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Sir James Clark Ross

3 of 15 portraits of Sir James Clark Ross

Sir James Clark Ross, by Stephen Pearce, 1850 -NPG 913 - © National Portrait Gallery, London

© National Portrait Gallery, London

Early Victorian Portraits Catalogue

Sir James Clark Ross

by Stephen Pearce
1850
15 1/8 in. x 12 3/4 in. (384 mm x 324 mm)
NPG 913

This portraitback to top

This is a study for Pearce's group of the 'Arctic Council, 1851' (NPG 1208), as well as an autonomous portrait in its own right. The pose, features and costume are the same in both. The date of the NPG study was provided by the artist in a memorandum of c.1899 (NPG archives). Pearce also made use of this study, supplemented by further sittings, for his three-quarter length portrait of Ross of 1870 at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, exhibited RA, 1871 (26), and Royal Naval Exhibition, Chelsea, 1891 (33), reproduced Pearce, Memories of the Past, facing p 54, engraved by A. Scott, published Graves (example in NPG).

Referenceback to top

Pearce 1903
S. Pearce, Memories of the Past (1903), pp 55-6.

Physical descriptionback to top

Healthy complexion, brown eyes, grey hair. Dressed in a black stock, white shirt, yellow waistcoat, black coat. A blue handkerchief(?) with white spots appears from under the coat on the right side at the bottom. Background colour light greenish-brown.

Provenanceback to top

Commissioned or purchased by Lady Franklin, and bequeathed by her niece, Miss Sophia Cracroft, in accordance with the wishes of her aunt, 1892.


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: Richard Ormond, Early Victorian Portraits, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1973, 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.

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View all known portraits for Sir James Clark Ross