Photogravure 'From a Pastel by the late J. Russell, Esq.re R. A., 1794. In the possession of Sir W J Herschel, Bart'. The fact that it belonged to Sir William James Herschel rather than his father, Sir John FW Herschel suggests that this was made after the latters death in 1871.

The original portrait was produced by John Russell (1745-1806) in 1794 and shows William, then aged 56, holding a sketch of 'The Georgian Planet with its Satellites'. The Georgian planet is the name Herschel gave to Uranus the planet he discovered in 1781 naming it after King George III, a common tactic used by those looking for patronage (Galileo set the precident when he named the 4 moons of Jupiter he discovered with his telescope the 'Medician planets').

While William and many in England called Uranus Georgium Sidus, in France they called it Herschel. The name Uranus was first suggested by German astronomer, Johann Elert Bode.

The original Russell portrait is currently in a private collection, a copy however exists in the National Maritime Museum collections (BHC2764).