TLS: Astonishing re - attribution of a Joshua Reynolds portrait
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1Chawton
This week's TLS dated 21 July 2017 is mainly devoted to the life and works of Jane Austen, marking as it does the 200th anniversary of her early death in Winchester on 18 July 1817.
One of the articles is by Charlotte and Gwendolen Mitchell and gives the astonishing news that they have identified a Joshua Reynolds group portrait as showing Tysoe Saul Hancock, his wife Philadelphia and their daughter Eliza together with an Indian servant called Clarinda.
The maiden name of Mrs Hancock (1730-92) was of course Austen and she was a sister of the Reverend George Austen, Rector of Steventon in Hampshire. She was also of course a paternal aunt of Jane Austen, while Eliza (1761-1813) was Jane's favourite cousin who is generally seen as being a great influence on the young Jane Austen. Eliza's second husband was Henry Austen, who was reputed to be Jane's favourite brother.
There are some interesting implications of this discovery for those who study Jane's life, such as :
Sir Joshua Reynolds was one of the most important English artists of the 18th century and he was to be the first President of the Royal Academy. He was very well connected even to the Royal Court and news of his doings were reported by the Press. Reynolds had a house built in Richmond and we see references to that historic town (now part of Greater London) in Mansfield Park, where Henry Crawford makes regular visits. The Austen family - including Jane - would presumably have heard first hand accounts of Sir Joshua Reynolds from the Hancocks.
Austen herself seems to have held liberal views on race and immigration. We see her mocking Thorpe's discrimination against French refugees in Northanger Abbey. There is an example of a mixed race character - rare in her era's novels - in the incomplete Sanditon. The Austens were firmly in the camp calling for the abolition of the slave trade. The TLS article makes it clear that Jane's Aunt and her husband Tysoe Saul Mr Hancock treated Clarinda well and held her in very high regard. We can perhaps see Jane learning about Clarinda and the esteem given her by her close relatives.
One of the articles is by Charlotte and Gwendolen Mitchell and gives the astonishing news that they have identified a Joshua Reynolds group portrait as showing Tysoe Saul Hancock, his wife Philadelphia and their daughter Eliza together with an Indian servant called Clarinda.
The maiden name of Mrs Hancock (1730-92) was of course Austen and she was a sister of the Reverend George Austen, Rector of Steventon in Hampshire. She was also of course a paternal aunt of Jane Austen, while Eliza (1761-1813) was Jane's favourite cousin who is generally seen as being a great influence on the young Jane Austen. Eliza's second husband was Henry Austen, who was reputed to be Jane's favourite brother.
There are some interesting implications of this discovery for those who study Jane's life, such as :
Sir Joshua Reynolds was one of the most important English artists of the 18th century and he was to be the first President of the Royal Academy. He was very well connected even to the Royal Court and news of his doings were reported by the Press. Reynolds had a house built in Richmond and we see references to that historic town (now part of Greater London) in Mansfield Park, where Henry Crawford makes regular visits. The Austen family - including Jane - would presumably have heard first hand accounts of Sir Joshua Reynolds from the Hancocks.
Austen herself seems to have held liberal views on race and immigration. We see her mocking Thorpe's discrimination against French refugees in Northanger Abbey. There is an example of a mixed race character - rare in her era's novels - in the incomplete Sanditon. The Austens were firmly in the camp calling for the abolition of the slave trade. The TLS article makes it clear that Jane's Aunt and her husband Tysoe Saul Mr Hancock treated Clarinda well and held her in very high regard. We can perhaps see Jane learning about Clarinda and the esteem given her by her close relatives.
