Bonhams to sell earliest portrait of Scottish author & poet Sir Walter Scott

A previously unrecorded portrait of the celebrated Scottish author and poet Sir Walter Scott (1755-1831) has been discovered by Bonhams. The important work by Richard Collins (British, 1755-1831), which pre-dates the Scottish National Portrait Gallery’s painting of the poet as a child, will be sold on 21 November 2007 in Bonhams’ Fine Portrait Miniatures Sale at 101 New Bond Street, London.

The portrait, which is expected to fetch £3,000-5,000 at Bonhams next month, depicts Scott as a four-year-old child wearing a pale green coat, double-breasted white waistcoat over a frilled chemise and a black hat decorated with a ribbon bow. Measuring just 1 9/16 inches high, the painting is signed with the initials “RC”, dated 1775 and set in a rectangular leather travelling case in the form of a book.

Bonhams’ Head of Portrait Miniatures, Camilla Seymour, says: “The portrait has emerged from the shadows of a private collection in Austria. It came to light on a recent valuation day in Vienna.”

The portrait’s case carries a label, which erroneously attributes the work to another, perhaps more famous, portrait miniaturist, Richard Cosway. The portrait was, however, painted by his contemporary Richard Collins, whose work is rarely seen in public.

The miniature can be dated to the late Spring/early Summer of 1775, when Scott visited Collins in London en route to “take the waters” in the spa town of Bath in the hope of curing his lame right leg – the result of contracting polio, aged just two.

Related posts:

1. The Face of Scotland: Masterpieces from The Scottish National Portrait Gallery at The Fleming Collection
2. Some of the Earliest Photographs of Fiji for Bonhams Sale
3. Bonhams Scottish Sale Takes Over £1.25 Million on First Morning
4. George Leslie Hunter Painting Stars at Bonhams Scottish Sale
5. Collection of Works of Art by Jean Cocteau to Sell at Bonhams