Lot 192
SAMUEL LAURENCE (BRITISH 1812-1884)
HALF LENGTH PORTRAIT OF JANE WELSH, WIFE OF THOMAS CARLYLE
Auction: Five Centuries Day One | Wed 9th September | Lots 1 to 255
Description
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
61cm x 51cm (24in x 20in)
Provenance
James Carlyle (1805–1890), youngest brother of Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881);
Thence by direct descent to his great granddaughter Jane Welsh Carlyle Armstrong (Born 1909 in Eskholm, Rosevale Street, Langholm), offered for sale by the executors of her late son's estate.
Footnote
This portrait, and the companion portrait of Mr Carlyle, have been passed down directly through the Carlyle family. There are several copies, including an example with very close comparisons to the present work attributed to Laurence (Accession Number 263341), in the collection of Carlyle's House (National Trust). The present work differs in a more detailed and expressive rendering of the shawl around her arms. The present work, and companion portrait, were shown to the Keeper of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Dr Duncan Thomson HRSA, in 1984 (Stated in written correspondences from family papers) and he considered both “to be of national importance”. It is therefore believed that the present work is the original painted by Laurence in circa 1838, not a period or later copy.