Joseph Wright of Derby, A.R.A.

Probably the artist’s studio sale, London, Christie’s, 6 May 1801, lot 29 (as ‘Study of a Beggar’), for 6 guineas to Borrow;

Richard Arkwright, Jnr (1755–1843), Mark Hall, Essex;

By descent to his sixth son, the Rev. Joseph Arkwright (1791–1864), at Mark Hall, Essex;

By descent to his fourth son, Loftus Wigram Arkwright (1829–1889), at Mark Hall, Essex;

By descent to his son, Loftus Joseph Wigram Arkwright (1866–1950), at Mark Hall, Essex;

By whom sold (‘Mark Hall, Harlow, Essex’ sale), on the premises, Alfred Savill & Son, 29–31 March 1943, lot 619 (as Bol) for 30½ guineas;

Private collection, United Kingdom, until acquired by the present owner.

M. Craske, Joseph Wright of Derby: Painter of Darkness, London 2020, pp. 137 and 321 n. 6, reproduced p. 140, fig. 81.

To be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Joseph Wright of Derby’s work by Martin Postle, to be published by the Paul Mellon Centre in 2025.