Portraits/pictures of Jane

Portraits/pictures of Jane Austen

Jane Austen's sister Cassandra Austen liked to dabble in watercolours. She painted all the historical figures for Austen's History of England.

This watercolour was painted by Cassandra in 1804 when Jane was 29 years old. Unfortunately Jane has her back to us and we can't see what she is looking at.

The family was situated in Bath at this time, however, they did take regular trips to see their other family members so were not always in Bath so it is not necessarily in this location.

This is the only confirmed portrait of Jane Austen. It is an unfinished watercolour sketch by her sister Cassandra around 1810 when Jane was 35 years old. It is said that the portrait was not at all like Jane and made her look very severe, which may be why the portrait was abandoned. I do find it odd though if this was the case, why it was not destroyed.

The portrait is currently housed at the National Portrait Gallery in London, and I discovered from one of the guides at the Jane Austen Centre that it is actually very small in real life.

This painting was sold at auction in 1983. It is not known who the artist is but it is believed that the painting depicts Edward in the middle, with two adults, and three other children. Edward is holding a bunch of grapes in the air, which is a symbolism of good fortune. This fits with Edward being adopted by wealthy paternal relatives.

The other boy in the painting is said to be Francis Austen, and the two girls Cassandra and Jane. The youngest daughter appears to be mimicking Edward's action in the painting.

This sketch is referred to as the Byrne portrait, as it was purchased for the author Paula Byrne by her husband. The sitter in the drawing is described as having the "Austen nose" and is dated to around 1815 on the basis of the clothes, when Jane would have been 39. We know that from her 20s Jane Austen wore a cap as the sitter does in this sketch.

We can see Westminster Abbey in the background, which places the sitter in a London setting. Jane did visit her brother Henry in Hans Place, London in 1815, which was near the Westminster area.

This sketch was drawn by Rev James Stanier Clarke, the Prince Regent's librarian at Carlton House following Jane Austen's visit in 1815. It paints a very different picture to the sketch above, also believed to have been from the same year.

Clarke draws a very elegant woman. It is sometimes said that he was quite smitten with Austen, so perhaps he drew her in a favourable light.

It is not authenticated because there is no name on the picture, nor is it dated, but it is believed to be Austen as it features in his Friendship book.

This watercolour was commissioned by James Edward Austen Leigh for his memoir in 1869. Cassandra's half finished watercolour was used as the basis for this posthumous portrait. This watercolour was completed by the artist James Andrews and was used for future engravings.

This steel engraving was based on the above watercolour and included in the front of James Edward Austen Leigh's memoir of his aunt. The image is described as a Victorian image of Jane, as she is sitting very upright and her features have been slightly altered making her face softer.

A coloured engraving based on the above.

If you have any details about where this commonly copied coloured image comes from, please let me know via Twitter or the Contact section.

This silouette was found pasted in a second edition of Mansfield Park in 1944 with the inscription on the back "L'aimiable Jane". The second edition of Mansfield Park was published in 1816 by Egerton.

Jane was a popular name so we cannot assume that this was definitely Jane Austen. I don't think it shows the "Austen nose".

This is the image that features on the new £10 notes from September 2017. It has been heavily criticized as portraying an airbrushed/Disneyfied Jane Austen as her features have been altered from earlier images of her and are based on a prettified Victorian version of Jane.

This painting has been labelled as the Rice portrait after the family who held possession of the painting following its bequeath in 1883. It is believe by some to be a 13 year old Jane, which would date the painting at 1788.

The artist Ozais Humphry had connections to Jane's great-uncle Francis Austen, and it is believe that Francis commissioned the portrait.

For many decades the painting was accepted as an authentic portrait, but Austen scholar RW Chapman argued that the style of dress belonged to a much later period of fashion, when Jane would have been in her 30s and not in her teens, casting doubt on the painting. However, costume historians have argued that the style could belong to an earlier period.

In 2001, Melissa Dring, a forensic artist, was commissioned by David Baldock, the Director of the Jane Austen Centre in Bath, to create a portrait of Jane as she might have looked during her time in Bath (1801-1806).

The topaz cross in the painting resembles one that Jane Austen was given by her brother and her writing desk and spectacles. Melissa used accounts and Cassandra's watercolour portrait to form this image.

For me the picture has a cheeky glint in her eye reflecting her wit but it is impossible to know whether the picture does actually resemble the author.

Melissa Dring's forensic painting was used to construct a fullsize waxwork model of Jane with the help of costume designer Andrea Galer, which was unveiled at the Jane Austen Centre in 2014 where it remains.