Jane Porter

Inscriptionback to top

Inscribed lower left: Jane Porter, signed lower right: GHH and inscribed in pencil along right edge (in another hand): The Cross is of the Order of St John of Jerusalem and was sent to Miss Porter by the abbess of that Order from the Convent in Moscow. The green bead at the foot of the Cross is emblematic of the triumph of the Christians over the Mahometans in the ...

This portraitback to top

Harlow seems to have painted the Porter family early in the century, exhibiting portraits of Jane and her brother at the RA in 1809. Sir Robert's portrait was engraved by Woolnoth for the Lady's Monthly Museum, 1822 showing him in Russian uniform wearing several Stars (possibly of St Joachim or a Swedish Order of Knighthood awarded him by Gustav IV).
Harlow painted three portraits of Jane who in Miss Mitford's words was the only literary lady she had seen not fit for a scarecrow: (1) Half-length to left with luxuriant hair, engraved by Freeman and published in The Monthly Mirror, 1 July 1811, and again by Scriven 1815 'From the Original Drawing in her own Possession'. (2) This drawing was worked up into a whole-length in black dress with a Cross hanging from a necklace, seated on a woody bank by moonlight; this was engraved as half-length by Thomson 'from the original full length painting by the late G Harlow' for La Belle Assemblée, no.5, 1 May 1825, and republished later as whole-length with facsimile autograph. (3) The NPG drawing in which she appears in the dress of a religious order, either St John of Jerusalem (as noted in the margin) or the German Order of St Joachim of which she was made a Lady of the Chapter in recognition of her literary activity (Elizabeth Lee in Dictionary of National Biography); Thaddeus of Warsaw, a romantic story of a Polish exile, was published in 1803. Her brother Sir Robert was also a member (unlicensed) of this Order and related correspondence between Jane and Levett Hanson, author of An Accurate Historical Account of all the Orders of Knighthood at present existing in Europe, 1803, exists in a private collection London (formerly Hugh Murray Baillie).

Physical descriptionback to top

She is dressed in religious habit as Lady Canoness of the Order of St John and holds a rosary (not noticeably green) before the Cross. Her eyes are grey.

Provenanceback to top

Offered to the NPG by S. Browne in 1894 together with NPG 1109 and bought from H. Jocelyn Tomkins in 1897.

Exhibitionsback to top

Possibly RA 1809 (555) - 'a frame containing four portraits, viz; Sir Robert Ker Porter, Miss Porter, Miss E. Thomas and a Gentleman in the character of Henry the Fifth'.

Reproductionsback to top

Stipple by Thomson for Jerdan's National Portrait Gallery, 1833.


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 Jane Porter