First Previous 2 OF 218 NextLast

William Buckland

2 of 218 portraits by Thomas Phillips

William Buckland, by Thomas Phillips, 1800-1825 -NPG 1275 - © National Portrait Gallery, London

© National Portrait Gallery, London

Early Victorian Portraits Catalogue

William Buckland

by Thomas Phillips
1800-1825
29 3/4 in. x 24 5/8 in. (756 mm x 625 mm)
NPG 1275

This portraitback to top

In his 'Sitters Book' (copy of original MS, NPG archives), Phillips lists three portraits of Buckland for the years 1830, 1832 and 1842. They were all exhibited at the RA, 1830 (242), 1832 (67) and 1842 (309). The first two are described as half-length, the third as three-quarter length. The 1830 portrait was apparently in the collection of Buckland's friend, Beriah Botfield. A letter from Buckland to Phillips of 27 April 1831 (NPG archives) refers to Botfield's objections to an engraving of the portrait; Buckland recommended Cousins as the engraver. Negotiations were complicated, and it was finally the 1832 portrait which was engraved. The 1832 portrait of Buckland, [1] showing him in academic robes, holding a fossilized skull with his map of Kirkdale Cave on the wall behind, is in the Deanery, Westminster Abbey. It was in the possession of the sitter, and was presented to the Deanery by his grandson, Harold Bompas, 1949 it was exhibited SKM, 1868 (480), and engraved by S. Cousins, published Molteno and Graves, 1833 (examples in NPG). In a letter to Phillips of 19 May 1831 (NPG archives), clearly referring to this portrait, Buckland wrote:

'Pray oblige me with one line by the Post of Tomorrow or Saturday to inform me if you wish me to bring up for my first & 2d. sitting my old Friend the Hyaena's head. I take for granted that I must bring my gown.'
Another version of the Westminster portrait, dated 1836, was sold at Sotheby's, 4 October 1944 (lot 99), bought D. Minlore.
The NPG portrait shows Buckland as an older man than the Westminster portrait, but it could not be the 1842 version, which is clearly described as three-quarter length in Phillips 'Sitters Book'; furthermore, in the RA catalogue of 1842, it is described as 'The Rev W. Buckland, DD, Professor of Geology in the University of Oxford', which suggests a more formal portrait than the NPG type.

Footnotesback to top

1) The inscribed date on the picture, '1832', is recorded by G. Scharf Sir George Scharf's Sketch Books (NPG archives), XC, 8; it was then in the collection of G. C. Bompas, who presented the NPG portrait.

Referenceback to top

Jameson 1844
Mrs Jameson, 'Collection of Sir Robert Peel', Private Galleries of Art in London (1844), p 377 (118).

'Portrait Gallery at Drayton Manor', Gentleman's Magazine, XXVII (1847), 291 (34).

Physical descriptionback to top

Healthy complexion, blue-grey eyes, brown hair (discoloured grey). Dressed in a white shirt, white stock and black coat. Background colour dark brown, save in bottom left-hand corner, where there is orange and blue evening sky.

Provenanceback to top

Sir Robert Peel; sale of Peel Heirlooms, Robinson and Fisher, 10 May 1900 (lot 215); bought by Mrs G. C. Bompas, the sitter's daughter, and her husband, and presented by them, 1900.

Reproductionsback to top

'Our National Museums and Galleries: Recent Acquisitions', Magazine of Art (1901), p 415.


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 William Buckland

View all known portraits for Thomas Phillips