Drawing of a female figure, seated, identified as a study of the sculpture known as 'Nymph with a Shell'. The figure is seen from behind, and faces to the right. She is dressed in a simple garment, which is tied at the waist and falls open to expose the her bare right leg and foot. Her hair is braided around her head and knotted, leaving a few loose tendrils hanging behind. The sheet was once folded along its centre, and a tear along the fold line has since been repaired. Made by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734 - 1797), c. 1768 - 69. Pencil on brown laid paper. Displayed in a cream window mount.

Exhibitions:

  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby: An Exhibition to Commemorate the Centenary of Derby Museums and Art Gallery
    Venue: Derby Museum and Art Gallery
    Dates: from 21/04/1979 to 21/07/1979
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby, 1734-1797: Bicentenary Exhibition
    Venue: Derby Museum and Art Gallery
    Dates: from 21/06/1997 to 28/09/1997
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby in Liverpool
    Venue: Walker Art Gallery
    Dates: from 17/11/2007 to 24/02/2008

Publications

  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby 1734 - 1797
    Sub-Title: An introduction to the work of Joseph Wright of Derby with a catalogue of drawings held by Derby Museum and Art Gallery. Published on the occasion of an exhibition commemorating the Bicentenary of the artist's death.
    Published Place: Derby
    Published Year: 1997

Related People

  • Joseph Wright of Derby (Artist)

    Display Date: British, 1734 - 1797

    Nationality: British

    Biography: Artist.

Recto: Study of 'Nymph with a Shell', after the Antique

Date: c. 1768-1769

Medium: Pencil on brown laid paper.

Object Type:Drawing
Dimensions:Support: 540 × 397 mm (21 1/4 × 15 5/8 in.)
Description:The original sculpture known as 'Nymph with a Shell', was located at the Villa Borghese in Rome, and is now at the Louvre in Paris. This study however, and the associated study on the verso, is likely to have been based on a cast of this sculpture and made in England (at the St Martin's Lane Academy?) prior to Wright's departure for Italy in 1773. The 'Nymph with a Shell' features in two paintings, both titled 'An Academy by Lamplight'. One of these, completed in about 1769, is now in a private collection in the UK. Another, beleived by Elizabeth Barker to be the second of the two, and completed about 1769 - 70, is the collection of the Yale Center for British Art, in New Haven (this one is reproduced in BN, cat. 189, plate 60). This study is therefore likely to have been produced preparatory to these paintings. Indeed, it does not have the appearance of the studies Wright made after antique sculptures whilst in Italy. Elizabeth Barker (2008, Joseph Wright of Derby in Liverpool) notes the 'hesitant draughtsmanship' of the drawing and suggests that it may have been produced much earlier than the paintings in which he eventually included the Nymph's figure. Barker also offers the possibility of the drawing having been made by Wright's pupil, William Tate. She notes that Tate exhibited a black chalk drawing of 'Venus with a Shell' in Liverpool in 1774. [LB: 2024]
Provenance:...; William Bemrose of Derby; by descent to his son, Charles Lloyd Bemrose, by whom donated to Derby Museums in 1914.
Viewing Status:Contact Us
Item Ref:1914-517/35A
Browse Collection
Browse Collection