Early Victorian Portraits Catalogue
William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863), Novelist
- Gallery portraits
- All known portraits
- Biography and References
This does not include photographs, caricatures or most of the self-portraits by Thackeray himself. The best sources for illustrations of Thackeray's portraits are, F. G. Kitton, 'The Portraits of Thackeray', Magazine of Art (July 1891), pp 289-95, and L. Melville, W. M. Thackeray (1910). The Thackeray Collection formed by Major Lambert was sold at the Anderson Galleries, New York, 25-7 February 1914.
1814
Drawing by G. Chinnery (with his parents). Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston.
Exhibited VE, 1892 (401). Reproduced H. and S. Berry-Hill, George Chinnery, 1774-1852 (1963), plate 25.
c.1824-5
Busts by and after J. S. Deville (see NPG 620).
1829
Drawing by J. Spedding. Collection of Mr Ball.
Reproduced G. N. Ray, Thackeray Letters, I, facing 74. A drawing by Spedding of 1831 in the same collection is reproduced Ray, I, facing 150.
1830
Water-colour by Mrs Musgrave. Exhibited Thackeray Exhibition, the Old Charterhouse, London, 1911 (35), lent by C. P. Johnson.
1832
Drawing by D. Maclise. Garrick Club, London.
Reproduced G. N. Ray, Thackeray Letters, I, facing 238. Exhibited Daniel Maclise, Arts Council at the NPG, 1972 (37).
1833
Drawing by D. Maclise. Garrick Club.
Reproduced Kitton, p 290.
1834
Drawing by himself. The Athenaeum, London.
Reproduced G. N. Ray, Thackeray: The Uses of Adversity (1955), plate VII.
1835
Water-colour by W. D'Egville. Collection of F. Sabin, 1911.
Drawing by D. Maclise. Collection of Major Lambert, sold Anderson Galleries, 1914 (lot 565).
Reproduced Melville, I, frontispiece.
'The Fraserians', engraving by D. Maclise, published Fraser's Magazine, XI (January 1835), between 2 and 3. Two related drawings are in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
c.1835
Miniature by an unknown artist. Pierpont Morgan Library, New York.
Copy exhibited Thackeray Exhibition, the Old Charterhouse, London, 1911 (40).
1839
Painting by F. Stone (NPG 4210).
c.1840
Drawing by D. Maclise (NPG 4209).
c.1842
Painting by L. Poyet (executed in France). Exhibited Thackeray Exhibition, the Old Charterhouse, London, 1911 (46), lent Messrs Pearson & Co. Reproduced H. Ward, History of The Athenaeum, 1824-1925 (1926), facing p 152.
1845
Drawing by E. Crowe. Collection of Major Lambert, sold Anderson Galleries, 1914 (lot 555).
Reproduced General J. G. Wilson, Thackeray in the United States (1904), I, facing 328.
1848
Drawing by Count A. D'Orsay. Collection of Major Lambert, sold Anderson Galleries, 1914 (lot 556).
Reproduced G. N. Ray, Thackeray Papers, II, facing 386, and elsewhere. Another drawing by D' Orsay also of 1848, is in the collection of Mrs Norman Butler, London. A copy of the head in the Lambert drawing, apparently by Thackeray himself, was sold Christie's, 9 March 1956 (lot 110).
Water-colour by R. Doyle. Scottish NPG.
Other sketches of Thackeray by Doyle are in the British Museum. Six sketches of Thackeray are reproduced Early Writings of William Makepeace Thackeray, edited C. P. Johnson (1888), pp 16, 27, 34, 47, 58, and facing p 61.
1849
Water-colour by E. D. Smith. Thackeray Exhibition, the Old Charterhouse, London, 1911 (50), lent by W. J. Williams. Reproduced The Sphere, 8 July 1911.
1850
Water-colour by W. Drummond. Collection of Major Lambert, sold Anderson Galleries, 1914 (lot 557).
Reproduced L. Melville, I, facing 308.
c.1850
Water-colour attributed to D. Dighton (on horseback). Collection of Major Lambert, sold Anderson Galleries, 1914 (lot 558). Reproduced Melville, I, facing 160. Dighton died in 1827.
1852
Drawings by S. Laurence (see NPG 725).
1853
Drawing by C. Martin. British Museum.
Reproduced as a coloured lithograph in C. Martin, Twelve Victorian Celebrities (1899), plate XI.
1854
Painting by E. M. Ward (in his study). Formerly collection of Major Lambert, now destroyed.
Reproduced Kitton, p 292. Exhibited RA, 1864 (404), where dated 18 (a misprint?), SKM, 1868 (531), Royal Jubilee Exhibition, Manchester, 1887 (797) and VE, 1892 (325), lent by Richard Hurst. Date, '1854', and inscription on back, recorded by Scharf, Sir George Scharf's Sketch Books (NPG archives), XCIX, 22. Sold Ward Sale, Christie's, 29 March 1879 (lot 8), and Hurst Sale, Christie's, 25 April 1899 (lot 126), bought Gribble.
1855
Painting by J. Lambdin (executed in USA). Collection of Major Lambert, sold Anderson Galleries, 1914 (lot 554), reproduced sale catalogue, facing p 90.
1857
Drawing by Sir H. Thompson. Collection of Major Lambert, sold Anderson Galleries, 1914 (lot 567).
Water-colour attributed to D. Maclise. Collection of Major Lambert, sold Anderson Galleries, 1914 (lot 564). Reproduced Melville, II, frontispiece.
Drawing by Sir E. Landseer (NPG 3925).
Drawing by an unknown artist. Thackeray Exhibition, the Old Charterhouse, 1911 (61), lent by W. T. Spencer.
1859
Water-colour by S. Lover. Thackeray Exhibition, Grolier Club, New York, 1912 (144).
1860
Drawing by C. S. Keene. Collection of the Ritchie family.
c.1860
Painting attributed to F. Leighton. Sold Anderson Galleries, New York, 7 February 1922 (lot 248).
1861
Drawing by F. Walker (at a play). Collection of Mrs Ritchie.
Reproduced The Cornhill, February 1861, and elsewhere.
1863
Drawing by E. Goodwyn Lewis. Kensington Public Library.
Reproduced Melville, II, facing 16.
Death mask by Brucciani & Co (NPG 1501).
1864
Drawing by Sir J. E. Millais, from memory. Collection of the Ritchie family.
Exhibited VE, 1892 (502), and Thackeray Exhibition, Old Charterhouse, London, 1911 (i). Reproduced E. Gosse, English Literature: Illustrated Record, IV (1903), 277.
Bust by J. Durham (NPG 495).
Painting by Sir J. Gilbert. Garrick Club, London.
Reproduced Kitton, p 194. Reproduced as a lithograph in A Gallery of Illustrious Literary Characters, edited by W. Bates (1873), facing p 222.
Statuette by Sir J. Boehm (NPG 1282).
Woodcut published ILN, XLIV (1864), 33.
c.1864
Bust by J. Williamson. Exhibited RA, 1864 (968).
c.1866
Bust by Baron C. Marochetti (later altered by E. Onslow Ford). Poets Corner, Westminster Abbey. Reproduced as a woodcut, before alteration, ILN, XLVIII (1866), 401, and, after alteration, J. G. Wilson, Thackeray in the United States (1904), II, facing 114. A plaster cast of the original bust, and a marble copy by H. Wernher of the altered bust were in the collection of Major Lambert, sold Anderson Galleries, 1914 (lots 572 and 573 the latter was sold again, Anderson Galleries, 6-7 February 1922 (lot 247), reproduced sale catalogue, frontispiece).
c.1867
Bust by N. N. Burnard (NPG 738).
1896
Bronze plaque by R. B. Goddard. Collection of Major Lambert, sold Anderson Galleries, 1914 (lot 562).
1900
Painting by W. Lockhart Bogle. Trinity College, Cambridge.
1911
Marble bust by L. Jennings. Thackeray Memorial, Calcutta.
Model exhibited Thackeray Exhibition, the Old Charterhouse, London, 1911 (81), and RA, 1911 (1834).
Bronze bas-relief by Margaret Parsons. Exhibited Thackeray Exhibition, 1911 (80), lent by the artist.
Undated
Painting attributed to D. Maclise. Collection of S. Causley.
Exhibited Thackeray Exhibition, the Old Charterhouse, London, 1911 (36).
Painting attributed to D. Maclise (after a photograph). Offered to NPG, 1948. Either this or the photograph was etched anonymously (example in NPG).
Water-colour by himself (lecturing). Henry E. Huntington Library, USA.
Marble bust by an unknown artist. Collection of W. McCullough-Torrens, 1866.
Drawing by H. Furniss. Reproduced Furniss, The Two Pins Club (1925), p 54.
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.
1814
Drawing by G. Chinnery (with his parents). Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston.
Exhibited VE, 1892 (401). Reproduced H. and S. Berry-Hill, George Chinnery, 1774-1852 (1963), plate 25.
c.1824-5
Busts by and after J. S. Deville (see NPG 620).
1829
Drawing by J. Spedding. Collection of Mr Ball.
Reproduced G. N. Ray, Thackeray Letters, I, facing 74. A drawing by Spedding of 1831 in the same collection is reproduced Ray, I, facing 150.
1830
Water-colour by Mrs Musgrave. Exhibited Thackeray Exhibition, the Old Charterhouse, London, 1911 (35), lent by C. P. Johnson.
1832
Drawing by D. Maclise. Garrick Club, London.
Reproduced G. N. Ray, Thackeray Letters, I, facing 238. Exhibited Daniel Maclise, Arts Council at the NPG, 1972 (37).
1833
Drawing by D. Maclise. Garrick Club.
Reproduced Kitton, p 290.
1834
Drawing by himself. The Athenaeum, London.
Reproduced G. N. Ray, Thackeray: The Uses of Adversity (1955), plate VII.
1835
Water-colour by W. D'Egville. Collection of F. Sabin, 1911.
Drawing by D. Maclise. Collection of Major Lambert, sold Anderson Galleries, 1914 (lot 565).
Reproduced Melville, I, frontispiece.
'The Fraserians', engraving by D. Maclise, published Fraser's Magazine, XI (January 1835), between 2 and 3. Two related drawings are in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
c.1835
Miniature by an unknown artist. Pierpont Morgan Library, New York.
Copy exhibited Thackeray Exhibition, the Old Charterhouse, London, 1911 (40).
1839
Painting by F. Stone (NPG 4210).
c.1840
Drawing by D. Maclise (NPG 4209).
c.1842
Painting by L. Poyet (executed in France). Exhibited Thackeray Exhibition, the Old Charterhouse, London, 1911 (46), lent Messrs Pearson & Co. Reproduced H. Ward, History of The Athenaeum, 1824-1925 (1926), facing p 152.
1845
Drawing by E. Crowe. Collection of Major Lambert, sold Anderson Galleries, 1914 (lot 555).
Reproduced General J. G. Wilson, Thackeray in the United States (1904), I, facing 328.
1848
Drawing by Count A. D'Orsay. Collection of Major Lambert, sold Anderson Galleries, 1914 (lot 556).
Reproduced G. N. Ray, Thackeray Papers, II, facing 386, and elsewhere. Another drawing by D' Orsay also of 1848, is in the collection of Mrs Norman Butler, London. A copy of the head in the Lambert drawing, apparently by Thackeray himself, was sold Christie's, 9 March 1956 (lot 110).
Water-colour by R. Doyle. Scottish NPG.
Other sketches of Thackeray by Doyle are in the British Museum. Six sketches of Thackeray are reproduced Early Writings of William Makepeace Thackeray, edited C. P. Johnson (1888), pp 16, 27, 34, 47, 58, and facing p 61.
1849
Water-colour by E. D. Smith. Thackeray Exhibition, the Old Charterhouse, London, 1911 (50), lent by W. J. Williams. Reproduced The Sphere, 8 July 1911.
1850
Water-colour by W. Drummond. Collection of Major Lambert, sold Anderson Galleries, 1914 (lot 557).
Reproduced L. Melville, I, facing 308.
c.1850
Water-colour attributed to D. Dighton (on horseback). Collection of Major Lambert, sold Anderson Galleries, 1914 (lot 558). Reproduced Melville, I, facing 160. Dighton died in 1827.
1852
Drawings by S. Laurence (see NPG 725).
1853
Drawing by C. Martin. British Museum.
Reproduced as a coloured lithograph in C. Martin, Twelve Victorian Celebrities (1899), plate XI.
1854
Painting by E. M. Ward (in his study). Formerly collection of Major Lambert, now destroyed.
Reproduced Kitton, p 292. Exhibited RA, 1864 (404), where dated 18 (a misprint?), SKM, 1868 (531), Royal Jubilee Exhibition, Manchester, 1887 (797) and VE, 1892 (325), lent by Richard Hurst. Date, '1854', and inscription on back, recorded by Scharf, Sir George Scharf's Sketch Books (NPG archives), XCIX, 22. Sold Ward Sale, Christie's, 29 March 1879 (lot 8), and Hurst Sale, Christie's, 25 April 1899 (lot 126), bought Gribble.
1855
Painting by J. Lambdin (executed in USA). Collection of Major Lambert, sold Anderson Galleries, 1914 (lot 554), reproduced sale catalogue, facing p 90.
1857
Drawing by Sir H. Thompson. Collection of Major Lambert, sold Anderson Galleries, 1914 (lot 567).
Water-colour attributed to D. Maclise. Collection of Major Lambert, sold Anderson Galleries, 1914 (lot 564). Reproduced Melville, II, frontispiece.
Drawing by Sir E. Landseer (NPG 3925).
Drawing by an unknown artist. Thackeray Exhibition, the Old Charterhouse, 1911 (61), lent by W. T. Spencer.
1859
Water-colour by S. Lover. Thackeray Exhibition, Grolier Club, New York, 1912 (144).
1860
Drawing by C. S. Keene. Collection of the Ritchie family.
c.1860
Painting attributed to F. Leighton. Sold Anderson Galleries, New York, 7 February 1922 (lot 248).
1861
Drawing by F. Walker (at a play). Collection of Mrs Ritchie.
Reproduced The Cornhill, February 1861, and elsewhere.
1863
Drawing by E. Goodwyn Lewis. Kensington Public Library.
Reproduced Melville, II, facing 16.
Death mask by Brucciani & Co (NPG 1501).
1864
Drawing by Sir J. E. Millais, from memory. Collection of the Ritchie family.
Exhibited VE, 1892 (502), and Thackeray Exhibition, Old Charterhouse, London, 1911 (i). Reproduced E. Gosse, English Literature: Illustrated Record, IV (1903), 277.
Bust by J. Durham (NPG 495).
Painting by Sir J. Gilbert. Garrick Club, London.
Reproduced Kitton, p 194. Reproduced as a lithograph in A Gallery of Illustrious Literary Characters, edited by W. Bates (1873), facing p 222.
Statuette by Sir J. Boehm (NPG 1282).
Woodcut published ILN, XLIV (1864), 33.
c.1864
Bust by J. Williamson. Exhibited RA, 1864 (968).
c.1866
Bust by Baron C. Marochetti (later altered by E. Onslow Ford). Poets Corner, Westminster Abbey. Reproduced as a woodcut, before alteration, ILN, XLVIII (1866), 401, and, after alteration, J. G. Wilson, Thackeray in the United States (1904), II, facing 114. A plaster cast of the original bust, and a marble copy by H. Wernher of the altered bust were in the collection of Major Lambert, sold Anderson Galleries, 1914 (lots 572 and 573 the latter was sold again, Anderson Galleries, 6-7 February 1922 (lot 247), reproduced sale catalogue, frontispiece).
c.1867
Bust by N. N. Burnard (NPG 738).
1896
Bronze plaque by R. B. Goddard. Collection of Major Lambert, sold Anderson Galleries, 1914 (lot 562).
1900
Painting by W. Lockhart Bogle. Trinity College, Cambridge.
1911
Marble bust by L. Jennings. Thackeray Memorial, Calcutta.
Model exhibited Thackeray Exhibition, the Old Charterhouse, London, 1911 (81), and RA, 1911 (1834).
Bronze bas-relief by Margaret Parsons. Exhibited Thackeray Exhibition, 1911 (80), lent by the artist.
Undated
Painting attributed to D. Maclise. Collection of S. Causley.
Exhibited Thackeray Exhibition, the Old Charterhouse, London, 1911 (36).
Painting attributed to D. Maclise (after a photograph). Offered to NPG, 1948. Either this or the photograph was etched anonymously (example in NPG).
Water-colour by himself (lecturing). Henry E. Huntington Library, USA.
Marble bust by an unknown artist. Collection of W. McCullough-Torrens, 1866.
Drawing by H. Furniss. Reproduced Furniss, The Two Pins Club (1925), p 54.
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.