Sitter: name

What is the sitter’s name?
Is this name the sitter’s main name?
>> Case Study 15 – Thomas Camble by an anonymous artist of the English School, c.1860-80
What is the sitter’s first name?
What is the sitter’s maiden name?
What is the sitter’s married name
Is the sitter known by a pseudonym?
Is the sitter known by a nickname?
What is the preferred name for the sitter?
What was the sitter’s former name?
Is the sitter’s name recorded in the Library of Congress Name Authority (http://authorities.loc.gov/)?
Does the sitter’s name appear on census returns (http://www.ukcensusonline.com/?gclid=COmUoL2eiLQCFcrItAod6ywAMQ)?
>> Case Study 11 – The Palmer Family by James Leakey c.1822

 

Sitter: dates

What is the earliest date recorded for the sitter?
Is the sitter’s birth date confirmed by a primary source such as a birth, marriage or death certificate?
>> General Register Office (http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/)
>> Census Online (http://www.ukcensusonline.com/)
>> Case Study 14 – Thomas Taunton by an anonymous artist of the English school c.1744-50 and Samuel Taunton, by an anonymous artist of the English school c.1749-53
Is the sitter’s baptismal date recorded in a parish register or family bible?
>> Family Search, international genealogical index (https://familysearch.org/)
Can you give a date range for a period in the sitter’s life when he or she was known to be active? i.e. a floruit date (fl.)
Was the sitter married? Is the date of his or her marriage (or marriages) known or recorded on a marriage certificate, or mentioned in a will, or entered in a family bible?
>> General Register Office (http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/)
What is the latest date recorded for the sitter?
Is his or her death date known or recorded on a death certificate/will/family bible? Are there reliable obituaries for the sitter in the national or local press, or occupational journals?
Is the sitter’s date of burial known or recorded in cemetery records/family correspondence/ orders of service?
Is there a known date of probate for the administration of the sitter’s estate?
>> Probate Records (http://www.probaterecords.co.uk/)
Did the sitter leave a will? What was the date it was signed?
>> National Register of Archives (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/)

 

Sitter: title

Does the sitter bear a title? E.g. The Revd, Commodore, The Master?
Is the sitter’s name, or the name attached to the portrait, prefixed by a foretitle, e.g. Sir, Dame, Lord, Lady?
Does the sitter hold an aristocratic title?

>> Debrett’s Guide to the Peerage (http://www.debretts.com/people/essential-guide-to-the-peerage.aspx)

 

Sitter: occupation

Is the sitter’s ccupation known generally, e.g. scientist, or specifically, e.g. chemist?  Is his or her occupational descriptor historically accurate? e.g. ‘natural philosopher’ or ‘scientist’?
>> Case Study 8 – William Buckland by Thomas Phillips 1800-1825
Was the sitter a member of any organizations? If so, are there any professional, vocational, or other such organisational records of his or her activity?
Did the sitter hold professional or vocational qualifications? Are there formal records that might provide information about him or her?
Was the sitter honoured in his or her lifetime or posthumously? Are there military, civil or ecclesiastical records of such honours?
Are there any attributes in the portrait that might give an indication of the sitter’s status, occupation, family, collegiate or professional associations? These might include objects associated with the sitter’s status, position, work, role or character
>> Case Study 10 – John Wallis by Godfrey Kneller, 1701
Is the sitter wearing formal dress? Is his or her dress ceremonial, service uniform, professional, ecclesiastical, legal or theatrical? Does his or her dress indicate political affiliation or social status? Does the sitter’s dress suggest an approximate date for the portrait? Is the sitter wearing fancy dress?
Is the sitter known to have published works? Are any of his or her diaries or correspondence available in published or manuscript form?
>> Case Study 1 – Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) by John Hayls

 

Sitter: education

Where was the sitter educated at school, college or university? Is he or she listed in school registers, university matriculation records, or other formal records that might provide information about, for example, age or date of birth?

>> The Harrow School Register 1800-1911 (https://archive.org/details/harrowschoolregi00harruoft)

 

Sitter: nationality

Can the sitter be identified as British, English, Northern Irish, Scottish or Welsh? Can he or she be identified as of any other nationality?

Is the sitter included in any dictionaries of biography?

>> Oxford DNB (http://www.oxforddnb.com/)
>> Dictionary of American Biography (http://www.anb.org/)

 

Sitter: identity

>> Case Study 2 – Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723) by David Le Marchand
>> Case Study 3 – John Milton (1608-1674) by unknown artist 

>> Case Study 4 – Anne of Denmark attributed to Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger c.1612
>> Case Study 6 – Catherine Parr attributed to Master John c.1545
>> Case Study 17 – Unknown man and woman by an anonymous artist, c.1610-1614

 

Sitter: family history

>> Case Study 11 – The Palmer Family by James Leakey c.1822
>> Case Study 12 – Sir Richard Hoare and Lady Frances Hoare by John Opie c.1780-85
>> Case Study 14 – Thomas Taunton by an anonymous artist of the English school c.1744-50 and Samuel Taunton, by an anonymous artist of the English school c.1749-53
>> Case Study 16 – Adeline Ayles, Ethel Ayles and Louisa Ayles by Philip Tennyson Cole, c.1885-86

 

Sitter: biography

>> Oxford DNB (http://www.oxforddnb.com/)
>> World Biographical Information System (http://db.saur.de/WBIS/login.jsf;jsessionid=972946636643d9dd3744017f6bf2)
>> Clergy of the Church of England database (http://theclergydatabase.org.uk/)
>> National Portrait Gallery, London, search collections (http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search.php)
>> Oxford DNB, search people and images (http://www.oxforddnb.com/)