Sotheby’s London to offer images in British cultural history

KOLKATA: On 10th December 2013, Sotheby’s London will offer one of the most instantly recognizable images in British cultural history – James Andrews’ portrait of Jane Austen - probably the best-loved novelist in the English language.

Reproduced innumerable times, it has become the defining image of Austen, an engraving of which will appear on the new Bank of England £10 note from 2017 (the author’s bicentenary). The watercolour, which has rarely been seen in public, and has remained in the Austen family since it was painted, will be the centrepiece of Sotheby’s English Literature & History Sale, carrying an estimate of £150,000-200,000.

Dr Gabriel Heaton, specialist in Sotheby’s Books and Manuscripts Department, commented, "Seeing the most famous image of Jane Austen, for the first time, in a domestic sitting room was an astonishing experience. This delicate watercolour is so much more than a piece of literary portraiture: it is part of our cultural history. The painting was commissioned for the first full-length biography of Austen, which was crucial in transforming her from a novelist into a national figure. The portrait gave readers an image with which they could identify and which even seemed to embody the character of her work. This is the most important likeness of Jane Austen ever likely to appear on the open market."

The portrait was commissioned by Jane Austen’s nephew, Rev James Edward Austen-Leigh in 1869 to accompany Memoir of Jane Austen, his hugely influential first full-length biography of the novelist. The painting was based on the only confirmed portrait of Jane Austen made during her lifetime – a study by her sister Cassandra, (now in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery).

Austen-Leigh, who was very close to his aunt, (her surviving letters to him are deeply affectionate) did not believe this depiction did her justice and wanted a truer likeness created for posterity. He realised that he and others of his generation who had known Austen were now elderly and their shared recollections would soon be lost, so tasked a local artist, James Andrews of Maidenhead, with producing a more satisfying version based on Cassandra’s sketch and his own distinctive memories: "In person she was very attractive; her figure was rather tall and slender, her step light and firm, and her whole appearance expressive of health and animation. In complexion she was a clear brunette with a rich colour; she had full round cheeks, with mouth and nose small and well formed, bright hazel eyes, and brown hair forming natural curls close round her face…"