Mid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue
Thomas Paine (1737-1809), Author of 'The Rights of Man'
- Gallery portraits
- All known portraits
- Biography and References
Paine’s biographer, Moncure D. Conway, became much involved with his iconography, although he did not see his way too clearly; his accounts were published in his Thomas Paine, 1892, II, pp 473-81; The Athenaeum, 26 June 1897, The Freethinker, 3 October 1897, and The Truth Seeker, 29 January 1898 (all in NPG archive).
In America
1779-80
Painting by C. W. Peale, three-quarter length seated at table, holding sheet inscribed To the Cause of Liberty and my Country. Commissioned by Henry Laurens 1779 and taken in August 1780 to London, where engraved J. Watson 1783 and W. Angus 1791. A replica in the Peale Museum 1784, remains untraced (Peale Papers, I, 1983, pp 468n2, 635n). There were apparently at least two other versions: one engraved 1791 (published J. Ridgway, London) as ‘The Picture by Peel of Philadelphia in the Possession of T. B. Hollis Esqr.’, and M. D. Conway, in The Athenaeum, 26 June 1897, p 848, stated that another belonging to Joseph Jefferson had been destroyed by fire.
A related drawing inscribed A Drawing from which Mr Bassett engraved his plate. I knew Thomas Paine, and positively declare this to be a great likeness Geo B Ba..rell, Thetford, is in the Norfolk County Library.
In England
Mather Brown was commissioned by Thomas Jefferson in 1787 to paint Paine, but apparently didn't (D. Evans, Mather Brown: an early American artist in England, 1982, no.137).
1788
Miniature by John Trumbull, bust length. Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Monticello, Charlottesville. Painted for Thomas Jefferson.
1792
Painting by George Romney, see under NPG 897.
Ink and wash drawing by Samuel Collings, three-quarter length seated with an open copy of the Rights of M. NPG Washington (9043). Engraved J. Barlow 1792 as Collings ad vivum delt.
In Paris
1792
Engraving by ‘Pelegrini’ [?D. Pellegrini], Louis XVI’s address to the Bar 26 December 1792, in which Paine appears in the crowded Convention wearing a top hat (illus. J. Keane, Tom Paine, 1996, f.p.410).
1793
Medal (illus. L. Brown, A Catalogue of British Historical Medals 1760-1960: The Accession of George III to the Death of William IV, 1980, no.365). Possibly modelled by Samuel Percy in whose sale, Christie’s, 31 January 1800, there was a wax portrait of Paine (R. Gunnis, Dictionary of British Sculptors, 1968 ed., p 300).
c.1793
Drawing by C. Schule, half length; engraved A. Schule (illus. J. Keane, Tom Paine, 1996, f.p.410).
1796
Anon. engraving, standing pointing to a scroll lettered The Rights of Man (for Baxter’s History of England).
1800
Miniature by H. Richards, rather stout, broad-faced, engraved K. Mackenzie (M. D. Conway, Thomas Paine, 1892, II, p 478).
In America
1803
Drawing ‘done from the Life in America 1803’, profile bust caricature, engraved J. Godby 1805 (illus. J. Keane, Tom Paine, 1996, f.p.410, as from a drawing by Edward Stacey).
1805
Painting by J. W. Jarvis, half length. National Gallery Washington (1058), illus. American Paintings, an illustrated cat., 1980, p 182. Engraved J. R. Ames. Version sold Christie’s, 8 January 1894, lot 86.
1806-07
Drawing by William Constable showing ‘the ravages of age’. Dr C. J. Grece, Redhill, in 1892 (M. D. Conway, Thomas Paine, 1892, II, p 479).
Posthumous
1809
Death mask taken by J. W. Jarvis, the nose somewhat distorted. New-York Historical Society, a cast with the Norfolk Museums Service (illus. Harper’s Mag., XXIV, 1892, p 912; Family and Friends, Norwich, 1992, p 140).
Plaster bust by J. W. Jarvis, derived from his painting, the death mask, and memory. New York Historical Society (illus. Cat. of American Portraits, 1974, II, p 596).
1964
Bronze statue by Charles Wheeler. Thetford (illus. Country Life, CXXXV, 1964, p 1422).
1997
Bronze figure by Lawrence Holofcener. Sotheby’s, 14 July 1999, lot 65.
Doubtful Portraits
Painting, formerly attributed to William Owen, inscribed Thomas Paine London 1790, sold Sotheby’s, 8 May 1951, lot 354; another attributed to Owen, sold Sotheby’s, 25 September 1974, lot 114; drawing attributed to A. de Saint-Aubin in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (PD.101-1961); watercolour, inscribed Thomas Paine A Drawing from the life/taken at New York Octr 1783, with B. F. Stevens & Brown in 1942. A wax seal, profile head to right, purporting to show Paine c.1772 remains a curiosity (illus. M. D. Conway, Thomas Paine, 1892, II, front., and see I, p 33).
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.
In America
1779-80
Painting by C. W. Peale, three-quarter length seated at table, holding sheet inscribed To the Cause of Liberty and my Country. Commissioned by Henry Laurens 1779 and taken in August 1780 to London, where engraved J. Watson 1783 and W. Angus 1791. A replica in the Peale Museum 1784, remains untraced (Peale Papers, I, 1983, pp 468n2, 635n). There were apparently at least two other versions: one engraved 1791 (published J. Ridgway, London) as ‘The Picture by Peel of Philadelphia in the Possession of T. B. Hollis Esqr.’, and M. D. Conway, in The Athenaeum, 26 June 1897, p 848, stated that another belonging to Joseph Jefferson had been destroyed by fire.
A related drawing inscribed A Drawing from which Mr Bassett engraved his plate. I knew Thomas Paine, and positively declare this to be a great likeness Geo B Ba..rell, Thetford, is in the Norfolk County Library.
In England
Mather Brown was commissioned by Thomas Jefferson in 1787 to paint Paine, but apparently didn't (D. Evans, Mather Brown: an early American artist in England, 1982, no.137).
1788
Miniature by John Trumbull, bust length. Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Monticello, Charlottesville. Painted for Thomas Jefferson.
1792
Painting by George Romney, see under NPG 897.
Ink and wash drawing by Samuel Collings, three-quarter length seated with an open copy of the Rights of M. NPG Washington (9043). Engraved J. Barlow 1792 as Collings ad vivum delt.
In Paris
1792
Engraving by ‘Pelegrini’ [?D. Pellegrini], Louis XVI’s address to the Bar 26 December 1792, in which Paine appears in the crowded Convention wearing a top hat (illus. J. Keane, Tom Paine, 1996, f.p.410).
1793
Medal (illus. L. Brown, A Catalogue of British Historical Medals 1760-1960: The Accession of George III to the Death of William IV, 1980, no.365). Possibly modelled by Samuel Percy in whose sale, Christie’s, 31 January 1800, there was a wax portrait of Paine (R. Gunnis, Dictionary of British Sculptors, 1968 ed., p 300).
c.1793
Drawing by C. Schule, half length; engraved A. Schule (illus. J. Keane, Tom Paine, 1996, f.p.410).
1796
Anon. engraving, standing pointing to a scroll lettered The Rights of Man (for Baxter’s History of England).
1800
Miniature by H. Richards, rather stout, broad-faced, engraved K. Mackenzie (M. D. Conway, Thomas Paine, 1892, II, p 478).
In America
1803
Drawing ‘done from the Life in America 1803’, profile bust caricature, engraved J. Godby 1805 (illus. J. Keane, Tom Paine, 1996, f.p.410, as from a drawing by Edward Stacey).
1805
Painting by J. W. Jarvis, half length. National Gallery Washington (1058), illus. American Paintings, an illustrated cat., 1980, p 182. Engraved J. R. Ames. Version sold Christie’s, 8 January 1894, lot 86.
1806-07
Drawing by William Constable showing ‘the ravages of age’. Dr C. J. Grece, Redhill, in 1892 (M. D. Conway, Thomas Paine, 1892, II, p 479).
Posthumous
1809
Death mask taken by J. W. Jarvis, the nose somewhat distorted. New-York Historical Society, a cast with the Norfolk Museums Service (illus. Harper’s Mag., XXIV, 1892, p 912; Family and Friends, Norwich, 1992, p 140).
Plaster bust by J. W. Jarvis, derived from his painting, the death mask, and memory. New York Historical Society (illus. Cat. of American Portraits, 1974, II, p 596).
1964
Bronze statue by Charles Wheeler. Thetford (illus. Country Life, CXXXV, 1964, p 1422).
1997
Bronze figure by Lawrence Holofcener. Sotheby’s, 14 July 1999, lot 65.
Doubtful Portraits
Painting, formerly attributed to William Owen, inscribed Thomas Paine London 1790, sold Sotheby’s, 8 May 1951, lot 354; another attributed to Owen, sold Sotheby’s, 25 September 1974, lot 114; drawing attributed to A. de Saint-Aubin in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (PD.101-1961); watercolour, inscribed Thomas Paine A Drawing from the life/taken at New York Octr 1783, with B. F. Stevens & Brown in 1942. A wax seal, profile head to right, purporting to show Paine c.1772 remains a curiosity (illus. M. D. Conway, Thomas Paine, 1892, II, front., and see I, p 33).
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.