William Beale
1 portrait of William Beale
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- Extended catalogue entry
Regency Portraits Catalogue
William Beale
by Charles John Robertson
1815
5 1/4 in. x 3 7/8 in. (133 mm x 98 mm)
NPG 5265
Inscriptionback to top
Inscribed and dated on backing card in ink: MDCCCXV/Septembri Mon. 7./Hanc/Gulielmi Beale effigiem/pinxit/Car. Joan Robertson.
Further inscriptions are on the wood backboard: (1) on label in ink: Portrait of Mr Beale/Charles John Robertson/No. 6 Gt Marlborough St. (2) on the wood in ink: No. 4/Painted in the Year/1815//Reproduite dans le The Musical Times/le 1er fevrier, 1897/Seul portrait connu de ce personnage/Voir interieur 59.
This portraitback to top
Groves Dictionary gives no special reason for this portrait's being painted in February 1815 nor has the organ been identified though Beale was living in Westminster at this time. No other portrait of him is recorded in the NPG archive.
Physical descriptionback to top
Three-quarter-length seated at a church organ, dark blue coat, buff waistcoat, white shirt-frill, grey breeches; light brown hair, blue eyes, fresh pink complexion; green organ curtain.
Provenanceback to top
Offered by W. S. Terry of Chelsea 1907; Sotheby's (Zurich) 17 May 1979 (28), bought NPG.
Exhibitionsback to top
Probably RA, 1816 (772) as 'Mr Beall'.
This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: Richard Walker, Regency Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, 1985, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.