Later Stuart Portraits Catalogue
John Locke (1632-1704), Philosopher
- Gallery portraits
- All known portraits
- Biography and References
1672
Painting by John Greenhill, see NPG 3912.
1689
Painting by Herman Verelst, see NPG 3846.
c.1693
Painting by Michael Dahl, see NPG 114.
Drawing by Sylvester Brounower, see NPG 4061.
1696
Painting by Michael Dahl, see NPG 5385.
1697
Painting by Godfrey Kneller, bust-length, signed and dated. The Hermitage, St Petersburg (1345; J. D. Stewart, Godfrey Kneller, 1983, no.440; B. Allen & L. Dukelskaya eds., British Art Treasures from Russian Imperial Collections in the Hermitage, exhibition catalogue, New Haven CT, Toledo OH, Saint Louis MI, St Petersburg, 1997-98, no.6; A Capital Collection, Houghton Hall and the Hermitage, ed. L. Dukelskaya & A. Moore, 2002, pp 298-99, no.200), sold by the artist to Dr Alexander Geekie in February 1703 (Locke Corr., VII, no.3260), and engraved while in his collection by G. Vertue 1713, and when with Dr William Geekie (d. 1767) in 1738 (D. Alexander, ‘George Vertue as an Engraver’, Wal. Soc., LXX, 2008, nos 98, 787). A watercolour by Vertue ‘sketched from a painting and afterwards, not long before his decease, finished up from the life’, sold Christie’s, 20 October 1953, lot 306-3, was possibly used for the 1713 plate.
Possibly the Kneller portrait intended for William Molyneux, unfinished in November 1698 (Locke Corr., VI, no.2505). Vertue (G. Vertue, Notebooks, Wal. Soc., XXIV, 1936, p 112) recorded a copy of Geekie’s Kneller by Ranelagh Barrett.
Versions were formerly at Holland House (Catalogue of Pictures belonging to the Earl of Ilchester at Holland House, 1904, no.216; with Lord Ilchester 1957) and sold Sotheby’s, 5 February 1969, lot 60 (oval); others were at Ochertyre, Stirling; sold Christie’s, 30 July 1981, lot 185, and Sotheby’s, 18 December 1995, lot 141. A version belonging to Lord Masham was engraved by A. Walker. A medal by Jean Dassier (Medallic Illustrations of The History of Great Britain and Ireland, British Museum, cxxi/5; W. Eisler, The Dassiers of Geneva: Jean Dassier, 2002, p 268, no.6, illus. p 285) derived from this Kneller type.
A three-quarter-length elaboration at Christ Church inscribed Aet/72 lower left (Mrs R. L. Poole, Catalogue of Portraits in the possession of the University, Colleges, City and County of Oxford, III, p 39, no.94 listed in error as the 1704 pattern).
1699
Portrait by Du Moulin. On 20 October 1699 Benjamin Furley wrote to Locke from Rotterdam ‘you have had the goodness to answer my wives request, and have sit the first time, [Du Moulin] sollicits me for letters to severall of my friends to help him to work, but I know not who to write to upon that subject, If you know any that incline to be drawn, and he shall give satisfaction in his art, it would be act of charity to recommend the poor oppressed man …’ (Locke Corr., VI, no.2629).
c.1702
Portrait made for Dr Pieter Guenellon (1650-1722, a physician working mainly in Amsterdam) who wrote to Locke on 4 July 1702: ‘Comme nous souhaittions d’avoir votre portrait jay fait un effort de vous faire tirer sur les tailles douces dont vous nous avez honoré. Jy ay joint ce que je croyais y manquer … noté que le portrait est de grandeur naturelle’ (Locke Corr., VII, no.3155).
1704
Painting by Godfrey Kneller, see NPG 550.
Posthumous
by 1712
Two busts by Jan van Nost the elder in his sale, 17 April 1712: lots 49 ‘Mr Lock, a bust, lead’, and 63 ‘Dr Lock a Bust, big as the life’. A lead bust in the Yale Center for British Art (B1977.14.21) has been identified as by van Nost c.1700.
c.1718
Ivory bust by David Le Marchand, inscribed … Aetat 65. Lost (C. Avery, David le Marchand 1674-1726, 1996, no.69, and see pp 91-92). Formerly paired with a bust of Newton (C. Avery, David le Marchand 1674-1726, 1996, no.68). The Art Gallery of Ontario now has further carvings (each paired with Newton): the first, with slight differences, attributed to Le Marchand (C. Avery, David le Marchand 1674-1726, 1996, no.69a), the second, after Le Marchand, closer to the prime models (C. Avery, David le Marchand 1674-1726, 1996, nos. 69c). The type was modelled by Wedgwood c.1777-79 (illus. R. Reilly, Wedgwood, 1989, I, f.p.528).
c.1718?
Ivory profile medallion by David Le Marchand. Christie’s, 13 December 1994, lot 30 (C. Avery, David le Marchand 1674-1726, 1996, no.41).
c.1726
Stone bust by J. M. Rysbrack, unbuttoned tunic with drape. Stowe Temple of Worthies (illus. Stowe Landscape Gardens, National Trust, 1997, p 29; Apollo, CXLVIII, July 1998, p 33 as c.1726).
by 1733
Painting by Thomas Gibson, three-quarter-length, right hand on book in lap, the head taken from Kneller’s portrait of 1697. Bodleian Library, presented by the artist 1733 (Sir George Scharf’s Sketch Books, 58:58; G. Vertue, Notebooks, Wal. Soc., XXVI, 1938, p 17; Mrs R. L. Poole, Catalogue of Portraits in the possession of the University, Colleges, City and County of Oxford, I, p 74, no.186; Catalogue of Portraits in the Bodleian Library by Mrs R. L. Poole completely revised and expanded by K. Garlick, 2004, p 205). A small copy is also in the Bodleian (Mrs R. L. Poole, Catalogue of Portraits in the possession of the University, Colleges, City and County of Oxford, I, p 75, no.187; Catalogue of Portraits in the Bodleian Library by Mrs R. L. Poole completely revised and expanded by K. Garlick, 2004, p 206).
1733
Marble bust by J. M. Rysbrack, with tunic collar fastened. Royal Collection, Kensington (illus. Country Life, CXI, 1952, p 218). One of the busts commissioned from Guelfi for Queen Caroline’s Grotto at Richmond, but executed by Rysbrack, see C. Giometti, Sculpture Jnl., III, 1999, pp 38-39; see also Clarke and Newton. A plaster in Trinity College, Cambridge, is described as a version of the bust of Locke formerly in the Richmond Grotto (M. Baker, ‘The Portrait Sculpture’ in D. McKetterick ed., The Making of the Wren Library, Trinity College, Cambridge, 1995, p 117n32). Corresponding casts, probably from the late 18th century, are at West Wycombe and Wimpole (the latter signed by P. Sarti of Dean Street; M. Baker, ‘The Portrait Sculpture’ in D. McKetterick ed., The Making of the Wren Library, Trinity College, Cambridge, 1995, p 118).
Marble bust, after Rysbrack, with open tunic and jacket beneath drape. Private collection, from Sotheby’s, 23 March 1971, lot 148. Versions showing two buttons at top of waistcoat in Glasgow Art Gallery; in the Gennings sale, Phillips, 26-27 May 1982, lot 220, and with J. Harte 1987. A damaged version with N. Kornbluth, 1982 (bearing an illegible inscription) and a plaster in the Yale Center for British Art (B1981.25.1991). Copies by E. H. Baily in Magdalen College (Mrs R. L. Poole, Catalogue of Portraits in the possession of the University, Colleges, City and County of Oxford, II, p 221, no.40) and the Bodleian Library (Catalogue of Portraits in the Bodleian Library by Mrs R. L. Poole completely revised and expanded by K. Garlick, 2004, p 207); a later plaster in the Athenaeum, London (H. Tait & R. Walker, The Athenaeum Collection, 2000, no.535). The type was modelled for Wedgwood c.1800 (illus. R. Reilly, Wedgwood, 1989, I, p 634; II, p 751).
Two plasters show a variant with an embroidered coat: in the Victoria and Albert Museum (A.84-1921; D. Bilbey, British Sculpture 1470-2000, a concise catalogue of the collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2002, no.191 as c.1750) and in the Yale Center for British Art (B1981.25.1988). A related painted plaster is in Oriel College, Oxford (Mrs R. L. Poole, Catalogue of Portraits in the possession of the University, Colleges, City and County of Oxford, II, p 85, no.18).
1743
Marble bust by Peter Scheemakers, wearing a large drape over buttoned shirt, signed. Trinity College, Dublin (A. Crookshank & D. Webb, Paintings and Sculptures in Trinity College, Dublin, 1990, pp 150-51, no.7; cf. I. Roscoe, ‘Peter Scheemakers’, Wal. Soc., LXI, 1999, no.167). The Scheemakers sale of 1756 included a marble bust of Locke (I. Roscoe, ‘Peter Scheemakers’, Wal. Soc., LXI, 1999, no.138).
1749
Bronzed plaster statuette by John Cheere, a quill in his right hand writing in a book on a pedestal by his side, dated. York Art Gallery, from Kirkleatham (T. Friedman & T. Clifford, The Man at Hyde Park Corner, exhibition catalogue, Temple Newsam, Leeds, and Marble Hill, Twickenham, 1974, no.72, pl.27). A lead version sold Sotheby’s, 9 November 1999, lot 65. Cheere listed Locke among his stock statues in a letter of 1754.
1757
Marble statue by J. M. Rysbrack, holding a book against his right thigh, his left hand at his breast. Christ Church, Oxford (Mrs R. L. Poole, Catalogue of Portraits in the possession of the University, Colleges, City and County of Oxford, III, p 40, no.96; J. D. Stewart, Burlington Magazine, CXX, 1994, pp 219-20, illus. p 214). A related terracotta bust of 1755, made for Sir Edward Littleton, sold by Spink in 1932, is now at Welbeck (illus. K. A. M. Esdaile, Art of John Michael Rysbrack in terracotta; illustrated catalogue, 1932, pl.v, f.p.20; see M. I. Webb, Michael Rysbrack, 1954, pp 193, 220), and a terracotta modello of 1755 is in the Victoria and Albert Museum (33-1867; D. Bilbey, British Sculpture 1470-2000, a concise catalogue of the collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, no.192).
Later posthumous portraits include:
Bust by Richard Parker c.1770 at Ashburnham Place, among a set of library busts based on works by Roubiliac and Rysbrack.
An unattributed terracotta statuette of c.1775, wearing a gown and holding a book in his left hand across his body, is in the Yale Center for British Art (B1981.25.1990).
Wedgwood produced two medallion portraits of Locke c.1779 (R. Reilly & G. Savage, Wedgwood, the Portrait Medallions, 1973, pp 217-18), and see under c.1718 above.
A wax medallion by Samuel Percy was in the Harcourt sale, 10 June 1993, lot 240 (and see E. J. Pyke, A Biographical Dictionary of Wax Modellers, 1973).
A statuette and busts of three sizes by Charles Harris were offered from stock c.1790 (Catalogue of Statues, Bas Reliefs, Bustos, &c. of Charles Harris, statuary, Opposite to the new Church in the Strand, LONDON, n.d.).
Nineteenth-century statues include those by Richard Westmacott 1834 for University College, London (a plaster cast at Woburn), and by William Theed the younger 1869 for the façade of Burlington House, London. A bust by Edgar George Papworth 1862 is in the Shire Hall, Taunton.
History
A painted allegory of Locke, Robert Boyle and Thomas Sydenham, by Donato Creti, Carlo Besoli and perhaps N. Ferrajuoli, was one of a series of ‘monuments’ to recent ‘British Worthies, who were bright and shining Ornaments, to their Country’, commissioned by Owen MacSwinny c.1725-29. Bologna, Pinacoteca. A second version in the Cassa Risparmio, Bologna (E. Croft-Murray, Decorative Painting in England, II, The Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, 1970, p 242, no.23).
Doubtful Portrait
Vertue (G. Vertue, Notebooks, Wal. Soc., XXIV, 1936, p 174) listed from the Beale pocket book of 1661 ‘Locks picture 12ll’; probably another ‘Lock’.
This extended catalogue entry is from the National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Later Stuart Portraits 1685-1714, National Portrait Gallery, 2009, 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.
Painting by John Greenhill, see NPG 3912.
1689
Painting by Herman Verelst, see NPG 3846.
c.1693
Painting by Michael Dahl, see NPG 114.
Drawing by Sylvester Brounower, see NPG 4061.
1696
Painting by Michael Dahl, see NPG 5385.
1697
Painting by Godfrey Kneller, bust-length, signed and dated. The Hermitage, St Petersburg (1345; J. D. Stewart, Godfrey Kneller, 1983, no.440; B. Allen & L. Dukelskaya eds., British Art Treasures from Russian Imperial Collections in the Hermitage, exhibition catalogue, New Haven CT, Toledo OH, Saint Louis MI, St Petersburg, 1997-98, no.6; A Capital Collection, Houghton Hall and the Hermitage, ed. L. Dukelskaya & A. Moore, 2002, pp 298-99, no.200), sold by the artist to Dr Alexander Geekie in February 1703 (Locke Corr., VII, no.3260), and engraved while in his collection by G. Vertue 1713, and when with Dr William Geekie (d. 1767) in 1738 (D. Alexander, ‘George Vertue as an Engraver’, Wal. Soc., LXX, 2008, nos 98, 787). A watercolour by Vertue ‘sketched from a painting and afterwards, not long before his decease, finished up from the life’, sold Christie’s, 20 October 1953, lot 306-3, was possibly used for the 1713 plate.
Possibly the Kneller portrait intended for William Molyneux, unfinished in November 1698 (Locke Corr., VI, no.2505). Vertue (G. Vertue, Notebooks, Wal. Soc., XXIV, 1936, p 112) recorded a copy of Geekie’s Kneller by Ranelagh Barrett.
Versions were formerly at Holland House (Catalogue of Pictures belonging to the Earl of Ilchester at Holland House, 1904, no.216; with Lord Ilchester 1957) and sold Sotheby’s, 5 February 1969, lot 60 (oval); others were at Ochertyre, Stirling; sold Christie’s, 30 July 1981, lot 185, and Sotheby’s, 18 December 1995, lot 141. A version belonging to Lord Masham was engraved by A. Walker. A medal by Jean Dassier (Medallic Illustrations of The History of Great Britain and Ireland, British Museum, cxxi/5; W. Eisler, The Dassiers of Geneva: Jean Dassier, 2002, p 268, no.6, illus. p 285) derived from this Kneller type.
A three-quarter-length elaboration at Christ Church inscribed Aet/72 lower left (Mrs R. L. Poole, Catalogue of Portraits in the possession of the University, Colleges, City and County of Oxford, III, p 39, no.94 listed in error as the 1704 pattern).
1699
Portrait by Du Moulin. On 20 October 1699 Benjamin Furley wrote to Locke from Rotterdam ‘you have had the goodness to answer my wives request, and have sit the first time, [Du Moulin] sollicits me for letters to severall of my friends to help him to work, but I know not who to write to upon that subject, If you know any that incline to be drawn, and he shall give satisfaction in his art, it would be act of charity to recommend the poor oppressed man …’ (Locke Corr., VI, no.2629).
c.1702
Portrait made for Dr Pieter Guenellon (1650-1722, a physician working mainly in Amsterdam) who wrote to Locke on 4 July 1702: ‘Comme nous souhaittions d’avoir votre portrait jay fait un effort de vous faire tirer sur les tailles douces dont vous nous avez honoré. Jy ay joint ce que je croyais y manquer … noté que le portrait est de grandeur naturelle’ (Locke Corr., VII, no.3155).
1704
Painting by Godfrey Kneller, see NPG 550.
Posthumous
by 1712
Two busts by Jan van Nost the elder in his sale, 17 April 1712: lots 49 ‘Mr Lock, a bust, lead’, and 63 ‘Dr Lock a Bust, big as the life’. A lead bust in the Yale Center for British Art (B1977.14.21) has been identified as by van Nost c.1700.
c.1718
Ivory bust by David Le Marchand, inscribed … Aetat 65. Lost (C. Avery, David le Marchand 1674-1726, 1996, no.69, and see pp 91-92). Formerly paired with a bust of Newton (C. Avery, David le Marchand 1674-1726, 1996, no.68). The Art Gallery of Ontario now has further carvings (each paired with Newton): the first, with slight differences, attributed to Le Marchand (C. Avery, David le Marchand 1674-1726, 1996, no.69a), the second, after Le Marchand, closer to the prime models (C. Avery, David le Marchand 1674-1726, 1996, nos. 69c). The type was modelled by Wedgwood c.1777-79 (illus. R. Reilly, Wedgwood, 1989, I, f.p.528).
c.1718?
Ivory profile medallion by David Le Marchand. Christie’s, 13 December 1994, lot 30 (C. Avery, David le Marchand 1674-1726, 1996, no.41).
c.1726
Stone bust by J. M. Rysbrack, unbuttoned tunic with drape. Stowe Temple of Worthies (illus. Stowe Landscape Gardens, National Trust, 1997, p 29; Apollo, CXLVIII, July 1998, p 33 as c.1726).
by 1733
Painting by Thomas Gibson, three-quarter-length, right hand on book in lap, the head taken from Kneller’s portrait of 1697. Bodleian Library, presented by the artist 1733 (Sir George Scharf’s Sketch Books, 58:58; G. Vertue, Notebooks, Wal. Soc., XXVI, 1938, p 17; Mrs R. L. Poole, Catalogue of Portraits in the possession of the University, Colleges, City and County of Oxford, I, p 74, no.186; Catalogue of Portraits in the Bodleian Library by Mrs R. L. Poole completely revised and expanded by K. Garlick, 2004, p 205). A small copy is also in the Bodleian (Mrs R. L. Poole, Catalogue of Portraits in the possession of the University, Colleges, City and County of Oxford, I, p 75, no.187; Catalogue of Portraits in the Bodleian Library by Mrs R. L. Poole completely revised and expanded by K. Garlick, 2004, p 206).
1733
Marble bust by J. M. Rysbrack, with tunic collar fastened. Royal Collection, Kensington (illus. Country Life, CXI, 1952, p 218). One of the busts commissioned from Guelfi for Queen Caroline’s Grotto at Richmond, but executed by Rysbrack, see C. Giometti, Sculpture Jnl., III, 1999, pp 38-39; see also Clarke and Newton. A plaster in Trinity College, Cambridge, is described as a version of the bust of Locke formerly in the Richmond Grotto (M. Baker, ‘The Portrait Sculpture’ in D. McKetterick ed., The Making of the Wren Library, Trinity College, Cambridge, 1995, p 117n32). Corresponding casts, probably from the late 18th century, are at West Wycombe and Wimpole (the latter signed by P. Sarti of Dean Street; M. Baker, ‘The Portrait Sculpture’ in D. McKetterick ed., The Making of the Wren Library, Trinity College, Cambridge, 1995, p 118).
Marble bust, after Rysbrack, with open tunic and jacket beneath drape. Private collection, from Sotheby’s, 23 March 1971, lot 148. Versions showing two buttons at top of waistcoat in Glasgow Art Gallery; in the Gennings sale, Phillips, 26-27 May 1982, lot 220, and with J. Harte 1987. A damaged version with N. Kornbluth, 1982 (bearing an illegible inscription) and a plaster in the Yale Center for British Art (B1981.25.1991). Copies by E. H. Baily in Magdalen College (Mrs R. L. Poole, Catalogue of Portraits in the possession of the University, Colleges, City and County of Oxford, II, p 221, no.40) and the Bodleian Library (Catalogue of Portraits in the Bodleian Library by Mrs R. L. Poole completely revised and expanded by K. Garlick, 2004, p 207); a later plaster in the Athenaeum, London (H. Tait & R. Walker, The Athenaeum Collection, 2000, no.535). The type was modelled for Wedgwood c.1800 (illus. R. Reilly, Wedgwood, 1989, I, p 634; II, p 751).
Two plasters show a variant with an embroidered coat: in the Victoria and Albert Museum (A.84-1921; D. Bilbey, British Sculpture 1470-2000, a concise catalogue of the collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2002, no.191 as c.1750) and in the Yale Center for British Art (B1981.25.1988). A related painted plaster is in Oriel College, Oxford (Mrs R. L. Poole, Catalogue of Portraits in the possession of the University, Colleges, City and County of Oxford, II, p 85, no.18).
1743
Marble bust by Peter Scheemakers, wearing a large drape over buttoned shirt, signed. Trinity College, Dublin (A. Crookshank & D. Webb, Paintings and Sculptures in Trinity College, Dublin, 1990, pp 150-51, no.7; cf. I. Roscoe, ‘Peter Scheemakers’, Wal. Soc., LXI, 1999, no.167). The Scheemakers sale of 1756 included a marble bust of Locke (I. Roscoe, ‘Peter Scheemakers’, Wal. Soc., LXI, 1999, no.138).
1749
Bronzed plaster statuette by John Cheere, a quill in his right hand writing in a book on a pedestal by his side, dated. York Art Gallery, from Kirkleatham (T. Friedman & T. Clifford, The Man at Hyde Park Corner, exhibition catalogue, Temple Newsam, Leeds, and Marble Hill, Twickenham, 1974, no.72, pl.27). A lead version sold Sotheby’s, 9 November 1999, lot 65. Cheere listed Locke among his stock statues in a letter of 1754.
1757
Marble statue by J. M. Rysbrack, holding a book against his right thigh, his left hand at his breast. Christ Church, Oxford (Mrs R. L. Poole, Catalogue of Portraits in the possession of the University, Colleges, City and County of Oxford, III, p 40, no.96; J. D. Stewart, Burlington Magazine, CXX, 1994, pp 219-20, illus. p 214). A related terracotta bust of 1755, made for Sir Edward Littleton, sold by Spink in 1932, is now at Welbeck (illus. K. A. M. Esdaile, Art of John Michael Rysbrack in terracotta; illustrated catalogue, 1932, pl.v, f.p.20; see M. I. Webb, Michael Rysbrack, 1954, pp 193, 220), and a terracotta modello of 1755 is in the Victoria and Albert Museum (33-1867; D. Bilbey, British Sculpture 1470-2000, a concise catalogue of the collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, no.192).
Later posthumous portraits include:
Bust by Richard Parker c.1770 at Ashburnham Place, among a set of library busts based on works by Roubiliac and Rysbrack.
An unattributed terracotta statuette of c.1775, wearing a gown and holding a book in his left hand across his body, is in the Yale Center for British Art (B1981.25.1990).
Wedgwood produced two medallion portraits of Locke c.1779 (R. Reilly & G. Savage, Wedgwood, the Portrait Medallions, 1973, pp 217-18), and see under c.1718 above.
A wax medallion by Samuel Percy was in the Harcourt sale, 10 June 1993, lot 240 (and see E. J. Pyke, A Biographical Dictionary of Wax Modellers, 1973).
A statuette and busts of three sizes by Charles Harris were offered from stock c.1790 (Catalogue of Statues, Bas Reliefs, Bustos, &c. of Charles Harris, statuary, Opposite to the new Church in the Strand, LONDON, n.d.).
Nineteenth-century statues include those by Richard Westmacott 1834 for University College, London (a plaster cast at Woburn), and by William Theed the younger 1869 for the façade of Burlington House, London. A bust by Edgar George Papworth 1862 is in the Shire Hall, Taunton.
History
A painted allegory of Locke, Robert Boyle and Thomas Sydenham, by Donato Creti, Carlo Besoli and perhaps N. Ferrajuoli, was one of a series of ‘monuments’ to recent ‘British Worthies, who were bright and shining Ornaments, to their Country’, commissioned by Owen MacSwinny c.1725-29. Bologna, Pinacoteca. A second version in the Cassa Risparmio, Bologna (E. Croft-Murray, Decorative Painting in England, II, The Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, 1970, p 242, no.23).
Doubtful Portrait
Vertue (G. Vertue, Notebooks, Wal. Soc., XXIV, 1936, p 174) listed from the Beale pocket book of 1661 ‘Locks picture 12ll’; probably another ‘Lock’.
This extended catalogue entry is from the National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Later Stuart Portraits 1685-1714, National Portrait Gallery, 2009, 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.