antiquesandartireland.com

An important original portrait of Charles Dicken’s wife Catherine by Cork born artist Daniel Maclise has been discovered hidden beneath what had been thought to be the original work. Doubts about the authenticity of a portrait of Catherince – treasured by the Charles Dicken’s Museum at Doughty St. in London for 20 years – emerged during the past year. It seemed crude to the museum curator Louisa Price, especially when compared to two gigantic paintings of the Napoleonic Wars by Daniel Maclise in the House of Lords. There were gaps in its provenance.

An investigation showed it to have been heavily overpainted, with up to 70% of the surface not original. In September the painting was scanned and x rayed at the Hamilton Kerr Institute to determine whether the original Maclise work was underneath. The painting underneath was confirmed as the original 1847 work by Maclise, a friend of Charles Dickens. It remained in Catherine’s possession after she separated from Dickens in 1858.  The museum, which holds the world’s most comprehensive collection of Dicken’s material in the house where he completed The Pickwick Papers and wrote Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby, is working to raise funds for a complete restoration of the Maclise painting.