ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY
118 engraved portraits of former Archbishops of Canterbury contained in a portfolio titled 'Lambeth Palace'. The collection includes watercolour drawings of coats of arms for many of the Archbishops. Acquired late 19th century.

Archive Engravings Collection 

29 bronze medals of prominent artists and architects, commissioned by the Art Union of London between 1843 and 1892 for distribution to members. The Art Union was founded in 1836 as a subscription society to foster interest in the fine arts and encourage British artists and manufacturers of decorative wares. It ceased to exist in 1911. This collection includes a framed set of 12 medals given by the Council of the Art Union in 1875 and a further framed set of 9 medals acquired late 19th century. 

Catalogued and searchable on the website at www.npg.org.uk/live/search

See G.K. Beaulah 'The medals of the Art Union of London', British Numismatic Journal vol. 36 (1967), pp. 179-85.

Archive Sculpture Collection

Florence (Keppel), Countess of Cork and Orrery
by Francis Smyth Baden-Powell
silhouette, 1896

21life-size bust-length cut paper silhouettes of well known public, scientific and military figures by Frank Smyth Baden-Powell (brother of Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scout Movement). These silhouettes mostly date from the 1890s and several were cut by Baden-Powell during a visit to Malta in 1892. The collection includes, amongst other, profiles of statesman Joseph Chamberlain (1836-1914) and scientist Sir Francis Galton (1822-1911). Purchased at Bonhams, 1962.

Catalogued and searchable on the website at www.npg.org.uk/live/search

Archive Silhouettes Collection 

25 sketchbooks and notebooks of Cecil Beaton, including his 'television sketchbooks' which contain pencil sketches and caricatures of personalities and popular figures apparently drawn from the television during the 1960s and 1970s. The collection also includes 52 loose drawings and rough sketches, in pencil, pen and ink and watercolour, that Beaton made between the 1930s and 1970s. These drawings represent an assortment of royal, society and theatrical figures, and include some non-portrait subjects. Given by the Trustees of the Estate of Eileen Hose, 1991.

Part catalogued and searchable on the website at www.npg.org.uk/live/search

Archive Drawings Collection 

687 preliminary pencil drawings by the enameller Henry Bone and members of his family after well-known portraits and old master paintings. These drawings were squared before they were transferred in ink to tracing paper and then to a primed copper or brass plate for painting and firing. They were preserved by the family for future use and eventually annotated and pasted into 3 albums. The drawings are indexed by subject and artist in a 4th volume. Acquired by Sir George Scharf, Director of the NPG, c. 1890.

See Richard Walker 'Henry Bone's pencil drawings in the National Portrait Gallery', Walpole Society vol. 61 (1999), pp. 305-67

See also Richard Walker Regency Portraits (London: NPG 1985) for illustrations of some of the drawings.

Archive Drawings Collection 

336 autograph letters, formerly bound into albums, addressed to the antiquary John Britton and dated 1798 to 1856. This collection has been interfiled with approximately 300 engraved portraits that illustrate Britton's correspondents, amongst whom are included many eminent literary, antiquarian, artistic and theatrical figures of the period. Given by John Britton's widow, 1882.

Archive Manuscripts and Engravings Collections 

61mezzotints published by Alexander Browne during the 1680s, mainly after portraits by Sir Peter Lely and some after Sir Anthony Van Dyck. The portrait prints are bound into an album with a contemporary calf binding and loose subject prints are contained in a separate portfolio. This set is almost complete and it is thought that it may have been assembled by Browne himself. It was formerly in the collection of the Brownlow family of Belton House, Lincolnshire. Purchased at Christies, 1984, with the help of the Friends of the National Libraries.

Catalogued and searchable on the website at www.npg.org.uk/live/search

See www.npg.org.uk/live/mellon.asp

See also www.npg.org.uk/live/mellonbrowne.asp

See also Antony Griffiths 'Early mezzotint publishing in England - II: Peter Lely, Tompson and Browne' Print Quarterly vol. VII (1990), pp. 131-45.

Archive Engravings Collection 

Early Diary of Frances Burney 1768-1778 (London: G. Bell, 1889) and Diary and Letters of Madame D'Arblay 1778-1840 (London: Macmillan, 1904) re-bound in 25 folio volumes and extra-illustrated throughout with approximately 2,700 engraved portraits and topographical views, plus other reproductions, drawings and some manuscript material. The prints and other items interfiled with the text illustrate the people, events and places described by Burney in her account of society and court life at the end of the 18th century. Typescript indexes of sitters and views are bound in separate volumes. This collection was compiled by the Rt. Hon. Frederick Leverton Harris (1864-1926) and bequeathed by him, 1927.

Catalogued and searchable on the website at www.npg.org.uk/live/search

See www.npg.org.uk/live/dcmsprint.asp 

Archive Engravings Collection

51 caricature etchings illustrating the furore caused by George IV's divorce proceedings against Queen Caroline in 1820. These etchings were produced by George Cruikshank and others and they were originally published by G. Humphrey in 1821. This set is possibly a re-issue after original publication by G. Humphrey. Purchased, 1987.

Catalogued and searchable on the website at www.npg.org.uk/live/search

Archive Engravings Collection 

Sketchbook of W.R. Collett, containing 19 leaves of miscellaneous pencil, pen and ink portraits, figure studies, views and other subjects. Some of the drawings are dated 1830 and 1831. This sketchbook was acquired with the MacDonnell Collection which was purchased at Sotheby's, 1966, with the help of the Friends of the National Libraries and the Pilgrim Trust.

Archive Drawings Collection 

182 soft-ground etchings by William Daniell published between 1802 and 1854 after George Dance's series of half-length portraits of 'eminent characters'. These portraits represent friends and contemporaries of Dance, including 53 of his fellow Royal Academicians, which he 'sketched from life' between 1793 and 1810. This group complements 37 of George Dance's original drawings and a number of William Daniell's preparatory tracings which are held in the Gallery's primary collection. Acquired from various sources.

Catalogued and searchable on the website at www.npg.org.uk/live/search

See www.npg.org.uk/live/dcmsprint.asp

Archive Engravings Collection 

16 lithograph caricatures of mainly British subjects by French caricaturist Honoré Daumier, published between 1849 and 1856. During his career Daumier produced more than 4,000 lithographs that provided a sharp commentary on the dramatic political and social changes of mid-19th century France. 14 of the lithographs in this group were published in the satirical newspaper Le Charivari and they include cartoons of British statesmen Richard Cobden (1804-1865), John Bright (1811-1889) and Thomas Milner-Gibson (1806-1884). One lithograph was acquired as part of the Martin Collection, 1861. The remainder were purchased at Beijers, 1978.

Catalogued and searchable on the website at www.npg.org.uk/live/search

Archive Engravings Collection

13 plaster caricature figures of political, literary and sporting celebrities, made between 1947 and 1964 by Geoffrey Davien. Davien first started to produce and photograph these sculpted cartoon figures, which he called 'sculptoons', after the Second World War. From the 1950s he used them as illustrations in a variety of newspapers and magazines, including the Sunday Graphic, and for cinema posters and foyer displays. Given by the artist's widow Mrs Shealagh Dickson, 1977.

Catalogued and searchable on the website at www.npg.org.uk/live/search

Archive Sculpture Collection

71 preparatory pencil, pen and ink drawings by the miniaturist William Derby after portraits by other artists. The drawings were squared for transfer preparatory to the production of miniature copies and the majority are dated between 1835 and 1842. Each drawing has been annotated with the name of the sitter and pasted into an album. A manuscript index of sitters is included at the front of the album. Purchased from the artist's son Charles H. Derby, 1893.

Archive Drawings Collection 

'A hero of the turf & his agent'
by and published by Robert Dighton
hand-coloured etching, published 1806

162 full-length portraits in profile etched by Richard Dighton and his sons Robert, Denis and Richard. The Dightons were one of the most notable artistic families of the Regency period and their etchings, though individual in style, all follow a similar format and were often published with a title consisting of a pun derived from the sitter's name or occupation. This collection includes theatrical and military subjects together with well known likenesses of City and West End characters produced by the youngest son Richard. One album of prints was purchased from E. Parsons & Sons, 1907. A second disbound album and other loose prints were acquired from various sources, mostly late 19th century.

Catalogued and searchable on the website at www.npg.org.uk/live/search 

See www.npg.org.uk/live/dcmsprint.asp

See also www.npg.org.uk/live/dighton.asp

Archive Engravings Collection

160 lithographs by R.J. Lane, some of which have been tinted, after portrait drawings of prominent people by French-born artist and dandy Count Alfred D'Orsay. D'Orsay joined the authoress Marguerite, Countess of Blessington (1789-1849), in establishing a celebrated salon and his portrait drawings represent the fashionable world of London during the 1830s and 1840s. This collection of lithographs comprises 2 albums and a portfolio of loose prints. The first album, probably assembled by D'Orsay himself, was formerly in the collections of Lady Blessington, her niece Marguerite Agnes Power, Annie Verini, and Sir Edmund Gosse. The second album was formerly in the collection of F.C. Venables. The portfolio of prints was purchased from the Executors of Mrs F.L. Wise, 1939.

See Richard Ormond Early Victorian Portraits (London: NPG 1973) pp. 558-59.

Archive Engravings Collection 

39 cut-paper silhouettes by the French silhouettist Augustin Edouart, who travelled extensively around the British Isles and United States. Considered to be one of the finest silhouette cutters of the 19th century, Edouart produced likenesses freehand from two sheets of paper and retained the second copy for his own records. The majority of the collection was purchased with a portrait of Sir Walter Scott (NPG 1638) from Mrs E. Nevill Jackson, 1911. A further 8 silhouettes, depicting the Rev. Charles Simeon (1759-1836) preaching in the pulpit, were purchased at Phillips, 1986.

Catalogued and searchable on the website at www.npg.org.uk/live/search

Archive Silhouettes Collection 

Harry Edwin, fl. 1887
Amercan silhouette artist

9 cut paper bust length silhouettes of eminent Victorian figures by the American silhouette artist Harry Edwin. These silhouettes date to the period 1887-1895 and include novelist Charles Dickens (1812-1870), prime minister William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898) and poet laureate Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892). In 1887, amidst a revival of interest in the silhouette, Edwin visited London, where he published Silhouette Sketches and Portraits and exhibited and cut profiles in the American Exhibition at Earls Court. Acquired early 20th century.

Catalogued and searchable on the website at www.npg.org.uk/live/search

Archive Silhouettes Collection

Album containing 42 loose leaves on which are drawn in rows approximately 350 pencil and watercolour heads. These portraits are apparently record drawings of miniatures, probably by the Victorian miniaturist William Egley. They were made during the early 1840s. Purchased, 1986.

Archive Drawings Collection 

84 pen and ink, pencil, and watercolour drawings, most of which are figure studies, by an apparently unrecorded late 19th century artist George Estall. The drawings are pasted onto the detached leaves of an album. They are believed to have been acquired during the first half of the 20th century, most probably as part of a large collection of prints.

Archive Drawings Collection

53 sketch books, including loose portrait sketches and other drawings, of the popular caricaturist Powys Evans, who was better known as 'Quiz'. Evans was employed to produce satirical portraits of prominent people of the day for various magazines, including The London Review and The Saturday Review. These sketchbooks contain rough portrait outlines in pencil, most probably working drawings for published caricatures, of artistic and literary figures from the period 1918 to 1931. Given by the artist's nephew, 1983.

See Jennifer Rankalawon 'The sketchbooks of Powys Evans', Archive vol. 19 no. 82 (1989), pp.67-73.

Archive Drawings Collection

365 mounted portrait engravings by the important early English line engraver William Faithorne, mostly published between 1640 and 1687. This near complete set of the elder Faithorne's work, contained in 2 portfolios, was assembled by Dr William Fleming (1790-1880) between 1818 and 1862. Fleming's manuscript and privately printed copies of a catalogue of Faithorne's engravings, based upon his own collection, accompany the set. Acquired with the Fleming Collection which was given by Fleming's daughter Mrs Mary Elizabeth Stopford, 1931.

Archive Engravings Collection 

Approximately 1,000 assorted English and French engraved fashion plates, arranged chronologically, depicting women's fashions between 1770 and 1869. The collection includes incomplete runs of plates from The Ladies Magazine, Heideloff's Gallery of Fashion, La Belle Assemblee, Ackermann's Repository of Arts, The Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine, Le Follet, Modes de Paris and Les Modes Parisiennes. Acquired from various sources.

Archive Engravings Collection 

The print collection and library of Dr William Fleming of Rowton Grange in Cheshire includes approximately 15,000 engravings and more than 150 volumes. Fleming began collecting books and portrait prints in 1814 and drew upon his extensive print collection to extra-illustrate many of the published works in his library. The most substantial of these sets is Fleming's Granger which comprises a collection of approximately 11,000 prints arranged and interfiled to illustrate a disbound copy of Rev. James Granger A Biographical History of England from Egbert the Great to the Revolution (1st edition 1769) and Noble's Continuation (1806) which extends Granger to 1727. This collection appears to be nearly complete and has particular strengths in 17th century prints. Fleming's library, acquired with the Granger, includes a further 4,000 prints bound into a range of annotated, illustrated and extra-illustrated volumes, catalogues, rare books and published editions of engravings. Given by Fleming's daughter Mrs Mary Elizabeth Stopford, 1931.

Archive Engravings Collection

20 mezzotints by and after Thomas Frye, including the series of 17 life-size heads which he published in two series between 1760 and 1762 and for which he is chiefly remembered. Although probably drawn from real life these prints were issued without titles and, with the exception of Frye's self-portrait, are not presented as portraits but as a series of 'fanciful heads' arranged in diverse poses. This set, bound into an album, was assembled by Dr William Fleming (1790-1880). Acquired with the Fleming Collection which was given by Fleming's daughter Mrs Mary Elizabeth Stopford, 1931.

Catalogued and searchable on the website at www.npg.org.uk/live/search

See www.npg.org.uk/live/dcmsprint.asp

Archive Engravings Collection 

73 pen and ink caricatures by the Irish magazine and book illustrator Harry Furniss who worked for Punch between 1880 and 1894. This collection contains drawings of late 19th century literary, political and other figures, including many portraits of the actor Sir Henry Irving (1838-1905) in a variety of roles during the 1890s. Given by Pepys Whiteley, 1964.

Part catalogued and searchable on the website at www.npg.org.uk/live/search

Archive Engravings Collection 

846 etched caricatures, mostly hand-coloured, by James Gillray. These etchings, published between 1777 and 1811, provide a rich commentary on political events and royal habits at the end of the 18th century and during George IV's regency. The collection is bound in 8 folio volumes and represents approximately ninety percent of Gillray's entire oeuvre, including many of his most ambitious prints, such as Titianus Redivivus (1797), and also less familiar non-satirical items and sentimental stipple prints signed with a pseudonym. Amongst the prints are several small preparatory ink and pencil sketches for Connoisseurs Examining a Collection of George Morland's (1807) and, as a frontispiece to volume 2, a pencil and watercolour portrait of Gillray by an unknown artist , c.1810 (NPG 3650). Formerly in the collections of John Roland Abbey and Ralph Clutton. Purchased from the antiquarian bookseller Thomas Thorp, 1947.

Catalogued and searchable on the website at www.npg.org.uk/live/search

See www.npg.org.uk/live/dcmsprint.asp

Archive Engravings Collection 

106 portrait engravings, etchings and lithographs, including original portrait prints given to Gosse by the artists, together with photographs and other reproductions after portraits. The majority of the prints date to the period between 1879 and 1924. The collection includes portraits of many notable figures from the second half of the 19th century and was assembled by the poet Sir Edmund Gosse. Purchased, 1929.

Part catalogued and searchable on the website at www.npg.org.uk/live/search

Archive Engravings Collection 

64 pencil drawings of international writers, scientists, diplomants and politicians by the Polish artist Henryk Gotlib. The majority of these portraits are very roughly drawn and were sketched by Gotlib at the international conference of scientists held in 1941 by the British Association to discuss science and world order after the war. Some drawings also relate to lunches of the Pen Club during this period. Given by the artist's widow Janet Gotlib, 2000.

Archive Drawings Collection 

Sketch book of the Hon. Henry Richard Graves, titled 'Caricatures 1848' and containing 25 pencil sketches of society figures. Formerly in the collection of Walter J.H. Boyle. Purchased at Sotheby's (Belgravia), 1976.

Catalogued and searchable on the website at www.npg.org.uk/live/search

Archive Drawings Collection 

274 portrait engravings and autotypes of members of the Grillions Club after Joseph Slater, George Richmond, Henry Tanworth Wells, Frank Dicksee and other artists. The Grillions Club originated in 1812 as a dining club and meeting place for political members. It took its name from the Grillions Hotel where members met from 1813. A resolution passed in 1826 established the tradition of commissioning an engraved portrait of each member. This set of engravings and autotypes was assembled from various sources during the early part of the 20th century and includes 103 prints given by the Committee of the Grillions Club, 1903 and 1904.

Part catalogued and searchable on the website at www.npg.org.uk/live/search

Archive Engravings Collection 

121 etched portraits of mainly British sitters by the important Bohemian etcher Wenceslas Hollar. Hollar came to England in 1636 to work with the Arundel collections and the etchings in this set date from 1639 to 1670. The collection comprises 22 prints purchased from AW Parker, 1893 and the remainder acquired from various sources by Sir George Scharf, Director of the NPG, late 19th century.

Catalogued and searchable on the website at www.npg.org.uk/live/search

Archive Engravings Collection 

58 line engraved portraits, mostly before letters and comprising two sets of prints, by the Dutch line engraver Jacobus Houbraken. This group was assembled by Dr William Fleming (1790-1880). Acquired with the Fleming Collection which was given by Fleming's daughter Mrs Mary Elizabeth Stopford, 1931.

Archive Engravings Collection 

58 etchings chronicling all walks of life in Edinburgh society at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries by the little known etcher John Kay. Kay was an ex-barber and native of Edinburgh who turned to etching relatively late in life and produced many hundreds of original naïve and mostly humorous portraits of his fellow citizens. This collection covers the years from 1784 to 1817. 7 prints purchased with the Macdonnel DNB at Sotheby's, 1966, with the aid of the Friends of the National Libraries and the Pilgrim Trust. The remainder of the collection was acquired from various sources.

Catalogued and searchable on the website at www.npg.org.uk/live/search

Archive Engravings Collection

850 lithographs of portraits and figure studies by the prolific Victorian lithographer Richard James Lane, mostly published between 1825 and 1850. The collection contains portraits of royal sitters, prominent society figures and theatrical subjects, including a set of illustrations of the actor John Philip Kemble (1757-1823) published in 1826 and a set of 16 portraits of his brother Charles Kemble (1775-1854) published in 1840. The collection comprises 4 sets of lithographs bound into albums, some of which are inscribed and dated by Lane, and the remainder which are loose or in their original wrappers. The majority of the collection was given by Dr Austen Lane Poole, 1956-7. Additional items were acquired from various sources during the early 20th century.

Archive Engravings Collection 

13 original lithographic, etched and drypoint portraits of Alphonse Legros by fellow artists including Felix Bracquemond, Joseph Benwell Clark, Sir William Rothenstein and George Frederick Watts. Legros was born in Dijon and worked in Paris before he was encouraged by James Abbott McNeill Whistler to come to London in 1863 and where, from 1875-1892 he was Slade Professor of Fine Art at University College. The portraits in this set were produced between 1865 and 1913 and were collected by American businessman F. E. Bliss (who was the father of the composer Sir Arthur Bliss). Purchased from W. McDonald, 1945.

Catalogued and searchable on the website at www.npg.org.uk/live/search

Archive Engravings Collection

33 cut paper silhouettes by Brighton-based silhouettist Hubert Leslie, together with 10 record books covering the years from 1922 to 1950. The volumes contain Leslie's own set of copies of the silhouettes he cut for Brighton holiday-makers and celebrity visitors. In 1922 Leslie succeeded the French silhouettist Huardel Bly on the West Pier at Brighton and he continued in business in this location until 1936 when he moved to another address in Brighton. The collection contains several theatrical subjects, including Jean Forbes-Robertson (1905-1962) in the role of Peter Pan. The majority of the collection was given by Hubert Leslie, 1974.

Part catalogued and searchable on the website at www.npg.org.uk/live/search

Archive Silhouettes Collection 

The life and work of David Livingstone: missionary and explorer, consisting of 40 magic lantern slides (glass positives) showing colour illustrations that depict the exploits of David Livingstone in Africa. Published with an explanatory pamphlet by the London Missionary Society, c. 1900. Purchased, 1995.

Catalogued and searchable on the website at www.npg.org.uk/live/search

Archive Drawings Collection 

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All images and text are subject to copyright protection. 08 August 2008