CARLYLE (THOMAS, 1795-1881, essayist and historian) FINE MEDALLION PORTRAIT OF CARLYLE BY THOMAS WOOLNER, FORMERLY OWNED BY SAMUEL LAURENCE, 'signed and dated' by the artist, plaster, framed and glazed in a round mahogany frame, c. 9½ diameter, formerly in the collections of Samuel Laurence and Horace N. Pym, 1855

J.A. Froude, Carlyle's biographer, considered this medallion portrait of Carlyle to be 'by far the best likeness of him in the days of his strength. His head was extremely long, with the chin thrust forward; the neck was thin; the mouth firmly closed, the underlip slightly projecting, the hair grizzled and thick and bushy. His eyes, which grew lighter with age, were then of a deep violet, with fire burning at the bottom of them, which flashed out at the least excitement.'

Carlyle sat for a portrait by Samuel Laurence. Horace Pym recounts in Odds and Ends at Foxwold that the present medallion portrait was given by Thomas Woolner to Samuel Laurence who kept it for the rest of his life. It was at the Laurence sale that Pym purchased it. It was bought from Pym's collection in 1996.

This medallion portrait is usually to be found in bronze casts; the definition is greater in plaster.

(F. Kaplan, Thomas Carlyle, 1993; R. Ormonde, Early Victorian Portraits, 2 volumes, 1973 and Thomas Caryle, 1981; A. Woolner, Thomas Woolner, R.A.. His Life and Letters, 1917).

£4,250