James Stanier Clarke's "Friendship Book" – another view of Jane?
With all the interest in the Rice portrait auction next week, JASNA has added some information about another possible portrait of Jane Austen to their Web site. The little painting, from James Stanier Clarke’s “Friendship Book,” is unidentified, but many experts think it quite possibly a painting of Jane Austen. Jane met Clarke, the librarian to the Prince Regent, when he called upon her at the Regent’s command and gave her a private tour of Carlton House, the Regent’s London residence. He seemed rather taken with our Jane and helpfully suggested several subjects for her upcoming novels. (What a guy.) In our more fanciful moments, we like to think that Mr. Clarke had a bit of a crush on Jane.
JASNA has been granted permission to reproduce the portrait on their Web site (that means: don’t steal it for your own site) and also has uploaded a PDF of Joan Klingel Ray’s article about the painting from Persuasions No. 27.
Like the Rice portrait, we put this in the Definite Maybe category. 
We’ll most likely never know for sure; but it’s fun to speculate and discuss.
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Neither of those links is working for me…
I think she looks a little to fashionable for being the provinsial spinster living at home and making and remaking her own cloths. To much Mary Crawford
JASNA link worked for me. Humpf. That portrait is very different from the Jane in my mind. The hat, the fur muff, the long stole … I dunno.
Yep, working now. As it said in the essay, she would probably have been wearing some of her best and ‘dressiest’ clothes when visiting Carlton House.
Considering she was staying with Henry in London, she might have had a trunk of Eliza’s old clothes at her disposal as well.
How interesting! Love the stories of James Stanier Clarke and all of his suggestions on writing to Jane.
I have posted a little bit about this before and just wanted to add that I do think the real Jane Austen was not as disinterested in fashion as is sometimes made out. I have seen one or two items that have been passed down through the family; at Chawton there is a lovely example of a silk shawl, there is the beautiful coat which is sometimes displayed in Alton Museum and I have seen a splendid red feather cockade which also belonged to her.
I am convinced she had a very enigmatic personality, which coupled with her attractive looks had Mr. James Stanier Clarke pining at a distance and reaching for his paintbrushes!
Oops-perhaps we should be careful what we say-the next film may well be entitled-
‘Nearly Becoming Mrs. Stanier Clarke!’
I think she did know her fashion, but the style used in the drawing will be avangarde for 1815 and JA would be in her mid-30ties and likely dressed a bit more matronly