Engraving of William Hershel by Ryder after Abbott.

The 1785 portrait by Lemel F. Abbott now belongs to the National Portrait Gallery, London. The Abbott portrait was commissioned by William Herschel's friend, William Watson Jnr (1744?-1825) whose father had just been painted by the same artist.

Watson owned the painting until his death, whereapon it was bought by a Bath dealer, Robert Walker who died in 1860. It was then purchased by the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Prints were often taken of paintings, frequently long after the painting had been completed and in some cases long after they were exhibited. These prints would then be bought either individually or as part of a subscription series and added to a private print collection. Print collections were popular particularly with upper middle class families in the 19th century and can often be seen as self consciously biographical, made up of people, places and ideas to which they felt a particular connection, or to which they would like to have been seen to have a particular connection.