William Hamilton

Inscriptionback to top

Inscribed below in pencil: Gavin Hamilton/Artist (‘Gavin’ in a different hand); NPG stamp lower left.

This portraitback to top

Dance’s original drawing in the Royal Academy is dated 31 March 1793. Daniell’s engraving was published as Gavin Hamilton, but this identity is impossible on grounds of age and the sitter is securely identified as William Hamilton. [1]

Footnotesback to top

1) Cf. Treasures of the Royal Academy, RA 1963 (93) and Joseph Farington, Diary, 11 January 1799.

Referenceback to top

Roberts 1898
W. Roberts, Magazine of Art, XXII, 1898, pp 656-56.

Stroud 1971
D. Stroud, George Dance, 1971, pp 170-72.

Sutton 1954
T. Sutton, The Daniells: Artists and Travellers, 1954, pp 175-79.

Walker 1985
R. J. B. Walker, National Portrait Gallery, Regency Portraits, 2 vols., 1985, I, pp 632-33.

Provenanceback to top

Purchased from Appleby, 1940.

Reproductionsback to top

W. Daniell (A Collection of Portraits sketched from the Life since the Year 1973 by George Dance Esqr. R.A. and engraved in imitation of the Original Drawings by William Daniell, A.R.A., 2 vols, 1814).


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, National Portrait Gallery, 2004, 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 Dance

View all known portraits for William Hamilton