Early Georgian Portraits Catalogue
Thomas Gray (1716-1771), Classical scholar and poet
- Gallery portraits
- All known portraits
- Biography and References
A considerable body of material exists and much research was undertaken by Sir George Scharf and by the editors of Gray's correspondence, Leonard Whibley and Dr Paget Toynbee. Whibley's notes, produced in consultation with the late Sir Henry Hake and deposited in the NPG library, 1936, have been freely drawn on though not invariably followed. Valuable new material is provided by the contributors to the Yale edition of Horace Walpole's correspondence.
There is evidence that Gray was sensitive about his likeness and probably not easily persuaded to sit. Portraits in his lifetime derive from the painting by Eccardt, drawings by his friend the poet Mason who also dabbled in oils, and the silhouettes or shades taken by Francis Mapletoft, a fellow of Gray's college, Pembroke. A number of engravings by Basire were prepared for the author's works. Benjamin Wilson worked up oil portraits with some assistance from Mason and Nathan[iel] Drake of York. The Eccardt painted for Walpole stands on its own but is a work of charm rather than weight. The wonder is, since Gray sat probably only to one professional, Eccardt, that his features have come down to posterity at all, but as Scharf aptly states, there is no mistaking 'his birdlike countenance, with his round polished forehead, beaked nose and hawk-like eye'. [1]
The earliest likeness Mason's drawing still at Pembroke initialled W M in monogram and inscribed [cui] Spiritum Graiae tenuem Camenae/Parca non mendax dedit et malignum/spernere vulgus [2] ('to whom Fate promised at his birth (and kept her promise) the sweet slight whisper of a Grecian Muse - that, and indifference to vulgar judgements'). The portrait is a profile to the left, without wig, in which the poet looks younger than in any other; the engraving to the right, with wig (F. O'Donoghue and Sir Henry M. Hake, Catalogue of Engraved British Portraits ... in the British Museum, 1908-25, 3), also by Mason, W Mason fecit sibi et amicis, is very similar, though the sitter now looks older. It is possibly the etching mentioned by Gray in his letter to Brown, 1760, 'he has lately etch'd my head with his own hand'. [3] In his list of 1784 Walpole included 'Mr. Thomas Gray; etched from his shade by Mr. W. Mason'. [4] This might be the etching in his copy of the Poems, 1775. The print can be dated c.1756 from Walpole's annotation. [5] The portrait first etched by Doughty 'from an Original Drawing' for Mason's four-volume edition of the Poems, 1778 is similar. A drawing like this, profile to the left without wig, was at Sotheby's 30 April 1970, lot 23, [6] but despite an accompanying paper stating Gray the Poet done by himself/presented to Mr. Leake Stephens/with Mrs. Smith's compliments/January 20th 1828, it appears to be a copy.
Three silhouettes by Mapletoft, 'taken with an instrument for that purpose', [7] are known. Dated c.1760, 1761 and 1765, two are still at Pembroke and the third in the Fitzwilliam Museum. [8] Another, whole length, first published by Toynbee, 1928, from I. H. H. Gosset's collection at Windsor, [9] and attributed to Mrs Wray, wife of the antiquary Daniel Wray, was apparently taken in 1762. However, like the example published in 1894 when in the library of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, [10] it may prove to be the work of Miss Lucy Lind, daughter of Dr James Lind (1736-1812), a resident of Windsor. A rather similar silhouette, descended in the Wollaston family, may be due to the sitter's friendship with George Wollaston, FRS (1738-1826), but its authorship has yet to be established. Seen at the Gallery, 1972, it is one of a group of Cambridge personalities which includes the astronomer Roger Long (1680-1770), master of Pembroke from 1733 until his death, and the 2nd Earl of Hardwicke (see Hardwicke, 1st Earl, All Known Portraits).
Correspondence after Gray's death reveals that Mason was involved in the production of posthumous paintings by Benjamin Wilson and another composite image, an etching perhaps intended for the 1778 edition of the Poems. Referring presumably to a drawing or to one of Mapletoft's shades, altered, Mason wrote to Alderson, 13 December 1771: 'There is a shadow of Mr Gray cut out, with the eyes, mouth, etc. drawn upon it in large, which you will find in the book of blue paper, amongst prints etc. lying on the table in the closet where my books are. Pray send it by Benjamin, for Wilson is making a picture of him and I would willingly give him all the helps in my power.’ [11] About 11 August 1772, writing from York, Mason sent to Gray's friend, Dr Thomas Wharton, 'a small box wch contains the 2nd attempt I have made of Mr. Gray's Portrait wch I think is infinitely better in point of Likeness, as well as painting than the former - indeed as a Picture it owes its merit to another hand for when I had finished it myself in point of likeness, I got Mr. Drake, an ingenious Artist who lives here to soften the coloring & to finish the drapery background &c'. [12] The writer asks Wharton to keep the oil until it can be carried to London so that 'Wilson may correct his two larger pictures by it'. The painting has not been identified. It is tempting to suppose that the portrait in the Minster Library, York, traditionally given to Doughty and described to Hake, July 1939, as Gray by Mason, might prove to be the improved version, but in view of the poor quality, contrasted with Drake's known work, [13] it seems unlikely. Doughty's etching bears some resemblance to this oil, reversed, but no original oil is known and the ‘Original Drawing' has not been traced.
The first of Wilson's 'two larger pictures' is presumably the one bequeathed by Mason to his friend Richard Stonhewer [14] and by him to Pembroke College, where it still is. Engraved by Pollard after Wilson, a version was at Christie's, 29 July 1937, lot 160. It remains unclear whether the second is a repetition of the profile or, as Scharf suggests, perhaps the oil discovered in the collection of John Murray in 1894. [15] This is the only three-quarter face of the sitter and although, as far as is known, Wilson had access only to the profiles of Mason and the silhouettes, it would not be impossible for an artist of his skill to produce a convincing three-quarter portrait from these.
In a letter, 23 March 1774, discussing the profiles and the contrast between early and later years, Walpole wrote to Mason: 'I was on both sides; for your print, as the more agreeable; for Wilson's picture as extremely like, though a likeness that shocks one; there are marks, evident marks of its being painted after Gray's death - I would not hang it up in my house for the world.' [16] The print referred to would either be that engraved by Basire, used in the 1775 Poems, or less likely (from the context) Charles Carter's engraving described by Walpole as 'too cheerful' and showing too much 'vivacity'. [17]
A portrait of a youth owned, 1814, by 'Robinson Esqr of Cambridge' [18] when engraved by Hopwood (F. O'Donoghue and Sir Henry M. Hake, Catalogue of Engraved British Portraits ... in the British Museum, 1908-25, 15) and now in the Fitzwilliam, is said to represent Gray at the age of fifteen and to be by Richardson. Identification has yet to be proved. According to Toynbee and Whibley, it was left by the sitter to his cousin Mary Antrobus, afterwards Mrs Robinson. [19] While she was certainly a beneficiary, no pictures are mentioned in the will. [20] The attribution to Richardson is untenable. Pond has also been suggested. [21]
1) Scharf's notes, NPG archives.
2) Sir George Scharf's Sketchbooks, CVI, p 45; Horace Odes, 2. 16, 38-40, preceded by 'cui', as kindly indicated by A. V. Grimstone, Pembroke College (letter 27 August 1970, NPG archives).
3) Correspondence of Thomas Gray, ed. P. Toynbee and L. Whibley, 1935, II, p 706, letter 322.
4) H. Walpole, A Description of the Villa of Mr. Horace Walpole ... at Strawberry Hill, 1784, p 25.
5) 'from a drawing by Mr Mason, when Mr Gray was about 40', Horace Walpole's Correspondence, ed. W. S. Lewis, 1937-65, 28 (Mason, I), reproduced opposite p 98, a unique impression?
6) First seen there 16 December, 1958, lot 487.
7) The Works of Thomas Gray, ed. J. Mitford, 1835-43, I, p lxii, note.
8) J. W. Goodison, 'A Silhouette of Thomas Gray by the Rev. Francis Mapletoft', Apollo, September 1948, p 66.
9) Times, 30 October 1930, letter from P. Toynbee.
10) Athenaeum, 14 April 1894, p 483.
11) Horace Walpole's Correspondence, ed. W. S. Lewis, 1937-65, 28 (Mason, I), p 98, note 12.
12) Times, 25 September 1928, letter from P. Toynbee.
13) Information from J. Ingamells.
14) Stonhewer (d. 1809) secured Gray the chair of history and modern languages in 1768.
15) Scharf, 'A Newly Discovered Portrait', pp 251-52.
16) Horace Walpole's Correspondence, ed. W. S. Lewis, 1937-65, 28 (Mason, I), pp 140-41, and notes 9-11.
17) Ibid.
18) J. W. Goodison, Cambridge Portraits, 1955, I, p 83.
19) Correspondence of Thomas Gray, ed. P. Toynbee and L. Whibley, 1935, III, p 1310, note k, and Goodison, ibid, note a.
20) Ibid, pp 1283-86.
21) A portrait by him mentioned by the antiquary Jacob Bryant in 1798; see letter from R. W. Ketton-Cremer, Times Literary Supplement, 28 October 1948, p 697.
This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Kerslake, Early Georgian Portraits, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1977, 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.
There is evidence that Gray was sensitive about his likeness and probably not easily persuaded to sit. Portraits in his lifetime derive from the painting by Eccardt, drawings by his friend the poet Mason who also dabbled in oils, and the silhouettes or shades taken by Francis Mapletoft, a fellow of Gray's college, Pembroke. A number of engravings by Basire were prepared for the author's works. Benjamin Wilson worked up oil portraits with some assistance from Mason and Nathan[iel] Drake of York. The Eccardt painted for Walpole stands on its own but is a work of charm rather than weight. The wonder is, since Gray sat probably only to one professional, Eccardt, that his features have come down to posterity at all, but as Scharf aptly states, there is no mistaking 'his birdlike countenance, with his round polished forehead, beaked nose and hawk-like eye'. [1]
The earliest likeness Mason's drawing still at Pembroke initialled W M in monogram and inscribed [cui] Spiritum Graiae tenuem Camenae/Parca non mendax dedit et malignum/spernere vulgus [2] ('to whom Fate promised at his birth (and kept her promise) the sweet slight whisper of a Grecian Muse - that, and indifference to vulgar judgements'). The portrait is a profile to the left, without wig, in which the poet looks younger than in any other; the engraving to the right, with wig (F. O'Donoghue and Sir Henry M. Hake, Catalogue of Engraved British Portraits ... in the British Museum, 1908-25, 3), also by Mason, W Mason fecit sibi et amicis, is very similar, though the sitter now looks older. It is possibly the etching mentioned by Gray in his letter to Brown, 1760, 'he has lately etch'd my head with his own hand'. [3] In his list of 1784 Walpole included 'Mr. Thomas Gray; etched from his shade by Mr. W. Mason'. [4] This might be the etching in his copy of the Poems, 1775. The print can be dated c.1756 from Walpole's annotation. [5] The portrait first etched by Doughty 'from an Original Drawing' for Mason's four-volume edition of the Poems, 1778 is similar. A drawing like this, profile to the left without wig, was at Sotheby's 30 April 1970, lot 23, [6] but despite an accompanying paper stating Gray the Poet done by himself/presented to Mr. Leake Stephens/with Mrs. Smith's compliments/January 20th 1828, it appears to be a copy.
Three silhouettes by Mapletoft, 'taken with an instrument for that purpose', [7] are known. Dated c.1760, 1761 and 1765, two are still at Pembroke and the third in the Fitzwilliam Museum. [8] Another, whole length, first published by Toynbee, 1928, from I. H. H. Gosset's collection at Windsor, [9] and attributed to Mrs Wray, wife of the antiquary Daniel Wray, was apparently taken in 1762. However, like the example published in 1894 when in the library of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, [10] it may prove to be the work of Miss Lucy Lind, daughter of Dr James Lind (1736-1812), a resident of Windsor. A rather similar silhouette, descended in the Wollaston family, may be due to the sitter's friendship with George Wollaston, FRS (1738-1826), but its authorship has yet to be established. Seen at the Gallery, 1972, it is one of a group of Cambridge personalities which includes the astronomer Roger Long (1680-1770), master of Pembroke from 1733 until his death, and the 2nd Earl of Hardwicke (see Hardwicke, 1st Earl, All Known Portraits).
Correspondence after Gray's death reveals that Mason was involved in the production of posthumous paintings by Benjamin Wilson and another composite image, an etching perhaps intended for the 1778 edition of the Poems. Referring presumably to a drawing or to one of Mapletoft's shades, altered, Mason wrote to Alderson, 13 December 1771: 'There is a shadow of Mr Gray cut out, with the eyes, mouth, etc. drawn upon it in large, which you will find in the book of blue paper, amongst prints etc. lying on the table in the closet where my books are. Pray send it by Benjamin, for Wilson is making a picture of him and I would willingly give him all the helps in my power.’ [11] About 11 August 1772, writing from York, Mason sent to Gray's friend, Dr Thomas Wharton, 'a small box wch contains the 2nd attempt I have made of Mr. Gray's Portrait wch I think is infinitely better in point of Likeness, as well as painting than the former - indeed as a Picture it owes its merit to another hand for when I had finished it myself in point of likeness, I got Mr. Drake, an ingenious Artist who lives here to soften the coloring & to finish the drapery background &c'. [12] The writer asks Wharton to keep the oil until it can be carried to London so that 'Wilson may correct his two larger pictures by it'. The painting has not been identified. It is tempting to suppose that the portrait in the Minster Library, York, traditionally given to Doughty and described to Hake, July 1939, as Gray by Mason, might prove to be the improved version, but in view of the poor quality, contrasted with Drake's known work, [13] it seems unlikely. Doughty's etching bears some resemblance to this oil, reversed, but no original oil is known and the ‘Original Drawing' has not been traced.
The first of Wilson's 'two larger pictures' is presumably the one bequeathed by Mason to his friend Richard Stonhewer [14] and by him to Pembroke College, where it still is. Engraved by Pollard after Wilson, a version was at Christie's, 29 July 1937, lot 160. It remains unclear whether the second is a repetition of the profile or, as Scharf suggests, perhaps the oil discovered in the collection of John Murray in 1894. [15] This is the only three-quarter face of the sitter and although, as far as is known, Wilson had access only to the profiles of Mason and the silhouettes, it would not be impossible for an artist of his skill to produce a convincing three-quarter portrait from these.
In a letter, 23 March 1774, discussing the profiles and the contrast between early and later years, Walpole wrote to Mason: 'I was on both sides; for your print, as the more agreeable; for Wilson's picture as extremely like, though a likeness that shocks one; there are marks, evident marks of its being painted after Gray's death - I would not hang it up in my house for the world.' [16] The print referred to would either be that engraved by Basire, used in the 1775 Poems, or less likely (from the context) Charles Carter's engraving described by Walpole as 'too cheerful' and showing too much 'vivacity'. [17]
A portrait of a youth owned, 1814, by 'Robinson Esqr of Cambridge' [18] when engraved by Hopwood (F. O'Donoghue and Sir Henry M. Hake, Catalogue of Engraved British Portraits ... in the British Museum, 1908-25, 15) and now in the Fitzwilliam, is said to represent Gray at the age of fifteen and to be by Richardson. Identification has yet to be proved. According to Toynbee and Whibley, it was left by the sitter to his cousin Mary Antrobus, afterwards Mrs Robinson. [19] While she was certainly a beneficiary, no pictures are mentioned in the will. [20] The attribution to Richardson is untenable. Pond has also been suggested. [21]
1) Scharf's notes, NPG archives.
2) Sir George Scharf's Sketchbooks, CVI, p 45; Horace Odes, 2. 16, 38-40, preceded by 'cui', as kindly indicated by A. V. Grimstone, Pembroke College (letter 27 August 1970, NPG archives).
3) Correspondence of Thomas Gray, ed. P. Toynbee and L. Whibley, 1935, II, p 706, letter 322.
4) H. Walpole, A Description of the Villa of Mr. Horace Walpole ... at Strawberry Hill, 1784, p 25.
5) 'from a drawing by Mr Mason, when Mr Gray was about 40', Horace Walpole's Correspondence, ed. W. S. Lewis, 1937-65, 28 (Mason, I), reproduced opposite p 98, a unique impression?
6) First seen there 16 December, 1958, lot 487.
7) The Works of Thomas Gray, ed. J. Mitford, 1835-43, I, p lxii, note.
8) J. W. Goodison, 'A Silhouette of Thomas Gray by the Rev. Francis Mapletoft', Apollo, September 1948, p 66.
9) Times, 30 October 1930, letter from P. Toynbee.
10) Athenaeum, 14 April 1894, p 483.
11) Horace Walpole's Correspondence, ed. W. S. Lewis, 1937-65, 28 (Mason, I), p 98, note 12.
12) Times, 25 September 1928, letter from P. Toynbee.
13) Information from J. Ingamells.
14) Stonhewer (d. 1809) secured Gray the chair of history and modern languages in 1768.
15) Scharf, 'A Newly Discovered Portrait', pp 251-52.
16) Horace Walpole's Correspondence, ed. W. S. Lewis, 1937-65, 28 (Mason, I), pp 140-41, and notes 9-11.
17) Ibid.
18) J. W. Goodison, Cambridge Portraits, 1955, I, p 83.
19) Correspondence of Thomas Gray, ed. P. Toynbee and L. Whibley, 1935, III, p 1310, note k, and Goodison, ibid, note a.
20) Ibid, pp 1283-86.
21) A portrait by him mentioned by the antiquary Jacob Bryant in 1798; see letter from R. W. Ketton-Cremer, Times Literary Supplement, 28 October 1948, p 697.
This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Kerslake, Early Georgian Portraits, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1977, 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.