Jane Odiwe Jane Austen Sequels

Ellie Bennett I'd like to welcome Ellie Bennett to my blog today (yes, that's her real name) - Ellie is a writer interested in portraits of Jane Austen, and as Jane's image is a particular interest of mine, I've been fascinated to read her new thoughts and discoveries on the subject. I recently interviewed her and it's made me keener than ever to read more! Luckily for us, Ellie not only has a fabulous blog, she is also writing a book, and I can't wait to read it. 1. You've started a blog writing about portraits of Jane Austen, Ellie. When did you first become interested in Jane Austen and what was it about her image that interested you? I've enjoyed reading Jane Austen since I was a teenager, but my interest in her image and portraits really began when I watched the BBC documentary The Unseen Portrait, screened on Boxing Day in 2011, about the portrait now owned by Dr Paula Byrne. I found the programme fascinating and I was immediately hooke...

The results of the work undertaken by Paris-based restorer, Eva Schwann, have now been published on The Rice Portrait Website  and makes fascinating reading whether your interest is in the restoration of paintings or in the history of this particularly beautiful portrait. Eva was trained at the Courtauld Institute and France's Institut National du Patrimoine and spent much of 2010 and 11 bringing the painting back to life. I was lucky enough to visit Eva in her studio whilst work was being undertaken, and to see the portrait for myself. You can read about the lovely day I had here  Eva was able to clean the significant OH symbol that the artist used in many of his works, which is especially pleasing to see - I think there can be no doubt that the portrait was painted by Ozias Humphry.    There is also a new article on the website about the Austen family's connections with the Humphreys - they were also acquainted with Ozias's younger brother, William ...

Jane Austen to the Life? At last I can tell you all about the very latest evidence on the Rice Portrait! Recently published in the Times Literary Supplement is an excellent article by Professor Claudia L. Johnson on the Rice Portrait of Jane Austen .  As she states ... it would now seem that there is decisive evidence that the “Rice Portrait” of Jane Austen (seen here in a photograph from 1910) is indeed an authentic likeness of the novelist, made in her lifetime. This evidence consists of the three lines of script in the upper right-hand corner, in the area outlined in yellow. First, the artist’s signature: Ozia[s] Humphry, R.A. Second, the date of the portrait: 178* (that last digit is probably a nine). And third, the name of the sitter: Jane Austen. The image produced by the Emery Walker negative from 1910 Professor Johnson highlights some of the debates that have ensued over the years, but continues: We would still be at an impasse were it not for a singular st...

Jane Austen, the Rice Portrait I am delighted to reproduce the article below written by Mrs. Anne Rice and Mr. Robin Roberts, which gives the background detail to the discoveries that were made on the Emery Walker glass photographic plates produced in 1910 of the Rice portrait of Jane Austen. I've included the images so you can see for yourself - I think they speak for themselves, but particularly noteworthy is the Humphry signature that matches exactly to other examples we have on record, down to the characteristic 'hook' on the letter H of Humphry. I'd like to add at this point that I am so thrilled for Mrs. Rice - I cannot imagine how awful it must have been for her and her late husband to live with the fact that certain 'experts' were determined to find this portrait to be wanting in some way or other. The family inherited the portrait; it has an excellent provenance, and yet, for many years they have had to endure the opinions of others that have tri...

If you've visited my blog before you will know that I've written at length about this delightful portrait of Jane Austen by Ozias Humphry. There's a lovely article in JASNA news this month by Anne Rice, the owner of the portrait, and her brother, Robin Roberts, which is introduced by the editor, Sheryl Craig. Click on the picture for a larger image. There are some exciting developments happening as I write - all I can say at the moment is to keep watching the website    The Rice Portrait of Jane Austen for more information!

Edward Rice As we come to the close of this fascinating history of the Rice Portrait provenance, I'd like to tell you about a new website , which gives more detail and information about the painting. The Rice Portrait of Jane Austen  is to be found at www.janeaustenriceportrait.co.uk, and will cover every aspect of the portrait's history from its provenance to concerns  and addresses the Mary Anne Campion attribution,  amongst other matters. It is a work in progress, and more pages are being added daily! And now, I'd like to thank Mrs. Rice for joining us again to tell us about the tenth owner, Edward Rice, and poignantly, about her late husband, Henry Rice, the eleventh owner of the portrait. Edward Rice 1899-1973 Edward Rice inherited the portrait as the tenth owner on his father’s death in 1943. He married a great heiress, Lord Curzon of Kedleston’s stepdaughter, Marcella Duggan, and built a ballroom onto Dane Court, which was large, echoing, and rather draughty ...

Mrs. Henry Rice continues the fascinating history of the Rice portrait with the Rev. John Morland Rice, and Admiral Sir Ernest Rice. Thank you for joining us again! Morland Rice, the sixth owner of the portrait was the fourth son of Elizabeth Austen and Edward Royd Rice, who must have been devoted, producing fifteen children in all. He was called Morland after his mother's 'dear friend from girlhood' Margaretta Morland, and received the portrait in 1883. He wrote to various members of the family about it, and was told by the elderly family historian Miss Fanny Caroline Lefroy (whose mother had known Jane Austen) that she 'knew before of the portrait in your posession, and but for one or two difficulties would have no doubt about its authenticity'. She also believed that 'the date on your picture is (she thinks) 1788 or 9, making her (Jane) not  14.' She was correct, we have discovered a date on the back of Jane's canvas of 1788, making her in that year...