Credit: © The Royal Society
Image number: RS.9275
Looking for a special gift? Buy a print of this image.
Portrait of Joseph Dalton Hooker
Date
1880
Sitter
Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817 - 1911, British) , Botanist
Creator
John Collier (1850 - 1934, British) , Painter
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Dimensions
height (painting): 762mm
width (painting): 635mm
width (painting): 635mm
Subject
Content object
Description
Half-length portrait of a bespectacled Joseph Hooker, angled slightly to the sitter’s left. He has greying side-whiskers and a bearded neck with a clean-shaven face. Hooker holds his jacket lapel with his left hand; the right is not visible. He wears a soft black jacket and green waistcoat with a white shirt red tie.
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911), British botanist, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1847, and served as its President from 1873 to 1878. He was awarded the Society's Royal Medal, 1854, Copley Medal, 1887, and Darwin Medal, 1892, for his services to botany.
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911), British botanist, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1847, and served as its President from 1873 to 1878. He was awarded the Society's Royal Medal, 1854, Copley Medal, 1887, and Darwin Medal, 1892, for his services to botany.
Transcription
John Collier 1880
X no.62
Ford and Dickins. Carvers and Gilders. 129 Wardour Street. Drawings mounted....Pictures cleaned...
5 – Sir Joseph Hooker by John Collier 7, Chelsea Embankment
X no.62
Ford and Dickins. Carvers and Gilders. 129 Wardour Street. Drawings mounted....Pictures cleaned...
5 – Sir Joseph Hooker by John Collier 7, Chelsea Embankment
Object history
The donation is described in a letter by Francis Galton, 42 Rutland Gate, London, 1 February 1881, to the President of the Royal Society [William Spottiswoode]: “I have the honour to inform you that the portrait of Sir Joseph Hooker, delivered herewith, has been painted at the desire of sixty-eight Fellows of the Royal Society, whose names are subjoined, in the trust that you will be pleased to accept it on behalf of the Royal Society, and to cause it to be hung in a suitable place among the portraits of former Presidents.” [Royal Society Miscellaneous Correspondence MC/12/146. Arrangements for exhibiting the painting were the subject of an earlier letter, 27 November 1880, now at MC/12/120]. Reproduced in Council Minutes [Royal Society Minutes of Council, Printed, 1878-84, vol.5, pp.195-196. Meeting of 24 February 1881].
The artist John Collier was the son-in-law of Thomas Henry Huxley, whom he painted. Collier was thus able to paint the scientific elite of the late 19th century especially of the Darwin-Huxley circle. In addition to Huxley, the Society has portraits by Collier of: William Kingdon Clifford, Michael Foster, Joseph Dalton Hooker, William Huggins, James Prescott Joule and William Spottiswoode with one painting of Charles Darwin after Collier’s original.
The artist John Collier was the son-in-law of Thomas Henry Huxley, whom he painted. Collier was thus able to paint the scientific elite of the late 19th century especially of the Darwin-Huxley circle. In addition to Huxley, the Society has portraits by Collier of: William Kingdon Clifford, Michael Foster, Joseph Dalton Hooker, William Huggins, James Prescott Joule and William Spottiswoode with one painting of Charles Darwin after Collier’s original.
Associated place