Joseph Wright of Derby, A.R.A.

Hugh Wood and his second wife Mary Wood (née Peake), Swanwick Hall, Derby;
Thence by descent at Swanwick to their great-great-grandson Hugh Wood (died c.1910);
by descent to his second son Rossington Hugh Wood, Pale Manor, Malvern Link;
by whom sold, London, Christie's, 1 June 1934, lot 63 (Mary Wood, for 99 guineas 15s) & lot 64 (Hugh Wood, for 168 Guineas), both to Gooden & Fox (but not entered into the firm's Day Book), presumably purchased on behalf of Hugh Leycester (1899-1953), for his wife Judith Gwendoline Leycester, née Wood (1900-1972), sister of R.H. Wood, and a direct descendant of the sitters, from circa 1935/6 hanging at Wheatfield House, Hilton, Cambridgeshire (and subsequently Godmanchester, Huntingdonshire;
by descent to the present owner

 

 

Derby Museum and Art Gallery, Derby, on loan, from the Trustees of the Wood Family, 1911-1934, on loan from J.H. Leycester in 1934 (following his purchase of them at auction), and on loan from the present owner, 1998-2000 & 2008-2010.

B. Nicolson, Joseph Wright of Derby, London 1968, Text Vol. I, pp. 17, 73, 226 (recorded in Wright's Account Book as Mr. and Mrs. Wood), nos. 152 (Hugh Wood) and 153 (wrongly identified as Sarah Wood), reproduced Plates Vol. II, p. 176, plates 276 & 277.  

STRUCTURE The canvas has been lined. PAINT SURFACE The painting appears to be very good condition, with no apparent damages or loss of paint. ULTRAVIOLET Examination under ultraviolet light reveals a slightly discoloured and patchy vanish overall and a small number of very minor retouchings in the background in both paintings. FRAME Both held in their original carved and gilded Carlo Marratta frames. To speak to a specialist about this lot please contact Julian Gascoigne on +44 (0)207 293 5482, or at julian.gascoigne@sothebys.com, or Emmeline Hallmark on 44 (0)207 293 5407, or at emmeline.hallmark@sothebys.com.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This charming pair of portraits, so beautifully observed and sensitively portrayed, depict Hugh Wood of Swanwick, Derbyshire, and his second wife Mary. Painted in 1789 they are exquisite examples of the artist's mature style. As Nicolson commented, "in late middle age Wright viewed his sitters through more benign spectacles than ever before," remarking of the present pair that they "have a softness and sweetness."¹ The portraits are listed in the artist's account book alongside the conversation piece of their three children, John, Robert and Mary – the celebrated Wood Children (Derby Museum and Art Gallery, fig. 1).  

The Wood family were recorded at Swanwick, near Derby, since 1553.  Their estate was barely 300 acres, but their substantial wealth was based on mineral rights, especially of coal deposits.  From 1678 they occupied a large house in what is now known as Wood's Yard, before Swanwick Hall was built for Hugh Wood in circa 1776 on the site of an earlier house. Hugh's elder brother John Wood, a friend of both Edward Delaval and Benjamin Franklin, was tutor to a son of the 5^th Duke of Devonshire. He was later chaplain to the Duke, and vicar of Edensor near Chatsworth, where the Duke had a new vicarage built for him in 1776 to the designs of Joseph Pickford (1734-1782).² Swanwick Hall has also been convincingly attributed to Pickford, who is thought to have been a close friend of Wright of Derby.³ Before its 19^th Century additions it was a modestly proportioned brick villa of three bays by three bays, with limited stone dressings (see fig. 2).

The sitter's descendants emigrated to British Columbia in 1899 and in 1911 Swanwick Hall was emptied, and the present pair of portraits, along with the larger Wood Children group, were placed on loan to Derby Museum and Art Gallery by the Trustees. The pictures were later sold in 1934, at which time the group portrait of the children became separated from those of their parents. The Hall itself was sold to Derby County Council in 1920, became a Grammar School in 1922, and is now a Technology College. 

It has long been assumed that the female sitter is Hugh Wood's first wife Sarah (née Rossington), whom he married in 1769. However, she died childless, and following her death, Wood married in 1775 her cousin Mary (née Peake), with whom he had three children; those depicted in the Derby conversation group. The fact that the present portraits were painted at the same time as the portrait group of the children, as confirmed by Wright's account book, indicates that the pendant portrait must therefore portray their mother, Mary Wood, not Hugh's first wife, Sarah. That 'Rossington', Sarah Wood's maiden name, was perpetuated as a family first name until the 20^th Century is not surprising, given that Mary Wood's grandfather was a also a Rossington

Provenance:
Benedict Nicolson's catalogue entry incorrectly lists a subsequent sale at Christie's, 1 June 1954, lots 53 & 54.  This is however likely to be a mis-transcription of the earlier sale date and lot numbers, since the portraits are known to have hung at Wheatfield House from circa 1935/6.

1. Nicolson, op. cit, p. 73.
2. See M. Craven & M. Stanley, The Derbyshire Country House, Derby 1991, p. 207.  Pickford's Edensor vicarage was built in 1776 and demolished in 1833.  Craven & Stanley do not give a date for the construction of Swanwick, but note that it was at "exactly" the same time.
3. Idem. The stone dressings were probably carved in Pickford's yard behind 45 Friar Gate, Derby.