Portrait of William Shakespeare

Provenance (according to manuscript note on the back of the panel): Reverend William Vyse FRS, FSA (1741-1816), Archdeacon of Coventry from 1793 to 1816, and Chancellor of Lichfield from 1798; Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Howard-Vyse (1784-1853); Charles Buckeridge (1756-1827) of Lichfield, who matriculated from St. John's College, Oxford, 3rd June 1772; his nephew George Buckeridge (born 1798) son of Charles's brother Richard who matriculated from Worcester College, Oxford on 20th March 1816; Mrs Walter F. Smith (Christie's auction stencil to verso) by 1894 when it was offered at auction by Christie's in their sale Ancient and Modern Pictures, 27 January 1894, catalogued as a portrait of Shakespeare by an unknown artist, unsold at £25 (information supplied by Christie's in November 2000); Alan Goalby, by whom sold to A. R. Heath, circa 1975; A. R. Heath, Bookseller, Bristol; thence by descent.

Archdeacon Vyse graduated from All Souls College, Oxford. In 1765-66 he travelled in France, Switzerland and Italy with Patrick Brydone (1736−1818), and William Beckford of Somerly, and was also in Rome in 1770 with Beckford in the company of Charles Burney who was then researching for his General History of Music. Charles Buckeridge succeeded Vyse as Archdeacon of Coventry from 14 March 1816 until his death in 1827.

The 1719 engraved portrait of Shakespeare referred to by George Buckeridge in his manuscript note, was engraved by George Vertue ('Geo. Vertue Londini Sculpsit 1719') and published by him (the engraving bears the caption at foot, 'Sold by G. Vertue, in Brownlow street Drury lane'). Vertue added a four-line encomium on Shakespeare on the socle supporting the portrait, and below that, at the base of the socle, the statement: 'Done from the Original now in the Possession of Robert Keck of the Inner Temple Esqr.' An original impression of this engraving accompanies the present work.

As the Buckeridge manuscript notes claim on the back of the panel, this portrait was believed to be the painted portrait from which Vertue derived his engraved portrait of 1719. It is certainly true that the painting and the engraving are near-identical, both in detail and in format. Although it cannot be entirely ruled out that the painting might have been traced from the engraving, it would be rather unlikely for a distinguished churchman such as Archdeacon Buckeridge to make a written statement in his own hand that this picture is the 'original' used by Vertue. It is also possible that this painting is the rough copy in oil made by George Vertue himself, 'Done from the Original now in the Possession of Robert Keck', as the engraved portrait says.

Robert Keck (circa 1686-1719), barrister, is an important figure in the history of Shakespearean iconography, as he is credited as the owner of the famous Chandos portrait of Shakespeare, now in the National Portrait Gallery, London. Moreover, in an anonymous publication of 1720, entitled A Poem on the Death of Robert Keck, Esq., of the Inner-Temple, who died in Paris, Sept. 16. 1719. By a Friend (ESTC T42539), it is stated (in a footnote) that Keck commissioned George Vertue to make a print from the painting of William Shakespeare in his possession. The poem also confirms that the four lines of verse at the foot of the 1719 engraving were composed by Keck himself.

A tree-ring report on the painting was undertaken on behalf of A. R. Heath in September 2010, by Ian Tyers of Dendrochronological Consultancy Ltd., Sheffield, which established that the wood dates from some time between 1702 and 1732 (this detailed report accompanies the lot).

For further reading on the complex history of Shakespeare portraiture, see Tarnya Cooper, Searching for Shakespeare, London: National Portrait Gallery (2006). We are grateful to Brian Grist, R.P.S., former research assistant to A. R. Heath, for help in preparing this catalogue description.

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