George Borrow

This portraitback to top

In a letter of 10 October 1829, John Borrow wrote to his brother from Mexico (Knapp, I, 141):

'I fancy I see you as you used to look, so pleasantly, when sitting for your portrait [1821]; and talking of portraits, I hope papa's is still in existence, and also the miniature.'
John Borrow's portrait of his father was in the collection of Mrs Smith-Stanier, and was offered to the NPG by her in 1912, at the same time as the portrait of George Borrow by Phillips. The latter was acquired in 1919 (see NPG 1841). It is not known to what miniature John Borrow was referring in his letter. When Jarrold & Sons first exhibited this portrait by John Borrow (presumably at their premises in Norwich), after acquiring it from George Borrow's executors, some doubt was cast on its authenticity. In a letter to the Eastern Daily Press (date unknown - probably c.1900, a cutting in the NPG archives), Jarrold & Sons wrote:

'Sir - The point Mr W. Rye is pleased to raise touching the fidelity of the portrait of George Borrow we are now showing to its original in respect of the colour of the hair need present no real difficulty to the candid mind. In the portrait of Borrow by Phillips R.A., engraved as a frontispiece to the original edition of 'Lavengro', the hair is decidedly grey, but in this, the only other known portrait of Borrow, the hair is not grey but black.
Borrow describes his brother Henry [sic - John] as having 'blue eyes and light chestnut hair'. 'The very image of myself', says the proud father. 'As for the other, I must be blind not to see the difference between him and his brother - why, he has neither my hair nor my eyes; and then his countenance, why 'tis absolutely swarthy.' Black hair is the natural accompaniment of a general swarthy appearance, and that George Borrow as a boy had black hair may from his own words be safely inferred. The change to grey had, however, began [sic] by the time Borrow was 21 ... The brothers' final parting took place when they were quite young men, therefore any portrait by the elder of the younger brother must have been at a time well within the limits required by the assumption of the hair not having then undergone any material change from its earlier hue.'
There is now no doubt that the portrait, however crudely painted, is an authentic likeness of Borrow. It was removed from the walls of his house by Webber shortly after his death, and was vouched for by Borrow's step-daughter, Mrs MacOubrey, his publisher John Murray, and the editor of The Sphere, Clement Shorter [1]. Another portrait of George Borrow by John Borrow was taken by the latter to Mexico, possibly one of the portraits exhibited at the Norwich Society of Artists, where it disappeared after his death.
There is some information on John Borrow in Knapp's biography of his brother, as well as a list of the twenty pictures he exhibited at the Norwich Society of Artists. He studied under Old Crome for some years (chiefly 1816-21), then under Benjamin Haydon in London, and finally in Paris. He left England for Mexico in 1826, and died there in 1833.

Footnotesback to top

1) Letters from Murray and Shorter, 1900 and 1912 (NPG archives).

Referenceback to top

Bookman, XLV (1913), 17.

Eastern Daily Press, 21 September 1967.

Knapp 1899
W. I. Knapp, The Life, Writings and Correspondence of George Borrow (1899), I, 77-8 and 141.

Physical descriptionback to top

Dark complexion, brown eyes, brown hair. Dressed in a dark stock, white shirt and black coat. Chair-back light brown. Curtain at left deep red. Rest of background dark brown.

Provenanceback to top

The sitter; purchased from his executors by W. Webber¹ later of Jarrold & Sons; purchased from them, 1912.<sup>2

1</sup> For Webber, see J. Carter and G. Pollard, 'The Mystery of the Death of Balder' (working paper, no.3, Oxford, 1969).
² Ten letters from Jarrold & Sons relating to the portrait and its purchase, 1900, when the portrait was first offered, and 1912, when it was finally acquired (NPG archives).

Exhibitionsback to top

Norwich Society of Artists, 1821 (9), and/or 1824 (29); The Norwich Achievement: Some Famous Citizens: a Loan Exhibition, Norwich Castle Museum, 1955.

Reproductionsback to top

H. Jenkins, The Life of George Borrow (1912), facing p 36.


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.

View all known portraits for George Borrow