Elizabeth Inchbald (née Simpson)

Inscriptionback to top

Signed and dated lower left: Geo: Dance/1794.

This portraitback to top

By the date of this drawing Mrs Inchbald had retired from the stage for five years and was already well-known in literary circles as the author of a large number of farces and comedies. A Simple Story, a 4-vol. romance published in 1791, had been an immediate success and it was no doubt as the promising author of this work that Dance had numbered her among his subjects though not including her in his Collection of Portraits.

Physical descriptionback to top

Half-length profile to left in informal head-dress.

Provenanceback to top

Dance family possession and sold by the Rev George Dance, the artist's grandson, Christie's, 1 July 1898 (? 157), among a large collection of drawings, bought Colnaghi for the NPG.

Reproductionsback to top

Soft-ground etching by W. Daniell (in reverse), undated but published among the Additional Prints.


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.

View all known portraits for George Dance

View all known portraits for Elizabeth Inchbald (née Simpson)