Henry Kirke White by Oliver Sheppard

Sheppard was modelling master at Nottingham School of Art before his move to Dublin. Judith Hill has recently stated that this occurred in 1903, however his letters to Wallis indicate that he was already in Ireland by April 1902.

An Irish protestant, he learnt modelling at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art before moving to the National Training School at South Kensington in 1888. He regularly contributed to the Royal Hibernian Academy from 1891 and executed numerous public statues in Ireland, one of which was the bronze bust of the poet James Clarence Mangan (1803-49) commissioned by the National Literary Society and unveiled near to their offices in St. Stephen's Green, Dublin in 1909.

During the early 19th century Mangan was a principal figure in the Celtic revival, alluded to in the marble relief of the 'spirit of poetry' on the pedestal. Sheppard's commission for the Kirke White portrait some years earlier must have provided a useful grounding for the later image of this Irish poet.