The only authenticated portrait of which English novelist, is by her sister Cassandra, and hangs in the National Portrait Gallery?
The Rice portrait validated by the English-based company Acume Forensics. The restorer who spent many months working on the portrait identified a separate monogram of Ozias Humphry on the picture. A report was sent to the National Portrait Gallery who filed it without comment. Jacob Simon of the National Portrait Gallery pointed out that the inscriptions were not noticeable in the Walker photograph, nor when the portrait was photographed prior to cleaning in 1985. The Rice portrait The Rice portrait is believed by the owners and others to be of Jane Austen and painted by Ozias Humphry in 1788 or 1789 when Austen
The Rice portrait sister Cassandra. There was therefore a potential conflict of interest. In 1994, the portrait was exhibited at Olympia. Henry Rice, the then owner, offered it to the National Portrait Gallery, but they were not willing to buy it. The portrait was given an export licence on the advice of the National Portrait Gallery on the basis that it was not of Austen. It was put up for auction at Christie's in New York, in 2007 but failed to sell. According to the owners of the Rice Portrait, the National Portrait Gallery wrote an unsolicited email to the auctioneer prior to