Is This Jane Austen?

[poliphilo]

This is the Rice portrait of the teenage Jane Austen which is being sold at Christie's today. 

Is it authentic ? 

Hmmmmmm. 

It's supported by oral tradition but...

...Some people think the frock is all wrong for the 1780s.

Short of going back in a Tardis we're never going to know.

But it's pretty, isn't it?

Comments

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I too thought it looked a bit like a fashion plate. And for all we know Stanier Clarke may have been recording a costume that impressed him rather than attempting a portrait.

Bah, why didn't he label it?

The Rice portrait failed to make its reserve. That says it all really. If people had been convinced it was Jane Austen I think bidding would have gone through the roof.

It would be good if someone were now to submit it to an exhaustive examination. When was it painted? Has it been retouched or reworked? I'd love to know.