colour); Ormond 2010, p.129, fig.51.

1889
Pen and ink drawing by Harry Furniss, signed lower right, seated at right, sketching Punch journalists in dining car on staff visit to Paris Exposition Universelle, May 1889; untraced; formerly Punch coll. Repr. Punch, Special Number, 29 June 1889, p.315 (as ‘En Route. Mr. Punch at Lunch’); Furniss 1901, vol.1, p.227 (as Punch staff returning [sic] from Paris’); and Ormond 2010, p.189, fig.81.
See also Du Maurier, Furniss

1890
Pen and ink caricature drawing by Harry Furniss, in letter to Marion Harry Spielmann dated 2 Oct. 1890 and inscr. '... Sambourne is swelling tremendously with importance of writing on Cartooning for you', whole-length, profile to left, smoking cigar; John Rylands UL, U. of Manchester, Spielmann Papers, Misc. Letters, GB 133 Eng MS 1302, 212.

1880s–1900s
Pen and ink caricature drawings by Harry Furniss: see NPG 3508, NPG 3509 and NPG 3619.
Further drawing by Harry Furniss, on horseback; repr. Furniss 1925, facing p.106.

1892
Watercolour caricature drawing by Leslie Ward (‘Spy’), whole-length, profile to left, in riding clothes; untraced.
Chromolithograph by Vincent Brooks, Day & Son repr. Vanity Fair, 16 Jan. 1892, p.45 (copy coll. NPG D44577). [2]

Drawing by Alfred Bryan for Press Day at the Royal Academy, composite portrait group of art critics, at right, head in profile to right, in group with Harry Furniss and F.C. (‘Frank’) Burnand; untraced. Repr. AJ, July 1892, p.195.

publ. 1906
Caricature drawing by (John) Bernard Partridge, whole-length, full-face, springing upwards; untraced. Repr. Strand, vol.32, Oct. 1906, p.410 (where captioned ‘Mr. Linley Sambourne. / “Sammy” tells the story of “The Gnome King”’); and Ormond 2010, p.297, fig.114.


Undated portraits
Pen and ink caricature sketch by Frank Lockwood, profile to left, riding with E.W. Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury; untraced. Repr. Ormond 2010, p.92, fig.35.

Sketch by (John) Bernard Partridge on back of Punch menu, head-and-shoulders; untraced. Repr. Lucas 1932, facing p.175.

Photographsback to top

‘None of the photographs do Sammy justice, for they omit animation. His expression was capable of extreme vivacity and his eyes were quick and bright. In repose his face latterly was worn and tired, but once you got him interested he was, almost to the end, instantly gay and spirited once more. Nor do the portraits bring out a curious likeness to Sir Walter Scott which had been increasing in late years.’ [3]

c.1854
Daguerreotype by unidentified photographer, half-length, seated to left, age 10; repr. (as woodcut by ‘RT’) Strand, vol.15, Mar. 1898, p.318.

c.1850s
Photograph by unidentified photographer, full-length, standing to right, as a boy, top hat on chair; Linley Sambourne House, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Repr. Ormond 2010, p.14, fig.3.

c.1866
Photograph by Charles B. Taylor, half-length, full-face, head on hand, age 22; Linley Sambourne House, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Repr. (as woodcut by ‘RT’) Strand, vol.15, Mar. 1898, p.318; and (as photograph) Ormond 2010, p.8, fig.1.

1874
Photograph by Henri Le Lieure de l’Aubepin, Rome, three-quarter-length, standing, hands clasped, looking left, with his wife Marion; repr. Nicholson 1988, p.8; and Ormond 2010, p.54, fig.16.

c.1876
Photograph by unidentified photographer, three-quarter-length, seated to left, with infant daughter Maud; Linley Sambourne House, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Repr. Ormond 2010, p.94, fig.36.

c.1879
Photograph by Charles Palmer, half-length to left, no moustache, age 35; repr. (as woodcut by ‘RT’) Strand, vol.15, Mar. 1898, p.318.

1870s
Albumen cabinet card by Elliott & Fry, three-quarter-length, full-face, no moustache, seated with sketchbook; NPG x 22345.

1882
Photographs by A.J. Hook, two known poses:
(a) half-length, full-face, in Hook family group.
(b) three-quarter-length, slightly to left, holding hat and stick, with H.W.B. Davis.
Copies colls Linley Sambourne House, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea; and the Silverbeck Album, priv. coll., London, p.2. Repr. McMaster 2009, pp.54 and 55.

1883
Photographs by Alexander Bassano, inscr. and dated 12 Oct. 1883, two known poses:
(a) head-and-shoulders, full-face; Linley Sambourne Family Archive, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, ST/8/1/1/36.
(b) another pose; Linley Sambourne Family Archive, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, ST/8/1/1/37.

?c.1883
Photograph by ‘Barraud Studio’; Linley Sambourne Family Archive, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, ST/8/1/1/38. Possibly connected with photograph by Barrauds Ltd (see below, ‘1895’).

1884
Photograph by unidentified photographer, whole-length to left, left hand on hip; Linley Sambourne House, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Repr. Sambourne 2003, fig.51.

1886
Photograph by unidentified photographer, at Artists’ General Benevolent Institution annual dinner, 15 May 1886, whole-length in fancy dress, holding outsize invitation (dated Mar. 1886); Linley Sambourne House, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Repr. Ormond 2010, p.112, fig.44.

1888
Photograph by Harry Furniss, ‘Mr Punch’s Day in the Country’, Punch staff outing to Dorking, 11 July 1888, at extreme right of group, inscr. by Sambourne ‘No.3 July again’; ?Punch Archive. Repr. Strand, vol.19, 1900, p.69.
See also Agnew, Du Maurier, Tenniel.

Platinum bromide print, ‘self-portrait’, 22 Aug. 1888, whole-length in swimming costume, flung back on cushion; Linley Sambourne House, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Repr. Suleman 2001, p.30, fig.5.

1880s
Photograph by unidentified photographer, possible ‘self-portrait’, whole-length to left, in armour with raised sword; Linley Sambourne House, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Repr. Ormond 2010, p.104, fig.41.

Photograph by unidentified photographer, possible ‘self-portrait’, whole-length to right, holding a rifle; repr. Review of Reviews 1891, vol.4, p.210.

Photographs by unidentified photographer, probably ‘self-portraits’, six known poses, in fancy dress; Linley Sambourne House, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Repr. Nicholson 1988, pp.16, 180.

c.1890
Photographs by Alexander Bassano, 25 Old Bond St, four known poses:
(a) three-quarter-length, astride chair and leaning on chairback; repr. (as woodcut by ‘RT’) Strand, vol.15, Mar. 1898, p.318.
(b) three-quarter-length, full-face, standing, cigarette in right hand; Linley Sambourne Family Archive, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, ST/8/1/1/39.
(c) head-and-shoulders, nearly half-length, head to left, dated ‘c.1890?’ on verso; coll. Linley Sambourne Family Archive, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, ST/8/1/1/41.
(d) three-quarter-length, standing, looking to right, cigarette in right hand; Linley Sambourne Family Archive, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, ST/8/1/1/40.

c.1891
Photograph by unidentified photographer, rear view, seated at table, right arm raised with glass, posing for The Mahogany Tree (see above, ‘Self-portraits, 1891’); Linley Sambourne House, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea.

early 1890s
Photograph by unidentified photographer, facing left, on horseback with John Tenniel; Linley Sambourne House, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Repr. Sambourne 2003, fig.35; and Ormond 2010, p.124, fig.49.

Photograph by unidentified photographer, whole-length to left, centre among eight other figures on horseback; repr. Furniss 1925, frontispiece (captioned ‘Meet of the Two Pins Club, Wimbledon’). [4]

publ. 1893
Cabinet cards by James Russell & Sons, seated at easel in London studio, two known poses:
(a) whole-length, profile to right, holding pipe, pencil in right hand; Linley Sambourne House, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Repr. ILN, 28 Jan. 1893, p.121; Sambourne 2003, fig.42; and Ormond 2010, frontispiece.
(b) whole-length, profile to right with pipe, pencil poised over paper; Linley Sambourne House, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Repr. Nicholson 1988, p.12.

1894
Cyanotype, self-portrait, 19 July 1894, whole-length, standing in improvised skirt and holding fan; Linley Sambourne House, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Repr. Suleman 2001, p.30, fig.6.

Platinum bromide print, self-portrait, 20 Sept. 1894, three-quarter-length, standing at clothes horse, with basket, parasol and woman’s hat; Linley Sambourne House, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Repr. Suleman 2001, p.32, fig.7.

1895
Photograph by Henry Van der Weyde, with Punch staff around table, head-and-shoulders to right, seated third from left; repr. Spielmann 1895a, facing p.570 (captioned ‘The Staff of Punch at Table, 1895’).
See also Du Maurier, Tenniel.

publ. 1895
Photograph by Barrauds Ltd, head-and-shoulders, full-face; repr. The Year’s Art 1895, facing p.92. Possibly connected with photograph by ‘Barraud Studio’ (see above, ‘c.1883’).

c.1895
Photographs by Gunn & Stuart, [5] wearing three-piece check riding suit, at least four known poses:
(a) albumen cabinet card, head-and-shoulders vignette, head slightly to right; NPG x128138.
(b) head-and-shoulders vignette, head to left; Linley Sambourne Family Archive, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Repr. Sambourne 2003, fig.6.
(c) three-quarter-length, full-face, riding stock in right hand, bowler hat and gloves in left hand; Linley Sambourne Family Archive, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Repr. Nicholson 1988, p.92.
(d) three-quarter-length, seated to right, riding stock in right hand, left hand hooked over watch-chain; Linley Sambourne House, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Repr. Ormond 2010, p.107, fig.42.

publ. 1901
Albumen cabinet cards by Elliott and Fry, two known poses:
(a) whole-length, seated to left, with pen to paper; repr. ILN, 19 Jan. 1901, p.78 (to mark Sambourne’s appointment as cartoonist-in-chief at Punch).
(b) half-length to left, holding pen and pipe with right hand; colls NPG x22346 (signed on mount); and The Rob Dickins Coll., Watts G., Compton, COMWG2008.371. Repr. Maas 1984, p.141.
A representative image of Sambourne in the 1890s.

publ. 1905
Photograph by Kate Pragnell, whole-length, standing to left with rifle on right shoulder; repr. Bystander, 5 July 1905, p.12.

1908
Platinum print, 21 May 1908, self-portrait, whole-length to left in court suit; Linley Sambourne House, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Repr. Popple 2001, p.41, fig.13.

c.1908
Photograph by unidentified photographer, whole-length, standing, with right-angle Detective camera; Linley Sambourne House, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Repr. Sambourne 2003, fig.52.

1900s
Photograph by unidentified photographer, whole-length, standing at right with Marion Sambourne, Maud Messel and two children at Balcombe House; repr. Ormond 2010, p.250, fig.97.

1910
Photograph by unidentified photographer, three-quarter-length, full-face, hands clasped, holding hat; Linley Sambourne House, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Repr. Nicholson 1988, p.206 (captioned ‘the last of many photographs’).

c.1910
Photograph by unidentified photographer, half-length to right, seated, working at drawing board; Linley Sambourne House, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Repr. Sambourne 2003, fig.49; Ormond 2010, p.300, fig.115.

Undated photograph
Photograph by unidentified photographer, standing whole -length, facing front, left hand on hip, wearing smock and cap; autograph album (‘Celebrities’), William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, UCLA (MS.1950.006).


Footnotes
1) The photographs in the Linley Sambourne Family Archive are in the process of cataloguing.
2) ‘A caricature of [Sambourne] by Leslie Ward (‘Spy’) in 1882 [sic] is in the ‘Punch’ room’; Lehmann 1912.
3) Lucas 1932, p.324.
4) The Two Pins Club was founded in 1891 and last met in 1894.
5) Gunn & Stuart had a photographic studio at 162 Sloane Street, London, 1895–1905.

Carol Blackett-Ord