[JANE AUSTEN] ENGLISH PROFILIST, EARLY 19TH CENTURY A GROUP ...

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Estimate

£800 - £1,200

[JANE AUSTEN] ENGLISH PROFILIST, EARLY 19TH CENTURY A GROUP OF LIFE SIZE SILHOUETTES OF THE REVEREND WILLIAM KNIGHT, FORMERLY AUSTEN RECTOR OF STEVENTON, HAMPSHIRE AND SIX OF HIS CHILDREN cut paper with pencil inscriptions:

William Knight born 10 Oct 1798 Rector of Steventon, Hants (1823-1873) died Nov or Dec 1878

Elizabeth Caroline Knight (afterwards Harrison) born 17 July 1826, died 16 Jan 1927 buried at Droxford Hants

Gertrude Knight born 20 Oct 1827 died 5 March 1916 buried at St Patrick's Hove

Edward Bridges Knight born 7 Dec 1829 died June 1878 buried at Dorking or possibly Frederic William Knight born 14 Oct 1828 died 1902 buried at Norwood

Arthur Charles Knight born 30 Aug 1833 died in New Zealand about 1902 [1905] or Richard Knight died in New Zealand

Richard Knight died in New Zealand [1830-1866] or Arthur Charles Knight born 30 Aug 1833 died in New Zealand about 1902

Frances Louisa Knight (afterwards Parker) 13 Feb 1837 died 19 Nov 1911 buried Fair Oak Hants

48 x 37cm, later Regency style ebonised frames (7)

William Knight (Austen) was a nephew of Jane Austen and rector for 50 years of the church where she worshipped and where her father had been rector. Steventon Rectory, newly built for William's growing family by his father in whose gift was the living, replaced the earlier house. William was the third son of Jane's elder brother Edward Austen and his wife Elizabeth Bridges.

The present silhouettes - an astonishing discovery at the Newark Fair many years ago - are portraits of six of Knight's eight children by his first wife Caroline Portal. They are likely to have been cut and kept at Steventon Rectory during Knight's long incumbency.

In January 1809 Jane Austen wrote to her sister Cassandra (at Godmesham Park) "I hope... William will be soon as well as ever. His working a footstool for Chawton is a most agreeable surprise to me, and I am sure his Grandmama will value it very much as a proof of his affection and industry - but we shall never have the heart to put our feet upon it."

Jane's warm regard for her nephew was undiminished when he was 19, writing "William and I are the best of friends. I love him very much. Everything is so natural about him, his affections, his manners and his drollery. He entertains and interests us extremely."