A Samuel Woodforde mystery: portrait of a boy
Can anyone help identify this painting of an unnamed boy ?
Is this a self-portrait of Samuel Woodforde, RA (1763–1817) when young?
This portrait of a boy was donated to the Parson Woodforde Society in the belief it was a self-portrait by the Revd James Woodforde's nephew Samuel Woodforde (1763–1817), the future Royal Academician [Parson Woodforde Society Collection]
The lack of provenance
The framed and glazed painting, which measures 25·5 cm by 29 cm without its mount and frame, was donated to the Parson Woodforde Society in 2011 by its President and former Chairman George Bunting (1925–2011). In his retirement he had lived in Somerset at Hadspen, near Castle Cary, in the heart of Woodforde's West Country homeland.
The obituary to George Bunting in the Society's Journal for Winter 2011 paid tribute to his many interests, his intellect and his outstanding service to the Society (vol. 44 no. 4, pages 42–44):
When, in 1995, George retired from the post of Chairman, a position which he had held for almost twenty years, Roy Winstanley wrote of him, “He did not indeed found the Parson Woodforde Society, but it may quite confidently be stated that he has created it in its present successful form.” . . .
Within recent weeks he has donated to the Society his own collection of Woodfordeiana, henceforth to be known as the Bunting Collection.
No record was made of the provenance of this item in the collection, but George Bunting understood it to be a self-portrait by 'Nephew Sam', the second son of Parson Woodforde's brother Heighes Woodforde (1726–89) of Alhampton, Somerset.
Dating the painting
The portrait seen here could be an early attempt by a novice. It was created using a restricted palette. The limited use of colour may point to the artist not having access to a full range of paints and having to make do with what was to hand.
This is also the case with the painting of Anna Maria Woodforde in 1779 known to be by her brother Samuel when he was aged sixteen (no. 1 in the list of his family portraits on this website, below).
The boy in the portrait is not dressed fashionably: Samuel, the putative artist, and his siblings suffered as a result of their father's extravagant ways and habitual indebtedness. However the style of the cravat resembles those seen in portraits of the late 1770s and the 1780s.
Can this rather diffident boy have grown into the dark-haired young man with dramatic Byronic looks seen in an authenticated self-portrait by Samuel Woodforde in 1805, when he was aged 38? The arresting portrait (object 03/287) has been in the collection of the Royal Academy of Arts since his widow donated it to the Academy in 1860.
Portraits of his family by 'Nephew Sam'
Seven portraits known to be by Samuel Woodforde, RA are featured on this website:
1 • Sam's elder sister Anna Maria (Nancy) Woodforde, signed and dated 1779 when he was aged sixteen and seen at the top of the webpage.
2 • His sister Nancy Woodforde as a young woman; the chalk drawing is at the foot of the webpage.
3 • His uncle, the diarist the Revd James Woodforde, seen at the top of the webpage. The sketch was made at Weston in 1785 and the painting completed in 1806 after the diarist's death.
4 • Sam's elder brother William Woodforde in his uniform as an officer in the Volunteers and seen near the foot of the webpage; 'Nephew Bill' was then aged 45. The painting was completed in 1803, but Bill's youthful face indicates an earlier date for the sketch on which it may be based: Sam sketched his brother at Weston in 1785.
5 • His brother William Woodforde, in his uniform as an officer in the Volunteers and seen near the foot of the webpage. This second painting was also completed in 1803, but the face may well have been sketched earlier (see no. 4).
6 • Sam's future wife Jane Woodforde, née Gardner, in the pose of a fortune-teller and seen halfway down the webpage. The painting is almost certainly the one exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1808, the year after the artist's election to the Academy.
7 • His grandfather the Revd Samuel Woodforde, who died in 1771 when the young Sam was eight. The portrait, seen at the foot of the webpage, is a copy by Sam and not his own work.
Journal coverage of Samuel Woodforde, RA
A search of the Names index to the Parson Woodforde Society Journal will produce a wealth of articles on the Academician over the years. The index is accessed from near the top of the Journal page. The front cover of vol. 17 no. 4 of the Journal for Winter 1984 carries Samuel's authenticated self-portrait dated to 1801 or 1804.
Roy Winstanley produced a set of in-depth essays on the life and work of Samuel Woodforde, RA for an early edition of the Journal: vol. 6 no. 1, pages 3–48.
Two hundred years after Samuel's death the editor of the Journal, Martin Brayne, made a pilgrimage with his wife Ann to Bologna. Samuel Woodforde lies buried there in the Certosa Cemetery, as described in the moving study 'In search of Sam' (vol. 50 no. 3 for December 2017).
'Nephew Sam' speaks in his own words in excerpts from his diary edited by William Woodforde's descendant Dorothy Heighes Woodforde in 1932 (Woodforde Papers and Diaries , republished 1990), available for purchase from the Parson Woodforde Society.
In none of these studies is there any mention of an early self-portrait. The identity of the boy seen at the top of this page – and the artist – remains a mystery.