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Charlotte Jones (British, 1768-1847)

William Shakespeare (c.1564-1616), leaning on his right hand, wearing black silk doublet with white lawn collar and cuffs.
Inscribed on reverse, This is a copy by Charlotte Jones (Exhibitions 1801-1823 R.a.)/ (from the) famous "Cosway Shakespeare" (a) miniature claiming to be a/ authentic portrait of Shakespeare which belonged to Cosway the/ famous miniaturist, the copy was bequeathed with a/ large Collection of her work by Charlotte Jones to my Great Grand-/ mother widow of Charles Bowles of Sheen House & past from/ to my aunt Matilda, mother of...who left it/ WHB, ormolu mount.
Oval, 86mm (3 3/8in) high

Footnotes

Many portraits have been put forward over the years as genuine likenesses of William Shakespeare, however, even today we have no certain lifetime portrait of England's most famous poet and playwright.
The present lot was painted by Charlotte Jones, pupil of Richard Cosway, after a portrait in Cosway's possession. Cosway presumed the portrait to be a genuine image of Shakespeare, attributed to Zuccaro; an attribution also accepted by Sir Charles Eastlake (although Wivell and others attributed it to Lucas Franchois). The original oil was sold, probably in the final sale of Cosway's collection in 1828, and was described in an advertisement for that sale as, "the well-known original portrait of Shakespeare so long in Mrs. Cosway's possession". The 'Cosway Zuccaro portrait' is now in America.
After Richard Cosway's death in 1821, Charlotte Jones remained friends with Maria Cosway, even receiving a bequest from her in 1838. Jones must have used this contact in 1823 to request that she copy the famous portrait of Shakespeare in her former master's possession.

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Buyer's Premium Rates
28% on the first £40,000 of the hammer price;
27% of the hammer price of amounts in excess of £40,000 up to and including £800,000;
21% of the hammer price of amounts in excess of £800,000 up to and including £4,500,000;
and 14.5% of the hammer price of any amounts in excess of £4,500,000.
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VAT at the current rate of 20% will be added to the Buyer's Premium and charges excluding Artists Resale Right.
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Y	CITES
	Subject to CITES regulations when exporting items outside of the UK, see clause 13.

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Charlotte Jones (British, 1768-1847)

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