Mid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue
Sarah Siddons (née Kemble) (1755-1831), Actress
- Gallery portraits
- All known portraits
- Biography and References
See also L. A. Hall, Catalogue of the Dramatic Portraits in the Theatre Collection of the Harvard College Library, IV, pp 56-67, and P. H. Highfill, K. A. Burnim & E. A. Langhans, A Biographical Dictionary of Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800, XIV, pp 37-67 (listing further portrayals of Siddons in character). For an overall view, see R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, to which the following account is deeply indebted.
Mrs Siddons remained unmistakeable in her tragic roles, and many portraits and depictions of her in character are included below.
1780
Painting by William Hamilton, whole length as Euphrasia in Murphy’s The Grecian Daughter. Stratford Town Hall (illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 57). Exhibited RA 1780 (339). Engraved J. Caldwall 1788 and 1789. Reduced versions sold Sotheby’s, 16 February 1966, lot 127; Christie’s, 13 April 1927, lot 107, and in a private collection.
An unfinished head attributed to William Hamilton (Theatre Museum, D.76; G. Ashton, Catalogue of Paintings at the Theatre Museum, London, 1992, no.11) may have been a preliminary study, the head at the same angle as in the Reynolds of 1784.
1782
Drawings made at Bath by the thirteen-year-old Thomas Lawrence: half-length pastel as Zara in Congreve’s Mourning Bride, private collection 1964, engraved J. R. Smith 1783 (illus. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 44); a profile drawing, Beinecke Library, Yale University, probably the basis for the engraving by T. Trotter 1783 of Euphrasia in Murphy’s Grecian Daughter after Lawrence (illus. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, pp 60-1); bust-length oval in riding habit, engraved F. Jukes 1783 'from a crayon painting'; watercolour copy, inscribed By Horace Hone ARA from a Painting by Lawrence of Bath 1782, in the Garrick Club (G. Ashton, Pictures in the Garrick Club, ed. K. A. Burnim & A. Wilton, 1997, no.745).
Painting by William Hamilton, whole length with her eight-year-old son Henry, as Isabella in Garrick’s Isabella. Exhibited RA 1785 (98). Engraved J. Caldwall 1785 (illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 54). Versions formerly with Sir William Fitzherbert (exhibited Birmingham Midland Houses 1938, no.133); with Mrs R. Butler 1975, and Garrick Club dated 1784 (G. Ashton, Pictures in the Garrick Club, ed. K. A. Burnim & A. Wilton, 1997, no.749, from the Nettlefold collection). A bust-length version dated 1783, from Stanton Harcourt, is in a private collection (R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 8; see G. Ashton, Apollo, CXIV, 1981, pp 88, 92n3).
In the general enthusiasm to see this picture before it was finished ‘carriages thronged to the artist's door; and, if every fine lady who stept out of them did not actually weep before the painting, they had all of them, at least, their white handkerchiefs ready’ (T. Campbell, Life of Mrs Siddons, 1834, I, p 191; R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 28).
The same subject by Thomas Stothard engraved by W. Sharp 1783, echoes Hamilton’s composition (illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 54).
Painting by Thomas Beach, whole length as Melancholy from Milton’s Penseroso. Sotheby’s, 10 November 1993, lot 61 (illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 50). Exhibited Society of Artists, London, 1783 (24). Engraved W. Dickinson 1782.
Painting by Thomas Beach, half length holding a book. Auckland Art Gallery. Exhibited Society of Artists, London, 1783 (28). Engraved W. Ridley 1791.
Painting by J. K. Sherwin, half length as Euphrasia in Murphy’s Grecian Daughter. Theatre Museum (D.77; G. Ashton, Catalogue of Paintings at the Theatre Museum, London, 1992, no.10). Engraved J. K. Sherwin 1782 (illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 60) and W. Holl 1800. Another version in a Scottish private collection.
1783
Paintings by George Romney. Mrs Siddons sat to Romney between February and May 1783 (H. Ward & W. Roberts, Romney, A Biographical and Critical Essay with a Catalogue Rainsonné of his Works, 1904, II, pp 142-43). A whole length, bought from the artist in 1785, was subsequently cut down (see R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, pp 66-69, 93-94n73). Two half-length versions, leaning on her right hand, are in private collections, one showing ivy leaves in her hair (illus. P. H. Highfill, K. A. Burnim & E. A. Langhans, A Biographical Dictionary of Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800, XIV, p 6; A. Kidson, George Romney, exhibition catalogue, Liverpool, NPG, San Marino, 2002, no.104), the other a turban (Sotheby’s, 16 November 1983, lot 50) (both illus. J. Watson, Apollo, CXXXVI, 1992, pp 147, 149); a miniature copy of the latter belonged to Mme Belloc in 1893 (Sir George Scharf's Sketch Books, 127/67).
Another canvas by Romney, Sidonian Recollections, c.1785-90, shows three wildly tragic heads, Princeton University Art Museum (illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 45).
Painting by R. E. Pine, whole length as Euphrasia in Murphy’s Grecian Daughter, engraved C. Watson 1784 (illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 62).
Miniature by Richard Crosse, three-quarter length, hands clasped. Victoria and Albert Museum (P.146.1929; illus. Portrait Miniature in England, 1998, p 94, pl.63). Exhibited RA 1783 (334).
Enamel by William Birch, bust-length oval, as Isabella in Garrick’s Isabella. Christie’s, 3 December 1963, lot 146. Exhibited RA 1783 (325). Copy sold Phillips, 1 October 1986, lot 268.
Portrait by James Turner, exhibited Society of Artists, London, 1783 (297).
Painting by John Bateman, half-length oval profile. Engraved T. Burke 1783. Resembling Hone’s 1784 miniature.
Painting by Thomas Beach, whole length as Calista in Rowe’s Fair Penitent, exhibited Society of Artists, London, 1783 (25).
On 11 February 1784 Mrs Siddons told Lord Hardwicke that she was ‘much honoured by [his] wishing a resemblance of her, and will as soon as possible sit to Mr Collins [Richard Collins?], but at present she is under the hands of three painters which with her other avocations fully employs her’ (W. T. Whitley, Gilbert Stuart, 1928, p 35).
1784
Painting by Joshua Reynolds, whole length as the Tragic Muse. Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif. (21.2; D. Mannings, Sir Joshua Reynolds, I, 2000, no.1619; R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, pp 97-140; H. McPherson, Eighteenth-Century Studies, XXXIII, 2000, pp 401-30; R. Asleson & S. Bennett, Catalogue of British Paintings at the Huntington, 2001, no.79). Exhibited RA 1784 (190). First engraved F. Haward 1787. The pose derived from Michelangelo’s Isaiah or Domenichino’s St John the Evangelist (Glyndebourne), despite a wealth of Siddons anecdote; it was later used by De Wilde in his painting of her as Medea. A studio version dated 1789, painted for Noel Desenfans, is in Dulwich Picture Gallery (D. Mannings, Sir Joshua Reynolds, I, 2000, no.1620; R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, pp 128-36); a bust-length version was sold Sotheby’s, 22 April 1964, lot 31.
The numerous copies include those sold Christie’s, 12 July 1990, lot 82, from Langley Park; by Charles McLagan (Herbert Art Gallery, Coventry), by Mary, Lady Buckingham (private collection), and, reduced, by Moses Haughton 1799 (exhibited Mrs Jordan, Kenwood, 1995, no.39), and William Harness (Christie’s, 4 May 1922, lot 71); a three-quarter length copy belongs to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London; copies in miniature include those by Henry Collen (Christie’s, 27 November 1985, lot 162) and an enamel by J. Haslem (RA 1838, no.660); a small watercolour copy by Julia Knight 1837 sold Sotheby’s 24 September 1997, lot 379.
Silhouette by John Miers (illus. J. Woodiwiss, British Silhouettes, 1961, p 21). There were at least two other silhouettes by Miers, examples sold Bonham’s, 21 February 1996, lot 86, and illus. Country Life, XCVII, 1945, p 726.
Wedgwood plaque modelled by John Flaxman (R. Reilly and G. Savage, Wedgwood the Portrait Medallions, 1973, p 306; R. Reilly, Wedgwood Jasper, 1994, p 351). The model of the Queen in the Wedgwood chess set of 1783-85 was also said to derive from Mrs Siddons (R. Reilly, Wedgwood Jasper, 1994, p 188).
Enamel miniature by Horace Hone, half length. National Gallery of Ireland (7318; illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists,exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 20; P. Caffrey, Treasures to Hold, Irish and English Miniatures 1650-1850 from the National Gallery of Ireland Collection, 2000, pp 95-97). Engraved F. Bartolozzi 1785; G. H. Phillips 1825. A pastel copy by Thomas Lawrence, dated 1786 in the Tate Gallery (N 2222; illus. Pickpocketing the Rich, Bath, 2002, no.58) and a copy in enamel exhibited RA 1822 (554).
Closely related miniatures by Hone sold Sotheby’s, 4 December 1985, lot 201, dated 1785; and dated 1786, with oriental head dress and fur tippet, sold Sotheby’s, Geneva, 25/27 May 1993, lot 9 (illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 20).
Another half-length type, dated 1784, with the Royal Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon (illus. RS Theatre Gallery [1981], p 24).
Hone exhibited further miniatures of Mrs Siddons, RA 1795 (387) and RA 1804 (487 as ‘Mrs Siddons in the year 1785’).
c.1784
Miniature by Jeremiah Meyer. Sotheby’s, 11 July 1991, lot 277 (a silhouette by Miers on the verso).
Painting by William Hamilton, three-quarter length with a plumed hat as Zara from Congreve’s Mourning Bride. Sotheby's, 5 February 1947 (78). A half-length version sold Christie’s, 21 November 1975, lot 51.
‘Perhaps Mrs Siddons has given greater exertions to the pencils of artists than any lady in the dramatic world’ (Morning Herald, 12 March 1785)
1785
Painting by Thomas Gainsborough, three-quarter length seated with large black hat. National Gallery London (683; E. K. Waterhouse, Gainsborough, 1958, no.617, pl.250; J. Egerton, National Gallery Catalogue, The British School, 1998, pp 114-19). Drawing Cleveland Museum of Art (J. Hayes, The Drawings of Thomas Gainsborough, 1970, no.64; illus. J. Egerton, National Gallery Catalogue, The British School, 1998, p 116). After being acquired by the National Gallery in 1862 the portrait was much copied. First engraved R. Graves 1869. Copies include examples in the Theatre Royal, Bristol, and in the Folger Shakespeare Library (W. L. Pressly, A Catalogue of Paintings in the Folger Shakespeare Library, 1993, p 197); an enamel by W. B. Ford was exhibited RA 1863 (879).
Model in enamel for a gem by William Lane, exhibited RA 1785 (266).
‘Model in small for a statue executing in marble, with a likeness of Mrs Siddons’, by John Hickey, exhibited RA 1785 (637). See also 1786.
Portrait by Alexander Pope, exhibited RA 1785 (112).
c.1785
Painting attributed to Daniel Gardner, whole length in character with another actress. Mrs Hart sale, Christie’s, 28 November 1927, lot 85. An undated entry in a Gardner sketchbook listed a Mrs Siddons 3’ 9 x 2’ 11. A crayon portrait of Mrs Siddons as the Tragic Muse belonged to G. H. Gardner in 1856 (G. C. Williamson, Daniel Gardner, 1921, pp 48, 151-2).
Miniature by Richard Cosway, bust-length oval. Private collection (illus. ILN, 7 June 1890). In 1785 ‘Cosway’s delicate small whole length’ was nearing completion, probably the drawing of Siddons as Tragedy now in a private collection (P. H. Highfill, K. A. Burnim & E. A. Langhans, A Biographical Dictionary of Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800, VI, p 23; J. Egerton, National Gallery Catalogue, The British School, 1998, p 117).
Chalk drawing by David Martin, half length wearing broad-brimmed hat. National Gallery of Scotland (J. Egerton, National Gallery Catalogue, The British School, 1998, p 118).
1786
Painting by Thomas Beach, as Lady Macbeth three-quarter length, with J. P. Kemble. Garrick Club (G. Ashton, Pictures in the Garrick Club, ed. K. A. Burnim & A. Wilton, 1997, no.390). Exhibited RA 1786 (199); Beach exhibited a second portrait of Mrs Siddons alone in the same exhibition, no.381.
Statuette by John Hickey, as Cassandra, whole-length standing. Sotheby’s, New York, 11 January 1995, lot 163. Exhibited RA 1786 (616). Copy sold Christie’s, 15 March 1798, lot 44 after the original by Mr Hickey in the collection of Earl Fitzwilliam.
Watercolour by William Hamilton, whole length, a book in her right hand. Victoria and Albert Museum (D.24).
1787
Paintings by Gilbert Stuart and John Downman, see NPG 50 and NPG 2651.
Pastel by John Russell, half-length seated in white with silver-blue ribbons. Private collection (illus. Connoisseur, XV, 1906, f.p.145). Exhibited RA 1787 (156).
c.1787
Pastel by J. J. Masquerier, bust-length oval. Christie’s, 14 June 1977, lot 216.
1790
Portrait by J. Loggan, exhibited RA 1790 (685).
Pencil drawing by Thomas Lawrence, half length, left hand on chair back (illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists,exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 82). Etched by the artist, ‘an experiment which failed’ (K. Garlick, 'A Catalogue of the paintings, drawings and pastels of Sir Thomas Lawrence', Wal. Soc., XXXIX, 1964, p 243). Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
1790s
Drawing by Thomas Lawrence, profile, wearing a high-crowned hat. Garrick Club (G. Ashton, Pictures in the Garrick Club, ed. K. A. Burnim & A. Wilton, 1997, no.744). Engraved W. Nicholls 1810.
c.1790
Painting by John Opie, bust length. Private collection (illus. P. H. Highfill, K. A. Burnim & E. A. Langhans, A Biographical Dictionary of Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800, XIV, p 30; Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 42).
1791
Watercolour by William Hamilton, whole length as Jane Shore. Victoria and Albert Museum (D.25).
c.1791
Painting by Samuel De Wilde, whole length as Isabella in Garrick’s Isabella. Phillips, 21 June 1994, lot 37 (illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 17). Engraved W. Leney 1792 (illus. K. A. Burnim & P. H. Highfill, John Bell, patron of British Theatrical Portraiture, 1998, p 228).
1792
Bust by J. C. Rossi, exhibited RA 1792 (744).
1793
Painting by William Beechey, see NPG 5159.
Drawing by William Hamilton, whole length, wearing a cap. Christie’s, 14 December 1971, lot 54.
1794
A cast of a bust by Anne Seymour Damer, as Melpomene, with vine leaves in her hair, exhibited RA 1795 (733). Terracotta version, dated 1794, private collection (illus. Hidden Treasures, Oxford, 1993, p 47).
1795
See under 1784 Hone.
1796
Painting by Thomas Lawrence, half length in white. Private collection (K. Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence: a comlete catalogue of the oil paintings, 1989, no.715b). Exhibited RA 1797 (166). Engraved C. Turner 1826. Described by a contemporary as ‘unquestionably the most exact in point of similitude that has ever appeared of that admirable actress’ (W. T. Whitley, Artists and their Friends in England 1700-1799, 1928, II, p 214).
A second similar half length in a private collection (K. Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence: a comlete catalogue of the oil paintings, 1989, no.715d), possibly the ‘Lawrence’s ¾ head of Mrs Siddons’ which Farington noted (Joseph Farington, Diary, 17 May 1796) had pleased the Kemble family.
A third similar half length is in the Tate Gallery (N 785; illus. K. Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence: a complete catalogue of the oil paintings, 1989, no.715c; R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 7). Engraved J. Heath 1799. Enamel copy by Henry Bone 1798 (Royal Collection, R. J. B. Walker, The eighteenth and early nineteenth century Miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, 1992, no.786; preparatory drawings, dated 1798, in the NPG Bone albums (R. Walker, 'Henry Bone's Pencil Drawings in the National Portrait Gallery', Wal. Soc., LXI, 1999, nos.472-73, fig.151). Copies include those in the Museum of London and the Fogg Art Museum (1977.190). So-called Lawrence sketches sold Sotheby’s, 18 November 1981, lot 187; Christie’s, 29 January 1982, lot 88, and Sotheby’s, Bridge House, 14-15 July 1982, lot 36.
Bust by Thomas Banks, exhibited RA 1796 (873 Bust of Melpomene) identified in the True Briton, 26 April 1796 (P. H. Highfill, K. A. Burnim and E. A. Langhans, A Biographical Dictionary of Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800, Wal. Soc., XIV, p 66, no.362).
1797
Painting by G. F. Joseph, as The Tragic Muse, exhibited RA 1797 (203).
Drawing by Thomas Lawrence, bust-length profile. Private collection. Exhibited Lawrence, New Haven, Fort Worth, Richmond, 1993 (59). A replica in the Pierpont Morgan Library dated 1798.
1800
Bust by George Bullock, exhibited in the artist’s Birmingham studio 1800, possibly a wax (C. Wainwright, George Bullock, 1988, pp 145-6, no.73).
c.1800?
Chalk drawing attributed to Thomas Lawrence, half length. Private collection. A copy by Prince Hoare sold Sotheby’s, 1 August 1974, lot 247.
1802
Drawing by Samuel De Wilde, profile head dated 1 April 1802, on a sheet with other heads. Yale Center for British Art (B1975.4.1640). An undated chalk drawing by De Wilde, half length in profile with a lyre, exhibited De Wilde, Northampton, 1971 (57) from a private collection.
Bust by Benjamin Papera supplied to Wedgwood (R. Reilly, Wedgwood, 1989, II, p 457).
1803-4
Painting by Thomas Lawrence, whole length. Tate Gallery (N 188; illus. P. H. Highfill, K. A. Burnim and E. A. Langhans, A Biographical Dictionary of Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800, Wal. Soc., XIV, p 36; K. Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence: a complete catalogue of the oil paintings, 1989, pl.46). Exhibited RA 1804 (193). Engraved W. Say 1820. Fanny Kemble thought the portrait 'like a handsome cow in a coral necklace', but Mrs Siddons considered it 'more like me than anything that has been done' (W. T. Whitley, Art in England 1821-1837, 1930, p 218). A half length pastel copy in the Garrick Club (G. Ashton, Pictures in the Garrick Club, ed. K. A. Burnim & A. Wilton, 1997, no.747).
c.1804
Drawing by Thomas Lawrence, head, as the Tragic Muse. Private collection (illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 86).
1806
Miniature by Elizabeth Paye, exhibited RA 1806 (636).
1807
Drawing and medallion by John Henning, see NPG 5460.
1808
Colossal bust by George Bullock, exhibited RA 1808, no.916 (C. Wainwright, George Bullock, 1988, p 146, no.75).
c.1810
Plaster bust by Mrs Siddons herself. Victoria and Albert Museum (D.3329; illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 67 as c.1790; see also D. Bilbey with M. Trusted, British Sculpture 1470-2000, Victoria & Albert Museum, 2002, pp 358-59, where dated '1820s?'). A plaster with slight differences is in the Theatre Museum (S.86.1978).
Mrs Siddons began modelling in clay in 1789, assisted by her friend Anne Seymour Damer (T. Campbell, Life of Mrs Siddons, 1834, II, pp 166-7; R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 28). A medallion portrait was engraved W. Ridley 1796 as after a Medallion modelled by Mrs Siddons.
1812
Miniature by P. Henderson, exhibited RA 1812 (634).
Plaster by Joachim Smith. Drury Lane Theatre (illus. P. H. Highfill, K. A. Burnim and E. A. Langhans, A Biographical Dictionary of Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800, Wal. Soc., XIV, p 48; R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 27). Exhibited RA 1813 (916). Replica Guy’s Cliff (R. Gunnis, Dictionary of British Sculptors, 1968 ed., p 357) and a cast in the Royal Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-on-Avon.
c.1812
Life mask. Soane Museum (illus. L. Hutton, Portraits in Plaster, 1894, p 47; P. H. Highfill, K. A. Burnim and E. A. Langhans, A Biographical Dictionary of Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800, Wal. Soc., XIV, p 54, as ‘believed to have been taken about the time of her retirement’, i.e. 1812).
1813
Painting by G. H. Harlow, small whole length as Lady Macbeth. Garrick Club (G. Ashton, Pictures in the Garrick Club, ed. K. A. Burnim & A. Wilton, 1997, no.743; R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 11). Engraved R. J. Lane 1813. A preparatory drawing in a private collection is dated 1813; other drawings are in the Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif. (illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 88) and in a second private collection.
c.1814
Painting by G. H. Harlow, whole length as Lady Macbeth. Bob Jones University Greenville (illus. P. H. Highfill, K. A. Burnim and E. A. Langhans, A Biographical Dictionary of Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800, Wal. Soc., XIV, p 27; R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists,exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 87). Exhibited British Institution 1814 (93). Engraved C. Rolls. R. Cooper 1822. A reduced version in the Garrick Club (G. Ashton, Pictures in the Garrick Club, ed. K. A. Burnim & A. Wilton, 1997, no.742).
Pencil drawing by G. H. Harlow, half length, a book in her right hand. Private collection.
1819
Drawing by Peter Contencin, bust length in Murphy’s Grecian Daughter. Christie’s, 31 July 1979, lot 55. Two drawings attributed to Cotencin, heads in profile, are in a private collection.
Painting by Thomas Barber, exhibited RA 1819 (465).
1826
Chalk drawing by John Hayter, profile head. British Museum (1913.5.8.9).
1830
Painting by H. P. Briggs, three-quarter length seated, with Fanny Kemble. Boston Athenaeum. Exhibited RA 1832 (343). An oil study for the head of Mrs Siddons was with G. H. Willett, London, in 1920.
Undated
Watercolour by W. J. Newton, three-quarter length with her brothers Charles and J. P. Kemble. Sotheby’s, 17 January 1996, lot 216.
Posthumous
1843
Marble relief by Thomas Campell, see NPG 642.
1849
Marble statue by Thomas Campbell, Westminster Abbey, see NPG 642.
1897
Statue in white marble by L-J. Chavalliaud, whole-length seated, as The Tragic Muse. St Mary’s churchyard, Paddington Green, London (illus. A. Byron, London Statues: A Guide to London's outdoor statues and sculpture, 1981, p 196).
Doubtful Portraits
Painting by Romney (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; see A. Kidson, George Romney, exhibition catalogue, Liverpool, NPG, San Marino, 2002, no.105). Miniatures by Cosway including one engraved J. Brown 1862 as Mrs Siddons ‘aged 27’ (T. S. Whalley, Journals & Corr., I, 1852, f.p.361) and another in the Huntington Library, San Marino (from the E. M. Hodgkins collection).
Although Mrs Siddons was said to have been one of Hoppner’s first sitters (W. Sandby, History of the Royal Academy, 1862, I, p 308) such a portrait remains untraced.
A Wedgwood medallion (illus. R. Reilly and G. Savage, Wedgwood the Portrait Medallions, 1973, p 306).
This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, National Portrait Gallery, 2004, 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.
Mrs Siddons remained unmistakeable in her tragic roles, and many portraits and depictions of her in character are included below.
1780
Painting by William Hamilton, whole length as Euphrasia in Murphy’s The Grecian Daughter. Stratford Town Hall (illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 57). Exhibited RA 1780 (339). Engraved J. Caldwall 1788 and 1789. Reduced versions sold Sotheby’s, 16 February 1966, lot 127; Christie’s, 13 April 1927, lot 107, and in a private collection.
An unfinished head attributed to William Hamilton (Theatre Museum, D.76; G. Ashton, Catalogue of Paintings at the Theatre Museum, London, 1992, no.11) may have been a preliminary study, the head at the same angle as in the Reynolds of 1784.
1782
Drawings made at Bath by the thirteen-year-old Thomas Lawrence: half-length pastel as Zara in Congreve’s Mourning Bride, private collection 1964, engraved J. R. Smith 1783 (illus. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 44); a profile drawing, Beinecke Library, Yale University, probably the basis for the engraving by T. Trotter 1783 of Euphrasia in Murphy’s Grecian Daughter after Lawrence (illus. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, pp 60-1); bust-length oval in riding habit, engraved F. Jukes 1783 'from a crayon painting'; watercolour copy, inscribed By Horace Hone ARA from a Painting by Lawrence of Bath 1782, in the Garrick Club (G. Ashton, Pictures in the Garrick Club, ed. K. A. Burnim & A. Wilton, 1997, no.745).
Painting by William Hamilton, whole length with her eight-year-old son Henry, as Isabella in Garrick’s Isabella. Exhibited RA 1785 (98). Engraved J. Caldwall 1785 (illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 54). Versions formerly with Sir William Fitzherbert (exhibited Birmingham Midland Houses 1938, no.133); with Mrs R. Butler 1975, and Garrick Club dated 1784 (G. Ashton, Pictures in the Garrick Club, ed. K. A. Burnim & A. Wilton, 1997, no.749, from the Nettlefold collection). A bust-length version dated 1783, from Stanton Harcourt, is in a private collection (R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 8; see G. Ashton, Apollo, CXIV, 1981, pp 88, 92n3).
In the general enthusiasm to see this picture before it was finished ‘carriages thronged to the artist's door; and, if every fine lady who stept out of them did not actually weep before the painting, they had all of them, at least, their white handkerchiefs ready’ (T. Campbell, Life of Mrs Siddons, 1834, I, p 191; R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 28).
The same subject by Thomas Stothard engraved by W. Sharp 1783, echoes Hamilton’s composition (illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 54).
Painting by Thomas Beach, whole length as Melancholy from Milton’s Penseroso. Sotheby’s, 10 November 1993, lot 61 (illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 50). Exhibited Society of Artists, London, 1783 (24). Engraved W. Dickinson 1782.
Painting by Thomas Beach, half length holding a book. Auckland Art Gallery. Exhibited Society of Artists, London, 1783 (28). Engraved W. Ridley 1791.
Painting by J. K. Sherwin, half length as Euphrasia in Murphy’s Grecian Daughter. Theatre Museum (D.77; G. Ashton, Catalogue of Paintings at the Theatre Museum, London, 1992, no.10). Engraved J. K. Sherwin 1782 (illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 60) and W. Holl 1800. Another version in a Scottish private collection.
1783
Paintings by George Romney. Mrs Siddons sat to Romney between February and May 1783 (H. Ward & W. Roberts, Romney, A Biographical and Critical Essay with a Catalogue Rainsonné of his Works, 1904, II, pp 142-43). A whole length, bought from the artist in 1785, was subsequently cut down (see R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, pp 66-69, 93-94n73). Two half-length versions, leaning on her right hand, are in private collections, one showing ivy leaves in her hair (illus. P. H. Highfill, K. A. Burnim & E. A. Langhans, A Biographical Dictionary of Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800, XIV, p 6; A. Kidson, George Romney, exhibition catalogue, Liverpool, NPG, San Marino, 2002, no.104), the other a turban (Sotheby’s, 16 November 1983, lot 50) (both illus. J. Watson, Apollo, CXXXVI, 1992, pp 147, 149); a miniature copy of the latter belonged to Mme Belloc in 1893 (Sir George Scharf's Sketch Books, 127/67).
Another canvas by Romney, Sidonian Recollections, c.1785-90, shows three wildly tragic heads, Princeton University Art Museum (illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 45).
Painting by R. E. Pine, whole length as Euphrasia in Murphy’s Grecian Daughter, engraved C. Watson 1784 (illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 62).
Miniature by Richard Crosse, three-quarter length, hands clasped. Victoria and Albert Museum (P.146.1929; illus. Portrait Miniature in England, 1998, p 94, pl.63). Exhibited RA 1783 (334).
Enamel by William Birch, bust-length oval, as Isabella in Garrick’s Isabella. Christie’s, 3 December 1963, lot 146. Exhibited RA 1783 (325). Copy sold Phillips, 1 October 1986, lot 268.
Portrait by James Turner, exhibited Society of Artists, London, 1783 (297).
Painting by John Bateman, half-length oval profile. Engraved T. Burke 1783. Resembling Hone’s 1784 miniature.
Painting by Thomas Beach, whole length as Calista in Rowe’s Fair Penitent, exhibited Society of Artists, London, 1783 (25).
On 11 February 1784 Mrs Siddons told Lord Hardwicke that she was ‘much honoured by [his] wishing a resemblance of her, and will as soon as possible sit to Mr Collins [Richard Collins?], but at present she is under the hands of three painters which with her other avocations fully employs her’ (W. T. Whitley, Gilbert Stuart, 1928, p 35).
1784
Painting by Joshua Reynolds, whole length as the Tragic Muse. Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif. (21.2; D. Mannings, Sir Joshua Reynolds, I, 2000, no.1619; R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, pp 97-140; H. McPherson, Eighteenth-Century Studies, XXXIII, 2000, pp 401-30; R. Asleson & S. Bennett, Catalogue of British Paintings at the Huntington, 2001, no.79). Exhibited RA 1784 (190). First engraved F. Haward 1787. The pose derived from Michelangelo’s Isaiah or Domenichino’s St John the Evangelist (Glyndebourne), despite a wealth of Siddons anecdote; it was later used by De Wilde in his painting of her as Medea. A studio version dated 1789, painted for Noel Desenfans, is in Dulwich Picture Gallery (D. Mannings, Sir Joshua Reynolds, I, 2000, no.1620; R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, pp 128-36); a bust-length version was sold Sotheby’s, 22 April 1964, lot 31.
The numerous copies include those sold Christie’s, 12 July 1990, lot 82, from Langley Park; by Charles McLagan (Herbert Art Gallery, Coventry), by Mary, Lady Buckingham (private collection), and, reduced, by Moses Haughton 1799 (exhibited Mrs Jordan, Kenwood, 1995, no.39), and William Harness (Christie’s, 4 May 1922, lot 71); a three-quarter length copy belongs to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London; copies in miniature include those by Henry Collen (Christie’s, 27 November 1985, lot 162) and an enamel by J. Haslem (RA 1838, no.660); a small watercolour copy by Julia Knight 1837 sold Sotheby’s 24 September 1997, lot 379.
Silhouette by John Miers (illus. J. Woodiwiss, British Silhouettes, 1961, p 21). There were at least two other silhouettes by Miers, examples sold Bonham’s, 21 February 1996, lot 86, and illus. Country Life, XCVII, 1945, p 726.
Wedgwood plaque modelled by John Flaxman (R. Reilly and G. Savage, Wedgwood the Portrait Medallions, 1973, p 306; R. Reilly, Wedgwood Jasper, 1994, p 351). The model of the Queen in the Wedgwood chess set of 1783-85 was also said to derive from Mrs Siddons (R. Reilly, Wedgwood Jasper, 1994, p 188).
Enamel miniature by Horace Hone, half length. National Gallery of Ireland (7318; illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists,exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 20; P. Caffrey, Treasures to Hold, Irish and English Miniatures 1650-1850 from the National Gallery of Ireland Collection, 2000, pp 95-97). Engraved F. Bartolozzi 1785; G. H. Phillips 1825. A pastel copy by Thomas Lawrence, dated 1786 in the Tate Gallery (N 2222; illus. Pickpocketing the Rich, Bath, 2002, no.58) and a copy in enamel exhibited RA 1822 (554).
Closely related miniatures by Hone sold Sotheby’s, 4 December 1985, lot 201, dated 1785; and dated 1786, with oriental head dress and fur tippet, sold Sotheby’s, Geneva, 25/27 May 1993, lot 9 (illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 20).
Another half-length type, dated 1784, with the Royal Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon (illus. RS Theatre Gallery [1981], p 24).
Hone exhibited further miniatures of Mrs Siddons, RA 1795 (387) and RA 1804 (487 as ‘Mrs Siddons in the year 1785’).
c.1784
Miniature by Jeremiah Meyer. Sotheby’s, 11 July 1991, lot 277 (a silhouette by Miers on the verso).
Painting by William Hamilton, three-quarter length with a plumed hat as Zara from Congreve’s Mourning Bride. Sotheby's, 5 February 1947 (78). A half-length version sold Christie’s, 21 November 1975, lot 51.
‘Perhaps Mrs Siddons has given greater exertions to the pencils of artists than any lady in the dramatic world’ (Morning Herald, 12 March 1785)
1785
Painting by Thomas Gainsborough, three-quarter length seated with large black hat. National Gallery London (683; E. K. Waterhouse, Gainsborough, 1958, no.617, pl.250; J. Egerton, National Gallery Catalogue, The British School, 1998, pp 114-19). Drawing Cleveland Museum of Art (J. Hayes, The Drawings of Thomas Gainsborough, 1970, no.64; illus. J. Egerton, National Gallery Catalogue, The British School, 1998, p 116). After being acquired by the National Gallery in 1862 the portrait was much copied. First engraved R. Graves 1869. Copies include examples in the Theatre Royal, Bristol, and in the Folger Shakespeare Library (W. L. Pressly, A Catalogue of Paintings in the Folger Shakespeare Library, 1993, p 197); an enamel by W. B. Ford was exhibited RA 1863 (879).
Model in enamel for a gem by William Lane, exhibited RA 1785 (266).
‘Model in small for a statue executing in marble, with a likeness of Mrs Siddons’, by John Hickey, exhibited RA 1785 (637). See also 1786.
Portrait by Alexander Pope, exhibited RA 1785 (112).
c.1785
Painting attributed to Daniel Gardner, whole length in character with another actress. Mrs Hart sale, Christie’s, 28 November 1927, lot 85. An undated entry in a Gardner sketchbook listed a Mrs Siddons 3’ 9 x 2’ 11. A crayon portrait of Mrs Siddons as the Tragic Muse belonged to G. H. Gardner in 1856 (G. C. Williamson, Daniel Gardner, 1921, pp 48, 151-2).
Miniature by Richard Cosway, bust-length oval. Private collection (illus. ILN, 7 June 1890). In 1785 ‘Cosway’s delicate small whole length’ was nearing completion, probably the drawing of Siddons as Tragedy now in a private collection (P. H. Highfill, K. A. Burnim & E. A. Langhans, A Biographical Dictionary of Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800, VI, p 23; J. Egerton, National Gallery Catalogue, The British School, 1998, p 117).
Chalk drawing by David Martin, half length wearing broad-brimmed hat. National Gallery of Scotland (J. Egerton, National Gallery Catalogue, The British School, 1998, p 118).
1786
Painting by Thomas Beach, as Lady Macbeth three-quarter length, with J. P. Kemble. Garrick Club (G. Ashton, Pictures in the Garrick Club, ed. K. A. Burnim & A. Wilton, 1997, no.390). Exhibited RA 1786 (199); Beach exhibited a second portrait of Mrs Siddons alone in the same exhibition, no.381.
Statuette by John Hickey, as Cassandra, whole-length standing. Sotheby’s, New York, 11 January 1995, lot 163. Exhibited RA 1786 (616). Copy sold Christie’s, 15 March 1798, lot 44 after the original by Mr Hickey in the collection of Earl Fitzwilliam.
Watercolour by William Hamilton, whole length, a book in her right hand. Victoria and Albert Museum (D.24).
1787
Paintings by Gilbert Stuart and John Downman, see NPG 50 and NPG 2651.
Pastel by John Russell, half-length seated in white with silver-blue ribbons. Private collection (illus. Connoisseur, XV, 1906, f.p.145). Exhibited RA 1787 (156).
c.1787
Pastel by J. J. Masquerier, bust-length oval. Christie’s, 14 June 1977, lot 216.
1790
Portrait by J. Loggan, exhibited RA 1790 (685).
Pencil drawing by Thomas Lawrence, half length, left hand on chair back (illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists,exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 82). Etched by the artist, ‘an experiment which failed’ (K. Garlick, 'A Catalogue of the paintings, drawings and pastels of Sir Thomas Lawrence', Wal. Soc., XXXIX, 1964, p 243). Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
1790s
Drawing by Thomas Lawrence, profile, wearing a high-crowned hat. Garrick Club (G. Ashton, Pictures in the Garrick Club, ed. K. A. Burnim & A. Wilton, 1997, no.744). Engraved W. Nicholls 1810.
c.1790
Painting by John Opie, bust length. Private collection (illus. P. H. Highfill, K. A. Burnim & E. A. Langhans, A Biographical Dictionary of Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800, XIV, p 30; Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 42).
1791
Watercolour by William Hamilton, whole length as Jane Shore. Victoria and Albert Museum (D.25).
c.1791
Painting by Samuel De Wilde, whole length as Isabella in Garrick’s Isabella. Phillips, 21 June 1994, lot 37 (illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 17). Engraved W. Leney 1792 (illus. K. A. Burnim & P. H. Highfill, John Bell, patron of British Theatrical Portraiture, 1998, p 228).
1792
Bust by J. C. Rossi, exhibited RA 1792 (744).
1793
Painting by William Beechey, see NPG 5159.
Drawing by William Hamilton, whole length, wearing a cap. Christie’s, 14 December 1971, lot 54.
1794
A cast of a bust by Anne Seymour Damer, as Melpomene, with vine leaves in her hair, exhibited RA 1795 (733). Terracotta version, dated 1794, private collection (illus. Hidden Treasures, Oxford, 1993, p 47).
1795
See under 1784 Hone.
1796
Painting by Thomas Lawrence, half length in white. Private collection (K. Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence: a comlete catalogue of the oil paintings, 1989, no.715b). Exhibited RA 1797 (166). Engraved C. Turner 1826. Described by a contemporary as ‘unquestionably the most exact in point of similitude that has ever appeared of that admirable actress’ (W. T. Whitley, Artists and their Friends in England 1700-1799, 1928, II, p 214).
A second similar half length in a private collection (K. Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence: a comlete catalogue of the oil paintings, 1989, no.715d), possibly the ‘Lawrence’s ¾ head of Mrs Siddons’ which Farington noted (Joseph Farington, Diary, 17 May 1796) had pleased the Kemble family.
A third similar half length is in the Tate Gallery (N 785; illus. K. Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence: a complete catalogue of the oil paintings, 1989, no.715c; R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 7). Engraved J. Heath 1799. Enamel copy by Henry Bone 1798 (Royal Collection, R. J. B. Walker, The eighteenth and early nineteenth century Miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, 1992, no.786; preparatory drawings, dated 1798, in the NPG Bone albums (R. Walker, 'Henry Bone's Pencil Drawings in the National Portrait Gallery', Wal. Soc., LXI, 1999, nos.472-73, fig.151). Copies include those in the Museum of London and the Fogg Art Museum (1977.190). So-called Lawrence sketches sold Sotheby’s, 18 November 1981, lot 187; Christie’s, 29 January 1982, lot 88, and Sotheby’s, Bridge House, 14-15 July 1982, lot 36.
Bust by Thomas Banks, exhibited RA 1796 (873 Bust of Melpomene) identified in the True Briton, 26 April 1796 (P. H. Highfill, K. A. Burnim and E. A. Langhans, A Biographical Dictionary of Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800, Wal. Soc., XIV, p 66, no.362).
1797
Painting by G. F. Joseph, as The Tragic Muse, exhibited RA 1797 (203).
Drawing by Thomas Lawrence, bust-length profile. Private collection. Exhibited Lawrence, New Haven, Fort Worth, Richmond, 1993 (59). A replica in the Pierpont Morgan Library dated 1798.
1800
Bust by George Bullock, exhibited in the artist’s Birmingham studio 1800, possibly a wax (C. Wainwright, George Bullock, 1988, pp 145-6, no.73).
c.1800?
Chalk drawing attributed to Thomas Lawrence, half length. Private collection. A copy by Prince Hoare sold Sotheby’s, 1 August 1974, lot 247.
1802
Drawing by Samuel De Wilde, profile head dated 1 April 1802, on a sheet with other heads. Yale Center for British Art (B1975.4.1640). An undated chalk drawing by De Wilde, half length in profile with a lyre, exhibited De Wilde, Northampton, 1971 (57) from a private collection.
Bust by Benjamin Papera supplied to Wedgwood (R. Reilly, Wedgwood, 1989, II, p 457).
1803-4
Painting by Thomas Lawrence, whole length. Tate Gallery (N 188; illus. P. H. Highfill, K. A. Burnim and E. A. Langhans, A Biographical Dictionary of Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800, Wal. Soc., XIV, p 36; K. Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence: a complete catalogue of the oil paintings, 1989, pl.46). Exhibited RA 1804 (193). Engraved W. Say 1820. Fanny Kemble thought the portrait 'like a handsome cow in a coral necklace', but Mrs Siddons considered it 'more like me than anything that has been done' (W. T. Whitley, Art in England 1821-1837, 1930, p 218). A half length pastel copy in the Garrick Club (G. Ashton, Pictures in the Garrick Club, ed. K. A. Burnim & A. Wilton, 1997, no.747).
c.1804
Drawing by Thomas Lawrence, head, as the Tragic Muse. Private collection (illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 86).
1806
Miniature by Elizabeth Paye, exhibited RA 1806 (636).
1807
Drawing and medallion by John Henning, see NPG 5460.
1808
Colossal bust by George Bullock, exhibited RA 1808, no.916 (C. Wainwright, George Bullock, 1988, p 146, no.75).
c.1810
Plaster bust by Mrs Siddons herself. Victoria and Albert Museum (D.3329; illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 67 as c.1790; see also D. Bilbey with M. Trusted, British Sculpture 1470-2000, Victoria & Albert Museum, 2002, pp 358-59, where dated '1820s?'). A plaster with slight differences is in the Theatre Museum (S.86.1978).
Mrs Siddons began modelling in clay in 1789, assisted by her friend Anne Seymour Damer (T. Campbell, Life of Mrs Siddons, 1834, II, pp 166-7; R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 28). A medallion portrait was engraved W. Ridley 1796 as after a Medallion modelled by Mrs Siddons.
1812
Miniature by P. Henderson, exhibited RA 1812 (634).
Plaster by Joachim Smith. Drury Lane Theatre (illus. P. H. Highfill, K. A. Burnim and E. A. Langhans, A Biographical Dictionary of Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800, Wal. Soc., XIV, p 48; R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 27). Exhibited RA 1813 (916). Replica Guy’s Cliff (R. Gunnis, Dictionary of British Sculptors, 1968 ed., p 357) and a cast in the Royal Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-on-Avon.
c.1812
Life mask. Soane Museum (illus. L. Hutton, Portraits in Plaster, 1894, p 47; P. H. Highfill, K. A. Burnim and E. A. Langhans, A Biographical Dictionary of Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800, Wal. Soc., XIV, p 54, as ‘believed to have been taken about the time of her retirement’, i.e. 1812).
1813
Painting by G. H. Harlow, small whole length as Lady Macbeth. Garrick Club (G. Ashton, Pictures in the Garrick Club, ed. K. A. Burnim & A. Wilton, 1997, no.743; R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 11). Engraved R. J. Lane 1813. A preparatory drawing in a private collection is dated 1813; other drawings are in the Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif. (illus. R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists, exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 88) and in a second private collection.
c.1814
Painting by G. H. Harlow, whole length as Lady Macbeth. Bob Jones University Greenville (illus. P. H. Highfill, K. A. Burnim and E. A. Langhans, A Biographical Dictionary of Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800, Wal. Soc., XIV, p 27; R. Asleson ed., A Passion for Performance, Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists,exhibition catalogue, Getty Museum, 1999, p 87). Exhibited British Institution 1814 (93). Engraved C. Rolls. R. Cooper 1822. A reduced version in the Garrick Club (G. Ashton, Pictures in the Garrick Club, ed. K. A. Burnim & A. Wilton, 1997, no.742).
Pencil drawing by G. H. Harlow, half length, a book in her right hand. Private collection.
1819
Drawing by Peter Contencin, bust length in Murphy’s Grecian Daughter. Christie’s, 31 July 1979, lot 55. Two drawings attributed to Cotencin, heads in profile, are in a private collection.
Painting by Thomas Barber, exhibited RA 1819 (465).
1826
Chalk drawing by John Hayter, profile head. British Museum (1913.5.8.9).
1830
Painting by H. P. Briggs, three-quarter length seated, with Fanny Kemble. Boston Athenaeum. Exhibited RA 1832 (343). An oil study for the head of Mrs Siddons was with G. H. Willett, London, in 1920.
Undated
Watercolour by W. J. Newton, three-quarter length with her brothers Charles and J. P. Kemble. Sotheby’s, 17 January 1996, lot 216.
Posthumous
1843
Marble relief by Thomas Campell, see NPG 642.
1849
Marble statue by Thomas Campbell, Westminster Abbey, see NPG 642.
1897
Statue in white marble by L-J. Chavalliaud, whole-length seated, as The Tragic Muse. St Mary’s churchyard, Paddington Green, London (illus. A. Byron, London Statues: A Guide to London's outdoor statues and sculpture, 1981, p 196).
Doubtful Portraits
Painting by Romney (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; see A. Kidson, George Romney, exhibition catalogue, Liverpool, NPG, San Marino, 2002, no.105). Miniatures by Cosway including one engraved J. Brown 1862 as Mrs Siddons ‘aged 27’ (T. S. Whalley, Journals & Corr., I, 1852, f.p.361) and another in the Huntington Library, San Marino (from the E. M. Hodgkins collection).
Although Mrs Siddons was said to have been one of Hoppner’s first sitters (W. Sandby, History of the Royal Academy, 1862, I, p 308) such a portrait remains untraced.
A Wedgwood medallion (illus. R. Reilly and G. Savage, Wedgwood the Portrait Medallions, 1973, p 306).
This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, National Portrait Gallery, 2004, 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.