Sir Henry Charles Englefield, 7th Bt

Inscriptionback to top

Signed and dated with Phillips's monogram: TP 1815.

This portraitback to top

The panel is first mentioned in Copy of Thomas Phillips's original Sitter Book 1796-1843, 'Dec 1815 Sr. H. Englefield Bt. 419 small'. It was exhibited RA 1816 and no doubt hung in Englefield's house in Tylney Street, London, though there is no mention of it in the dispersal of his effects at Christie's 6-8 March 1823. In fact there is no further record until its reappearance in Coe's 1969 sale catalogued as 'Portrait of a Gentleman'. A member of the NPG staff identified it as Englefield by a comparison with Turner's mezzotint, clinched by the accompanying appurtenances - the geological specimen in his hand (Geological Phenomena of the Isle of Wight, 1816), the bowl and vase on the table (H. M. Moses, Vases from the Collection of Sir H. Englefield, 1820), the portfolio of drawings or prints at his elbow, and his family arms on the Gothic window - azure, a griffin passant and a chief or. Phillips's portrait with its interesting vase, clearly one of the choice pieces in Englefield's collection, is not mentioned in Adolf Greifenhagen's Griechische Vasen auf Bildern des 19. Jahrhunderts, Heidelberg, 1978.

Physical descriptionback to top

Three-quarter-length seated in a neo-classic chair upholstered in leopard skin, wearing a dark green coat and holding a green stone specimen, portfolio bound in red leather by his elbow, black and brown vase and tazza on the table, Gothic window with Englefield arms in left background; fair hair, hazel eyes, pale complexion.

Provenanceback to top

Coe & Sons 29 January 1969 (991), bought by Leggatt Bros on behalf of the NPG; previous history unknown.

Exhibitionsback to top

RA 1816 (123).

Reproductionsback to top

Mezzotint by Charles Turner published 20 October 1821 (Alfred Whitman, Charles Turner, 1907, 184).


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: Richard Walker, Regency Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, 1985, 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.

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