Jane Austen For Sale

Sotherby's will be putting this portrait of Jane Austen by James Andrews up for auction on 10 December, with an estimated value of £200,000. The only likeness of Jane made during her lifetime was her sister Cassandra's grim-faced sketch. That was not how Jane's nephew Rev James Edward Austen-Leigh remembered her. So, when he wrote a biography of his aunt, he commissioned Maidenhead artist James Andrews to paint a more acceptable portrait of Jane based on his own memories of her. This portrait gave a face to the biography and forms the basis of the depiction of Jane on the new £10 note (CLICK). In a strong hint to Ed Vaizey, a Sotherby's spokesman said this portrait is a "part of our cultural history" (CLICK).