Later Victorian Portraits Catalogue

Paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints
Posthumous portraits
Photographs

Paintings, drawings, sculptures and printsback to top

1901
Caricature drawing by Fred Reynolds, signed, head drawn from full-face photograph (see below, ‘Photographs, before 1897, pose (c)), body as Little Jack Horner; untraced. Repr. Chemist and Druggist, 12 Oct. 1901, p.610, captioned ‘Jesse and his Pie’; and Chapman 1974, p.117.

1909
Oil on canvas by Noel Denholm Davis; see NPG L247.
Full-size autograph replica of same date; Walgreens Boots Alliance HQ, Deerfield, IL.
Undated contour line drawing by unidentified artist after Davis, reproducing sitter’s head and hand; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 10246.

c.1910
Oil on canvas by unidentified artist, half-length to left, seated, head turned to viewer, right hand to cheek, left hand resting on book; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, D122.

before 1913
Drawing by Joseph Simpson; no details. Ref. Daily Chronicle, 19 Sept. 1913.

1918
Oil on canvas by Noel Denholm Davis, signed, almost three-quarter-length to front, seated in wheelchair, hands on lap with newspaper and spectacles; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham. Repr. Success magazine, c.1937, p.5; Jeremy 1984–6, vol.1, p.374; Beckett & Brand 1997, p.103 (where dated to 1919); and Nottingham Evening Post, Special Publication no.5, n.d., captioned ‘The portrait of Lord Trent that hangs in the University of Nottingham’. Also shown hanging in a photograph of the installation on 7 Jan. 1937, Nottingham Journal, 8 Jan. 1937, repr. Beacon, Feb. 1937, p.5.

Posthumous portraitsback to top

1934
Bronze bust by Charles Leighfield Jonah Doman; Nottingham University Boulevard, north side. Repr. Weir 1994, p.63; and Images of England website.
Version in unidentified medium (possibly painted plaster), over life-size; Walgreens Boots Alliance UK HQ, Nottingham.
The bust appears to have been modelled with reference to the as yet undated head-and-shoulders photograph portrait of the sitter with long hair (see below, ‘Photographs, before 1918’).

Photographsback to top

c.1883
Photograph by unidentified photographer, three-quarter-length to front, with mutton-chop moustache, seated on table, sister Jane seated to right; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 2225. Repr. Boots News, 2 Mar. 1977, p.3, dated to ‘about 1880’; and Weir 1994, p.31, captioned ‘Jesse and his sister Jane’.
Oval vignette perhaps from same session, head-and-shoulders to front; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 271, where dated c.1883. Repr. Chapman 1974, pl.3, captioned ‘As a young man, about 1880’; Nottingham Evening Post, 2 Nov. 1990, p.6; and Weir 1994, p.22, captioned ‘Jesse in his early thirties’.

c.1892
Photograph by unidentified photographer, retouched vignette, three-quarter-length to front, smiling, hair in quiff and mutton-chop moustache, infant son John Campbell Boot in front; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 3582. Repr. Chapman 1974, pl.6a, captioned ‘A family photograph taken in 1892’. John is aged around 2 in this photo.

1894
Photographs by unidentified photographer at Castleton, Derbyshire, two known poses:
(a) whole-length standing, wearing plus-fours, with senior staff on preliminary visit, June 1894; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 4019. Repr. Bee, Sept. 1931, p.345, all sitters named; Chapman 1974, pl.5, captioned ‘With his managers on a works outing to Castleton in 1892’; and Boots News, 2 Mar. 1977, p.3.
(b) in large group of company employees on Bank Holiday excursion, 6 Aug. 1894; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 1250.
Note that the mutton-chop moustache has gone.

c.1895
Photograph by unidentified photographer, whole-length seated to right, right arm across body touching object on tray held by maidservant, in garden in front of summerhouse with family group and St Bernard dog; group includes Florence Boot, young daughters Dorothy and Margery, son John wearing sailor hat and three female servants standing; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham. Repr. Boots News, 2 Mar. 1977, p.3, caption stating it was taken ‘long ago’ at the Boots’ home in Blundell St, Nottingham (clipping in Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll.). John looks about age 5.

late 1890s
Photograph by unidentified photographer, whole-length to front, striding towards camera on grass court at his home, The Plaisaunce; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 2729/79. Repr. Nottinghamshire Today, Feb. 2006, p.46 (where dated).

Photograph by unidentified photographer, half-length seated at back of large group of men in formal dining room; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, Y36/36, where described as ‘a managers’ dinner’.

before 1897
Photographs by unidentified photographer, sitter wearing large bow-tie, four known poses:
(a) head and shoulders to front, leaning right, left hand to head; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 3338.
(b) vignette image, similar pose, head upright, in composite print with circular head-and-shoulders vignette of Florence Boot; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 3333. Repr. Weir 1994, p.31; and A History of Boots the Chemists, publicity brochure, 2009, p.30.
(c) half-length to front, arms crossed; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 10260. Repr. company newsletter Achievement, 1933, front page, marking opening of 1,000th store; and Achievement, 1938, captioned ‘The Founder’ (dated 1895 in Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll.); as oval vignette, head-and-shoulders, Chemist & Druggist, 30 Jan. 1897, p.163.
(d) vignette, head-and-shoulders near-profile to left; repr. Briscoe 1901, p.173; and Chapman 1974 (no page no.); see also Nottinghamshire History website.
A heavily reworked vignette of (c) is in Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 10264).

1903
Photograph by unidentified photographer, in Egypt, whole-length, wearing sun-hat, seated on camel, other camels and attendants around, buildings in distance; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 6477, where dated according to visit to Egypt.

Photograph by unidentified photographer, in Egypt, seated on donkey holding large sun-hat, with two Egyptian attendants in front of painted backdrop of mountain scenery; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 6559, where dated ‘c.1903’. Repr. head-and-shoulders, Achievement, 1933 (clipping in Wallgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 6754).

c.1905
Photographs by unidentified photographer, outside The Plaisaunce, two known poses:
(a) seated behind wheel of open-top car, wearing greatcoat and chauffeur cap, with wife, son and two daughters, in front of house, inscr. on mount ‘“A Car Load of Boots”’; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 6560.
(b) whole-length to front, seated in cane chair in garden, with same companions, women hatless wearing long-sleeved blouses, inscr. on mount ‘Plaisaunce. Sept 1905’; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 494. Repr. Nottingham Evening Post, Special Publication no.5, n.d.

Photograph by unidentified photographer, whole-length to front, seated in cane garden chair, legs crossed, with wife, daughters and son; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 3723, where dated Sept. 1905. Repr. Chapman 1974, pl.6b, captioned ‘Taken at “Plaisaunce” their riverside retreat, about 1908’; Weir 1994, p.51, captioned ‘Jesse and Florence at home with the children’; and Nottingham Evening Post, Special Publication no.5, n.d.

before 1906
Photographs by Freckleton & Co., Nottingham, in domestic interior, sitter with white hair, grey moustache, wearing bow-tie, three known poses:
(a) half-length to front, left hand to temple, curtains in background; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, Y36/13. Repr. American Druggist, 1907; and Chemist & Druggist, 6 Apr. 1907, p.524, citing American Druggist.
This image and its companion, depicting Mrs Boot, indirectly related to visit from president of Economical Drug Co., Chicago, who spent seven months in UK in 1906.
(b) half-length to right, looking right, left hand to chin, in front of painted screen or mural; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 3525. Repr. Boots Comrades in Khaki, no.1, Apr. 1915, front page; and Weir 1994, p.53.
(c) possibly from same session, half-length to front, seated in elaborately furnished room with screens, two young women wearing pale bows in hair seated either side; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, CAIS 11725.

1908
Photograph by unidentified photographer, whole-length to front, seated holding hat on knees in group including wife, children and Auberon Herbert, Baron Lucas, under-secretary for war, to mark the laying of the foundation stone for Dorothy Boot Home, Wilford, Notts, for Army veterans from Crimea and India campaigns; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, A3. Repr. Weir 1994, p.52; and Nottinghamshire Today, Feb. 2006, p.46.

1910
Photograph by Freckleton Studio, Nottingham, studio’s name printed on mount, half-length seated in background of group photo of several dozen men at formal dinner, captioned ‘Boots Nottingham and District Branch and Departmental Managers 9th Annual Dinner and Presentation to Sir Jesse Boot / January 26th 1910’; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, Y36/46.

Photograph by unidentified photographer, half-length to front hatless, seated in wheelchair, Florence Boot standing behind, Herbert Samuel MP standing to right; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, A83/17. Repr. Weir 1994, p.47, captioned ‘At St Helier’ (the Boot home in the Park district of Nottingham). Samuel visited Nottingham Jan. 1910, presumably electioneering.

1910s
Photograph by unidentified photographer, seated possibly in wheelchair, hands prominent; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 3391/4.

1912
Photograph by Fradelle & Young, photographer’s name and date 28 Feb. 1912 on mount, half-length, seated at rear of large group of men at formal dinner; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 3726.

1913
Photograph by unidentified photographer, seated in wheelchair, in group including Florence, Margery, Dorothy and John Boot, John’s wife and groomsman Henry Rennick, at reception at Langham Hotel, London, 25 Nov. 1913 for wedding of Dorothy Boot to Wilfred Montague Bruce; [1] Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, Y36/2.

1915
Photograph by unidentified photographer, whole-length to front, seated in wheelchair wearing dark hat, in centre of front row of large group outside The Plaisaunce on 4 Sept. 1915; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 3340. Repr. Boots News, 18 Aug. 1977, p.3; and Weir 1994, p.60, cropped and flipped, captioned ‘Jesse now tired from years of work and the strain of the war years.’
This could have been taken at a fête in aid of Margery Boot’s canteen in France, postponed from 17 July owing to downpour and gales.

before 1918
Photograph by unidentified photographer, head-and-shoulders to right, left hand with wedding ring raised to cheek; repr. in ‘A Personal Message from Sir Jesse Boot’, inaugurating company pension/provident fund, 5 Mar. 1918, Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, A83/13; Nottingham Evening Post, 13 June 1931; and as oval vignette, Nottingham Evening Post, Special Publication no.5, n.d., captioned ‘The philanthropist in pensive mood’.

Photograph by unidentified photographer, head-and-shoulders to front, long hair, wearing wing collar and bow-tie; repr. Nottingham Evening Post, 13 June 1931.

Photograph by unidentified photographer, head-and-shoulders to front, long hair, wearing normal knot tie, left hand to cheek (pose as in NPG L247); repr. Nottingham Evening Post, 13 June 1931; and as oval vignette, Nottingham Evening Post, Special Publication no.5, n.d.

1920
Photograph by unidentified photographer, captioned on mount ‘On their way to John Greenwood’s wedding in Nottingham’, whole-length to right, seated in wheelchair, wearing overcoat round shoulders, son John in top hat and morning dress walking to right, with chauffeur and male attendant pushing chair; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 6409. Repr. Chapman 1974, pl.8, captioned ‘Attending wedding of [Boots] finance director John Greenwood’.

Photograph by unidentified photographer, half-length to front, seated behind mace at back of municipal hall, with mayor and other civic dignitaries; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 10263, annotated ‘The ceremony at which Sir Jesse Boot received the freedom of the city of Nottingham’.

1925–30
Photograph by unidentified photographer in Cannes, whole-length seated in wheelchair, rug over knees, wearing hat, formal garden with palm trees behind; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham.
Oval head-and-shoulders vignette; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 9086.
From 1925 Boot spent several winters at the Villa Springland in Cannes.

c.1925
Photograph by unidentified photographer, whole-length to right, seated in wheelchair, hands resting on desk tray, wearing soft hat, attendant wearing flat cap behind pushing chair; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 6408, where dated ‘c.1925’.

c.1930
Photograph by unidentified photographer, whole-length lying on left side under blankets on wheeled bed, wife wearing flowerpot hat standing behind; Walgreens Boots Alliance Archive & M. Coll., Nottingham, 3424/29.
This image accords with a recollection of Boot ‘prostrate at home [with] drawn face, domed brow and silver hair’ (Roberts 1938, p.39).


Footnote
1) Bruce was the brother of Kathleen Bruce, brother-in-law of Capt. R.F. Scott and a member of the Antarctic Expedition, alongside Henry Rennick.

Dr Jan Marsh