The Burbage portrait of Shakespeare [graphic].
Items
Details
Title
The Burbage portrait of Shakespeare [graphic].
Created/published
Early nineteenth century.
Description
1 painting on panel : oil ; 59.0 x 36 cm + frame ca. 27.5 x 18.5 in.
Note
Inscribed in gold letters on bottom panel: Howe speake thatte Browe soe pensive yet serene / The lucidde Teare juste startynge to thyne Eyne / Dost though nowe dwelle onne Romeo's ill starr'd love? / Or doth the tortured Moore thy passion move? / None so. Alasse! no more shalle phantasie's Creature / Adumbrate or enshroude the Poet's ffeatures / To realle illes hys frame nowe falles a Preye / He feels approache the Ev'ninge of Lyfe's Daye / And e'er another Dawne arise to cheere / Lyfe's busie Sonnes: may droppe poore Wil Shakspere / Sic cecinit Cygnvs Avoniae et Obiit 23 Aprilis 1616 Aets: 52.
Title from Pressly.
Title from Pressly.
Provenance
Provenance: According to the 1885 article in Walford's Antiquarian, the painting belonged to a Mr. Kinton, who died at Paddington in 1865 at age 91 (he had received it over 50 years earlier from a friend); given by Kinton to his medical attendant, who sold it to Mr. Grisbrook, a picture restorer; Sotheby, 7 December 1903, lot 8, £131, as the "Unknown Portrait of Shakespeare," repr., bought by Moore; Sotheby, 8 December 1905, lot 567, £61, as the "Unknown Portrait of Shakspere," bought by Leach; offered to Folger by J. Pearson & Co. some years before 1919 sale.
Source of acquisition
Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, Auctioneers, Wellington St., Strand, London [1902]; 34-35 New Bond St., London [1928], 28 July 1919, lot 264, as "the Burbage Portrait of Shakespere," £150, bought by Folger, Maggs acting as agent.
Cited/described in
Pressly, W.L. Paintings in the Folger Shakespeare Library, 148
Genre/form
Portrait paintings.
Item Details
Call number
FPs2
Folger-specific note
This record contains unverified data from a re-keying contract and may contain incorrect or incomplete text. Please consult Curator for assistance.
Folger accession
cs836