On 28 January 1805, Tassie won the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery and its painting collection in a lottery held to pay off the debts of its owner, John Boydell. Tassie's three-guinea ticket won the top prize among the 22,000 sold. Boydell had died just before the drawing. His nephew Josiah Boydell offered to buy the gallery and its paintings back from Tassie for £10,000, but Tassie refused and auctioned the paintings at Christie's.Friedman, 4, 87–90; Merchant, 70–75. The painting collection and two reliefs by Anne Damer fetched a total of £6,181 18s. 6d.
