William Etty

Inscriptionback to top

Incised on the back, below the shoulders: WILLIAM ETFY ESQ R.A and below, on the sock: M. NOBLE. SC. 1850./LONDON.

This portraitback to top

This posthumous bust appears to have been based chiefly on photographs (see NPG 1368). It is not known why Noble undertook the bust, though he may have done so for speculative reasons. In 1917 the bust suffered some damage while being moved; the end of the nose was broken off, and a crack caused in the lower part of the draperies. What appears to have been a plaster model for the bust was formerly at Elswick Hall, Newcastle, listed in Catalogue of Lough and Noble Models at Elswick Hall (c.1928), p 6 (242).

Provenanceback to top

Purchased at the artist's sale, Christie's, 7 June 1879 (lot 192).

Exhibitionsback to top

RA, 1850 (1431), and Art Treasures Exhibition, Manchester, 1857 'Sculpture' (152).


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 Etty