Charles Dickens by Samuel Drummond
A remarkable example of the interesting history surrounding objects in the Museum's collection is the Samuel Drummond depiction of Dickens. No other portrait of the author has caused the amount of debate and controversy as this.
Due to a number of errors made in the earlier part of the 20th Century, its authenticity has long been questioned, principally because it offers an image unwelcome to Dickens Scholars. Painted in the majestic style of Sir Thomas Lawrence RA, Drummond's near contemporary, it shows Dickens with brilliant eyes, dark irregular hair, flaring nostrils and a curling upper lip, similar to Lawrence's portraits of Byron and, indeed, the Dexter bust of Dickens in this room. Nevertheless, there can be little doubt that it it of Dickens, and was painted around the same time as the "Nickleby" portrait, a copy of which hangs near. There is no record of Dickens having sat to Samuel Drummon, but the artist worked from the same address as his daughter, the miniaturist Rose Emma Drummond. Dickens sat to Miss Drummond for a likeness he presented to Catherine on their engagement in 1835. The oil was bought by the heiress and philanthropist Angela Burdett-Coutts who knew the author as a young man and never had any doubt that it was a genuine likeness. After her death it found its way into the hands of James Fleming. Fleming loaned the painting in 1925 and it is the first item listed in the acquisitions register of te Dickens House Museum. Later, on its return, he kindly presented the Museum with the replica you see today. We were informed that the original was recently sold to a private American collector.
Due to a number of errors made in the earlier part of the 20th Century, its authenticity has long been questioned, principally because it offers an image unwelcome to Dickens Scholars. Painted in the majestic style of Sir Thomas Lawrence RA, Drummond's near contemporary, it shows Dickens with brilliant eyes, dark irregular hair, flaring nostrils and a curling upper lip, similar to Lawrence's portraits of Byron and, indeed, the Dexter bust of Dickens in this room. Nevertheless, there can be little doubt that it it of Dickens, and was painted around the same time as the "Nickleby" portrait, a copy of which hangs near. There is no record of Dickens having sat to Samuel Drummon, but the artist worked from the same address as his daughter, the miniaturist Rose Emma Drummond. Dickens sat to Miss Drummond for a likeness he presented to Catherine on their engagement in 1835. The oil was bought by the heiress and philanthropist Angela Burdett-Coutts who knew the author as a young man and never had any doubt that it was a genuine likeness. After her death it found its way into the hands of James Fleming. Fleming loaned the painting in 1925 and it is the first item listed in the acquisitions register of te Dickens House Museum. Later, on its return, he kindly presented the Museum with the replica you see today. We were informed that the original was recently sold to a private American collector.
Copy, presented, 1927, by the late James Fleming, of Aldwick Grange, Bognor,
of "Portrait of Charles Dickens" by Samuel Drummond, A.R.A. (1765-1844)
Exhibited New Gallery, Victorian Exhibition, 1892 and from the Burdett-Coutts Collection, 1922.
of "Portrait of Charles Dickens" by Samuel Drummond, A.R.A. (1765-1844)
Exhibited New Gallery, Victorian Exhibition, 1892 and from the Burdett-Coutts Collection, 1922.