Provenance:John KembleFanny Kemble, niece of the aboveSarah Butler, daughter of the aboveOwen Wister, son of the aboveThence by descent, Private Collection, Mainline, PhiladelphiaLiterature:Kenneth Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence: A complete catalogue of the oil paintings, Oxford, 1989, p. 216.Lot Note:The present large, full-length portrait depicts John Philip Kemble in the role of Hamlet. It is based on the original version from 1801 painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence, now in the Tate, London. Kemble was one of the most successful English actors of his time. This painting shows him in the starring role of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It is a version of one of four large canvases that Lawrence painted of Kemble in various dramatic roles. The actor was also the uncle of the actress Fanny Kemble Butler. Sir Thomas Lawrence scholar, Kenneth Garlick, mentions this portrait specifically in his research on the original at the Tate, stating, “There are other recorded versions. Those which have the best claim to be autograph or studio are probably that which descended from Fanny Kemble..." (Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence: A complete catalogue of the oil paintings, Oxford, 1989, p. 216)