Early Victorian Portraits Catalogue
Charles Dickens (1812-1870), Novelist
- Gallery portraits
- All known portraits
- Biography and References
The best source for illustrations of Dickens' portraits is F. G. Kitton, Dickens by Pen and Pencil (1890-1), which also has a catalogue of portraits at the end of vol I. The following list does not include caricatures or photographs, of which there are examples in the NPG, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Dickens House.
c.1827
Silhouette called Dickens. Reproduced Connoisseur, XXVIII (1910), 309.
1830
Miniature by Janet Barrow. Dickens House, London.
Exhibited Charles Dickens, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1970 (B6), reproduced in catalogue. Reproduced Kitton, I, facing 11, engraved by E. Roffe.
1835
Miniature by Miss Rose Drummond. Collection of the Dickens family.
Exhibited VE, 1892 (580). Reproduced Kitton, I, facing 15, engraved by E. Roffe.
1836-7
Drawing by G. Cruikshank. Dickens House, London.
Exhibited VE, 1892 (582). Reproduced Kitton, I, facing II, etched by F. W. Pailthorpe. A drawing by Cruikshank is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and others are recorded.
1837
Drawing by S. Laurence. Collection of Major Sir Charles Pym.
Exhibited VE, 1892 (408), and Charles Dickens, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1970 (O2), reproduced in catalogue. Lithographed by Weld Taylor, 1838.
Etching by 'Phiz' (H. K. Browne), published E. Churton, 1837 (example in British Museum), possibly the etching by 'Phiz' reproduced Kitton, I, facing 23, together with a drawing by the same artist.
1838
Drawing by S. Laurence. Collection of Lord Glenconner.
Exhibited RA, 1838 (858), and Victorian Era Exhibition, 1897, 'Historical Section' (239). Reproduced Kitton, I, frontispiece, engraved by E. Stodart. Lithographed by E. Brown and anonymously (examples in NPG).
c.1838
Drawing by S. Laurence. Mentioned in Kitton, I, catalogue I-II, and reproduced facing 21.
1839
Painting by D. Maclise (NPG 1172).
Copy by C. Fullwood: Garrick Club, and another at Dickens House.
Marble bust by A. Fletcher. Dickens House, London.
Exhibited RA, 1839 (1372), and Charles Dickens, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1970 (O5).
1840
Water-colour by A. E. Chalon. Exhibited VE, 1892 (581), lent by T. W. Coffin.
c.1840
Drawing by R. J. Lane. Royal Collection.
Exhibited RA, 1843 (1123), VE, 1892 (404), and Charles Dickens, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1970 (O3). Reproduced Kitton, I, facing 37, engraved by E. Stodart.
1841
Drawing by Count A. D'Orsay. Sotheby's, 13 February 1950 (lot 210), bought Maggs.
Reproduced Kitton, I, facing 35. Another drawing, dated 1842, was sold in the same sale (lot 209). One of the drawings was lithographed by R. J. Lane, published J. Mitchell, 1842 (example in British Museum), listed in Lane's, 'Account Book' (NPG archives), II, 52.
1842
Painting by F. Alexander (executed in Boston). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Reproduced Kitton, I, facing 41, engraved by E. Stodart.
Drawings by P. Morand. Exhibited Dickens Exhibition, Memorial Hall, London, 1903 (314), lent by
F. T. Sabin. Presumably the two drawings engraved by Dawson Bros, for Kitton, II, postscript.
Drawing by C. Stanfield (with Maclise, Forster, Dickens and the artist in Cornwall). Victoria and
Albert Museum. Reproduced Forster, edited B. W. Matz (memorial edition, 1911), I, facing 288.
Bust by H. Dexter (executed in America). Dickens House, London.
Reproduced Kitton, I, facing 43, engraved by E. Stodart.
1843
Drawing by D. Maclise (with his wife and sister-in-law). Victoria and Albert Museum.
Exhibited Charles Dickens, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1970 (O7), reproduced in catalogue, and Daniel Maclise, Arts Council at the NPG, 1972 (44).
Drawing by R. J. Lane. Listed in his 'Account Books' (NPG archives), II, 58.
c.1843
Miniature by Miss M. Gillies. Exhibited RA, 1844 (660).
Reproduced as a woodcut ILN, II (1843), 239, and Kitton, I, facing 51. Engraved by J. C. Armytage, published 1844 (example in NPG).
Bust by P. Park. Exhibited RA, 1843 (1510).
1844
'Dickens Reading The Chimes to his Friends', drawing by D. Maclise. Victoria and Albert Museum. Reproduced D. A. Wilson, Carlyle on Cromwell and Others (1925), facing p 272. Exhibited Charles Dickens, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1970 (H10), reproduced in catalogue.
Drawing by C. Martin. Collection of Mrs Jane Cohen, Boston.
Exhibited Victorian Era Exhibition, 1897, 'Historical Section' (271). Reproduced as a lithograph in Martin's Twelve Victorian Celebrities (1899), plate 6. An engraving after the drawing (possibly for a contemporary magazine) is reproduced Bookman (Dickens number, 1914), p 68.
c.1844
Plaster bust by P. Park. Exhibited RA, 1844 (1373).
1845
Drawing by S. Laurence. Christie's, 22 November 1912 (lot 10).
Drawing by D. Maclise (as Bobadil, with Forster as Kitely), on the playbill of Every Man in His
Humour. Reproduced Forster (memorial edition, 1911), I, facing 394. A sketch by J. Leech is also reproduced.
c.1846
Painting by C. R. Leslie (in the character of Captain Bobadil in 'Every Man in His Humour'). Collection of Mr and Mrs Diehl, Connecticut.
Exhibited RA, 1846 (355) and VE, 1892 (294). Reproduced Kitton, I, facing 101, engraved by E. Stodart; and lithographed by T. H. Maguire, published J. Mitchell (example in British Museum). A drawing by C. Stanfield, after the painting, is in the Garrick Club, London.
1849
Drawing by G. Sala. Reproduced Kitton, I, facing 57, etched by F. W. Pailthorpe.
1850
Painting by A. Egg (in the character of Sir Charles Coldstream in 'Used Up'). Dickens House, London.
Exhibited Charles Dickens, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1970 (G43), reproduced in catalogue. Reproduced Kitton, I, facing 115, engraved by E. Stodart. A sketch for this was exhibited VE, 1892 (576), lent by Charles Dickens. A sketch, possibly the one above, was reproduced Connoisseur, IV (1902), frontispiece, as in the collection of J. Grego.
Unfinished painting by Sir W. Boxall. Mentioned in Kitton, I, catalogue, IV.
1854
Painting by E. M. Ward (in his study). Ward sale, Christie's, 29 March 1879 (lot 81), withdrawn.
Reproduced Kitton, I, facing 65. In a letter of 2 March 1880 to Scharf (Scharf catalogue of the Ward sale, NPG archives), W. Russell Ward, the artist's son, said that the painting was then owned by his brother.
1855-6
Painting by A. Scheffer (NPG 315).
1856
Painting by H. Scheffer (see NPG 315).
1858
Lithograph by C. Baugniet, published E. Gambart, 1858 (example in British Museum).
1859
Painting by W. P. Frith (in his study). Victoria and Albert Museum.
Exhibited RA, 1859 (210), and Charles Dickens, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1970 (O10), reproduced in catalogue. Engraved by T. O. Barlow, published McLean, 1862 (example in NPG), engraving exhibited RA, 1862 (935); also engraved by R. Graves, engraving exhibited RA, 1873 (1252), and reproduced Kitton, I, facing 147. A study was exhibited Victorian Era Exhibition, 1897, 'Historical Section' (241), lent by W. Wright. There is a replica (dated 1886) at Dickens House, exhibited VE, 1892 (261), and another (dated 1898) in the Van Sweringen collection, Ohio.
1861
Drawing by R. Lehmann. British Museum.
Exhibited Charles Dickens, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1970 (O9). Reproduced Kitton, I, facing 83, engraved by E. Stodart.
1864
'Intellect and Valour of Great Britain', engraving by C. G. Lewis, after T. J. Barker, published J. G.
Browne, Leicester, 1864 (example in NPG); key-plate published Browne, 1863 (example in British Museum).
1869
Drawing by E. Goodwyn Lewis. Sotheby's, 2 July 1943 (lot 13), bought Spencer.
Exhibited Victorian Era Exhibition, 1897, 'Historical Section' (238), lent by F. T. Sabin. Coloured reproduction in NPG. Lewis did other drawings of Dickens (reproductions at Dickens House).
1870
Drawing by Sir J. E. Millais (after death). Collection of Mrs Waley, on loan to Dickens House, London.
Exhibited Dickens and his London, Guildhall Art Gallery, London, 1962 (33), and Charles Dickens, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1970 (M39), reproduced in catalogue. Reproduced J. G. Millais, Life and Letters of Sir J. E. Millais (1899), II, 31.
Drawing by T. Birch (surrounded by his characters and scenes). Photograph exhibited Dickens Exhibition, London, 1903 (347), lent by W. Miller.
Parian ware bust by W. W. Gallimore (examples in Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, and elsewhere).
c.1870
Bust by C. Jahn. Exhibited RA, 1870 (1129).
c.1871
Marble bust by J. Adams-Acton. Exhibited RA, 1871 (1261).
Medal by J. W. Minton. Exhibited RA, 1871 (1240).
c.1872
Posthumous marble bust by T. Woolner. Exhibited RA, 1872 (1560). Reproduced Kitton, I, facing 99, engraved by E. Roffe.
c.1905
Marble bust by H. Pegram. Exhibited RA, 1905 (1795).
1926
Clay bust by J. T. Tussaud (modelled by J. R. Tussaud, c.1865). Dickens House, London.
Undated
Painting called Dickens by S. Drummond. Dickens House, London.
Exhibited VE, 1892 (226), lent by Baroness Burdett-Coutts.
Painting by A. Bryant. Portsmouth Corporation.
Sepia drawing attributed to A. Egg, after a photograph by J. Watkins, with features, hair and beard composed of characters from Barnaby Rudge. Reproduced Sixty Four (catalogue) by Lew Feldman, House of El Dieff, 1964 (14).
Drawings by H. Furniss, (NPG 3445, 3446, 3563, 3564, 3565, 3566).
A painting and a drawing by unknown artists. Christie's, 18 February 1935 (lots 224 and 223).
Miniature by W. S. Barnard. Probably that in collection of Mr Strube, 1930.
Water-colour (with drawings of seventeen characters) by an unknown artist. Sotheby's, 7 March 1918 (lot 361). Possibly the portrait by J. Reading of 1860 in the Dickens Exhibition, London, 1903 (321). Painting (as a young man) by an unknown artist: sold as above (lot 364).
Marble bust by G. Fontana. Pennant House, Bebington.
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.
c.1827
Silhouette called Dickens. Reproduced Connoisseur, XXVIII (1910), 309.
1830
Miniature by Janet Barrow. Dickens House, London.
Exhibited Charles Dickens, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1970 (B6), reproduced in catalogue. Reproduced Kitton, I, facing 11, engraved by E. Roffe.
1835
Miniature by Miss Rose Drummond. Collection of the Dickens family.
Exhibited VE, 1892 (580). Reproduced Kitton, I, facing 15, engraved by E. Roffe.
1836-7
Drawing by G. Cruikshank. Dickens House, London.
Exhibited VE, 1892 (582). Reproduced Kitton, I, facing II, etched by F. W. Pailthorpe. A drawing by Cruikshank is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and others are recorded.
1837
Drawing by S. Laurence. Collection of Major Sir Charles Pym.
Exhibited VE, 1892 (408), and Charles Dickens, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1970 (O2), reproduced in catalogue. Lithographed by Weld Taylor, 1838.
Etching by 'Phiz' (H. K. Browne), published E. Churton, 1837 (example in British Museum), possibly the etching by 'Phiz' reproduced Kitton, I, facing 23, together with a drawing by the same artist.
1838
Drawing by S. Laurence. Collection of Lord Glenconner.
Exhibited RA, 1838 (858), and Victorian Era Exhibition, 1897, 'Historical Section' (239). Reproduced Kitton, I, frontispiece, engraved by E. Stodart. Lithographed by E. Brown and anonymously (examples in NPG).
c.1838
Drawing by S. Laurence. Mentioned in Kitton, I, catalogue I-II, and reproduced facing 21.
1839
Painting by D. Maclise (NPG 1172).
Copy by C. Fullwood: Garrick Club, and another at Dickens House.
Marble bust by A. Fletcher. Dickens House, London.
Exhibited RA, 1839 (1372), and Charles Dickens, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1970 (O5).
1840
Water-colour by A. E. Chalon. Exhibited VE, 1892 (581), lent by T. W. Coffin.
c.1840
Drawing by R. J. Lane. Royal Collection.
Exhibited RA, 1843 (1123), VE, 1892 (404), and Charles Dickens, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1970 (O3). Reproduced Kitton, I, facing 37, engraved by E. Stodart.
1841
Drawing by Count A. D'Orsay. Sotheby's, 13 February 1950 (lot 210), bought Maggs.
Reproduced Kitton, I, facing 35. Another drawing, dated 1842, was sold in the same sale (lot 209). One of the drawings was lithographed by R. J. Lane, published J. Mitchell, 1842 (example in British Museum), listed in Lane's, 'Account Book' (NPG archives), II, 52.
1842
Painting by F. Alexander (executed in Boston). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Reproduced Kitton, I, facing 41, engraved by E. Stodart.
Drawings by P. Morand. Exhibited Dickens Exhibition, Memorial Hall, London, 1903 (314), lent by
F. T. Sabin. Presumably the two drawings engraved by Dawson Bros, for Kitton, II, postscript.
Drawing by C. Stanfield (with Maclise, Forster, Dickens and the artist in Cornwall). Victoria and
Albert Museum. Reproduced Forster, edited B. W. Matz (memorial edition, 1911), I, facing 288.
Bust by H. Dexter (executed in America). Dickens House, London.
Reproduced Kitton, I, facing 43, engraved by E. Stodart.
1843
Drawing by D. Maclise (with his wife and sister-in-law). Victoria and Albert Museum.
Exhibited Charles Dickens, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1970 (O7), reproduced in catalogue, and Daniel Maclise, Arts Council at the NPG, 1972 (44).
Drawing by R. J. Lane. Listed in his 'Account Books' (NPG archives), II, 58.
c.1843
Miniature by Miss M. Gillies. Exhibited RA, 1844 (660).
Reproduced as a woodcut ILN, II (1843), 239, and Kitton, I, facing 51. Engraved by J. C. Armytage, published 1844 (example in NPG).
Bust by P. Park. Exhibited RA, 1843 (1510).
1844
'Dickens Reading The Chimes to his Friends', drawing by D. Maclise. Victoria and Albert Museum. Reproduced D. A. Wilson, Carlyle on Cromwell and Others (1925), facing p 272. Exhibited Charles Dickens, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1970 (H10), reproduced in catalogue.
Drawing by C. Martin. Collection of Mrs Jane Cohen, Boston.
Exhibited Victorian Era Exhibition, 1897, 'Historical Section' (271). Reproduced as a lithograph in Martin's Twelve Victorian Celebrities (1899), plate 6. An engraving after the drawing (possibly for a contemporary magazine) is reproduced Bookman (Dickens number, 1914), p 68.
c.1844
Plaster bust by P. Park. Exhibited RA, 1844 (1373).
1845
Drawing by S. Laurence. Christie's, 22 November 1912 (lot 10).
Drawing by D. Maclise (as Bobadil, with Forster as Kitely), on the playbill of Every Man in His
Humour. Reproduced Forster (memorial edition, 1911), I, facing 394. A sketch by J. Leech is also reproduced.
c.1846
Painting by C. R. Leslie (in the character of Captain Bobadil in 'Every Man in His Humour'). Collection of Mr and Mrs Diehl, Connecticut.
Exhibited RA, 1846 (355) and VE, 1892 (294). Reproduced Kitton, I, facing 101, engraved by E. Stodart; and lithographed by T. H. Maguire, published J. Mitchell (example in British Museum). A drawing by C. Stanfield, after the painting, is in the Garrick Club, London.
1849
Drawing by G. Sala. Reproduced Kitton, I, facing 57, etched by F. W. Pailthorpe.
1850
Painting by A. Egg (in the character of Sir Charles Coldstream in 'Used Up'). Dickens House, London.
Exhibited Charles Dickens, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1970 (G43), reproduced in catalogue. Reproduced Kitton, I, facing 115, engraved by E. Stodart. A sketch for this was exhibited VE, 1892 (576), lent by Charles Dickens. A sketch, possibly the one above, was reproduced Connoisseur, IV (1902), frontispiece, as in the collection of J. Grego.
Unfinished painting by Sir W. Boxall. Mentioned in Kitton, I, catalogue, IV.
1854
Painting by E. M. Ward (in his study). Ward sale, Christie's, 29 March 1879 (lot 81), withdrawn.
Reproduced Kitton, I, facing 65. In a letter of 2 March 1880 to Scharf (Scharf catalogue of the Ward sale, NPG archives), W. Russell Ward, the artist's son, said that the painting was then owned by his brother.
1855-6
Painting by A. Scheffer (NPG 315).
1856
Painting by H. Scheffer (see NPG 315).
1858
Lithograph by C. Baugniet, published E. Gambart, 1858 (example in British Museum).
1859
Painting by W. P. Frith (in his study). Victoria and Albert Museum.
Exhibited RA, 1859 (210), and Charles Dickens, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1970 (O10), reproduced in catalogue. Engraved by T. O. Barlow, published McLean, 1862 (example in NPG), engraving exhibited RA, 1862 (935); also engraved by R. Graves, engraving exhibited RA, 1873 (1252), and reproduced Kitton, I, facing 147. A study was exhibited Victorian Era Exhibition, 1897, 'Historical Section' (241), lent by W. Wright. There is a replica (dated 1886) at Dickens House, exhibited VE, 1892 (261), and another (dated 1898) in the Van Sweringen collection, Ohio.
1861
Drawing by R. Lehmann. British Museum.
Exhibited Charles Dickens, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1970 (O9). Reproduced Kitton, I, facing 83, engraved by E. Stodart.
1864
'Intellect and Valour of Great Britain', engraving by C. G. Lewis, after T. J. Barker, published J. G.
Browne, Leicester, 1864 (example in NPG); key-plate published Browne, 1863 (example in British Museum).
1869
Drawing by E. Goodwyn Lewis. Sotheby's, 2 July 1943 (lot 13), bought Spencer.
Exhibited Victorian Era Exhibition, 1897, 'Historical Section' (238), lent by F. T. Sabin. Coloured reproduction in NPG. Lewis did other drawings of Dickens (reproductions at Dickens House).
1870
Drawing by Sir J. E. Millais (after death). Collection of Mrs Waley, on loan to Dickens House, London.
Exhibited Dickens and his London, Guildhall Art Gallery, London, 1962 (33), and Charles Dickens, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1970 (M39), reproduced in catalogue. Reproduced J. G. Millais, Life and Letters of Sir J. E. Millais (1899), II, 31.
Drawing by T. Birch (surrounded by his characters and scenes). Photograph exhibited Dickens Exhibition, London, 1903 (347), lent by W. Miller.
Parian ware bust by W. W. Gallimore (examples in Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, and elsewhere).
c.1870
Bust by C. Jahn. Exhibited RA, 1870 (1129).
c.1871
Marble bust by J. Adams-Acton. Exhibited RA, 1871 (1261).
Medal by J. W. Minton. Exhibited RA, 1871 (1240).
c.1872
Posthumous marble bust by T. Woolner. Exhibited RA, 1872 (1560). Reproduced Kitton, I, facing 99, engraved by E. Roffe.
c.1905
Marble bust by H. Pegram. Exhibited RA, 1905 (1795).
1926
Clay bust by J. T. Tussaud (modelled by J. R. Tussaud, c.1865). Dickens House, London.
Undated
Painting called Dickens by S. Drummond. Dickens House, London.
Exhibited VE, 1892 (226), lent by Baroness Burdett-Coutts.
Painting by A. Bryant. Portsmouth Corporation.
Sepia drawing attributed to A. Egg, after a photograph by J. Watkins, with features, hair and beard composed of characters from Barnaby Rudge. Reproduced Sixty Four (catalogue) by Lew Feldman, House of El Dieff, 1964 (14).
Drawings by H. Furniss, (NPG 3445, 3446, 3563, 3564, 3565, 3566).
A painting and a drawing by unknown artists. Christie's, 18 February 1935 (lots 224 and 223).
Miniature by W. S. Barnard. Probably that in collection of Mr Strube, 1930.
Water-colour (with drawings of seventeen characters) by an unknown artist. Sotheby's, 7 March 1918 (lot 361). Possibly the portrait by J. Reading of 1860 in the Dickens Exhibition, London, 1903 (321). Painting (as a young man) by an unknown artist: sold as above (lot 364).
Marble bust by G. Fontana. Pennant House, Bebington.
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.