Catalogue description Chancery: Sheepshanks' Deed of Gift

This is the original deed of gift, dated 2 February 1857, whereby John Sheepshanks (1787-1863) gave his collection of pictures to the nation as a contribution to the formation of a National Gallery of British Art.

The deed includes a list of the 233 oil paintings and 289 drawings that are included in the collection, and names the artists who are represented: among them Turner, Constable, Wilkie, Crome, Nasmyth, Landseer, Frith and Etty.

Sheepshanks framed his deed of gift with a view to rendering the pictures a source of education to future generations of artists, and, with this end in view, they were housed in the South Kensington (now the Victoria and Albert) Museum, where they became accessible to both students and the public alike. The deed was enrolled on the Close Rolls (C 54/15076, no.19).