Samuel Butler

Inscriptionback to top

Indistinctly signed with interlaced initials.

This portraitback to top

Possibly ad vivum from Butler’s final years.
Other versions are in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, [1] and, in pastel, in the YCBA, New Haven (B1977.14.6092). [2]
A reverse version, attributed to W. Faithorne after Soest, in black chalk with grey wash, sold Christie’s, 14 June 1977, lot 163 (shared), was with Colnaghi 1979. A pastel portrait of Butler stolen from Carlisle Art Gallery in 1973, possibly a version of NPG 248.

Footnotesback to top

1) Signed EL in monogram, on paper, much affected by damp (Mrs R. L. Poole, Catalogue of Portraits in the possession of the University, Colleges, City and County of Oxford, I, p 62, no.154; Catalogue of Portraits in the Bodleian Library by Mrs R. L. Poole completely revised and expanded by K. Garlick, 2004, p 50; C. F. Bell, Wal. Soc., V, 1917, pp 12, 16).
2) P. J. Noon, English Portrait Drawings & Miniatures, Yale Center for British Art, 1979, pp 12-13, no.10.

Referenceback to top

Bell 1917
C. F. Bell, Wal. Soc., V, 1917, pp 12, 16.

Piper 1963
D. Piper, Catalogue of the Seventeenth Century Portraits in the National Portrait Gallery 1625-1714, 1963, p 50.

Conservationback to top

Evidence of damp.

Provenanceback to top

S. Sotton, from whom purchased 1867.


This extended catalogue entry is by John Ingamells, one of a limited number of entries drafted in 2010 for the incomplete catalogue, Early Stuart Portraits 1625-1685, and is as written 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 Samuel Butler