Samuel Rogers

Inscriptionback to top

Signed and dated lower right: Geo: Dance Dec^r 19th 1795 and inscribed on the back in an early hand: … gers - Poet.

This portraitback to top

At the time of Dance's drawing Rogers was aged 32 and had just published The Pleasures of Memory (anonymously 1792) which by 1794 had reached its 7th edition and its author recognised as a rising poet. His Epilogue had been spoken by Mrs Siddons after the play Mahomet the Impostor, and he had given evidence in the trial of William Stone for high treason. He was in fact rapidly becoming well-known though it was still a long way before the days of his celebrated house in St James's Place, built in 1803, and the drawing did not qualify to be numbered among Daniell's soft-ground etchings after Dance, A Collection of Seventy-two Portraits of Eminent Characters Sketched from Life since 1793, 2 vols., 1808-14. The sitting is mentioned in Diary of Joseph Farington, 19 December 1795.

Physical descriptionback to top

Head and shoulders seated in profile to left, powdered wig, queue tied with ribbon, lace cravat, coat with heavy collar, lower lip faintly touched with red; mount ruled in pencil for engraved title but without a name.

Provenanceback to top

Dance family possession and sold by the Rev George Dance, the artist's grandson, Christie's, 1 July 1898 (116) among a large collection of Dance portraits; bought Colnaghi acting for the NPG.


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 Samuel Rogers