Drawing of a open hearth with a fire. Two pots have been set before it, one of which sits within an iron trivet. To the left is a shovel. An elaborate fire dog, used in pairs for supporting a grate, sits alone. A large branch has been propped within the fireplace to burn. Inscribed on recto, top left (handwritten in ink): '238'. Made by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797), c. 1774-1775, brown ink and ink wash on paper.

Exhibitions:

  • Title: Paintings by Joseph Wright, A.R.A., commonly called "Wright of Derby", together with some Original Drawings, and a Complete Collection of Prints after his Works
    Venue: Derby Corporation Art Gallery
    Dates: from 16/04/1883 to 16/04/1883
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby
    Venue: Norwich Castle Museum
    Dates: from 03/01/1959 to 01/02/1959
  • 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: Wright of Derby
    Venue: Tate Gallery
    Dates: from 16/04/1990 to 16/04/1990
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby, 1734-1797: Bicentenary Exhibition
    Venue: Derby Museum and Art Gallery
    Dates: from 21/06/1997 to 28/09/1997

Publications

  • Title: Wright of Derby
    Published Place: London
    Copyright: The Tate Gallery
    Published Year: 1990
  • 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
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby: Painter of Light
    Sub-Title: Volume 1
    Volume: 1
    Published Place: London
    Copyright: Benedict Nicolson, 1968
    Published Year: 1968
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby: Painter of Light
    Sub-Title: Volume 2
    Volume: 2
    Published Place: New Haven and London
    Published Year: 1968

Related People

  • Joseph Wright of Derby (Artist)

    Display Date: British, 1734 - 1797

    Nationality: British

    Biography: Artist.

Study of an Open Hearth with Fire

Date: c. 1774-1775

Medium: Pen and sepia ink, and ink wash on paper.

Object Type:Drawing
Dimensions:Support: 279 × 311 mm (11 × 12 1/4 in.)
Description:The inclusion of a number, inscribed in the top corner of the drawing, is consistent with the drawings that Wright made in Italy. Could this drawing have been produced during his trip abroad, and therefore slightly later, than previously thought? Note too that one of the glasshouse studies to which this drawing has been compared (Interior of a Glasshouse, DBYMU 1914-517/58), also carries a number in the top corner. [LB: 2024] The 'hearth' in this wonderfully alive study appears much too large for domestic use. The open hearth appears to front a tunnel-like flue, somewhat similar to a type already seen in Wright's studies of glass-houses. The long-handled shovel, and the fuel in the form of stacked tree branches, also appear in these studies. However, as Wright executed these studies in the 1770's when industry was still largely organised under the domestic system, it could be another industrial scene. A variety of small-scale industrial processes such as nail-making were undertaken as piece-work in the domestic home. Wright may well have sketched one such establishment, hence the curious mixture of the 'industrial' size hearth, with the domestic paraphernalia. [J. Wallis, 'Joseph Wright of Derby' (1997), p.71] Egerton remarks on the evident love of light effects on show in this drawing and draws a parallel with Wright's glass house studies. She notes the well-wrought, even 'elegant', paraphenalia of the fireplace, such as the fire dog and long handled shovel, and questions whether the study might have been made in a blacksmith's living quarters during his period of painting smithies and forges [see J. Egerton, 'Wright of Derby' (1990), p.138]. It was Nicolson that appears to have suggested a date of c.1770-1772 for this drawing, grouping it with what he felt to be other industrial subjects, such as the study for the Iron Forge (1772), and the glass house drawings [see B. Nicolson, 'Joseph Wright of Derby: Painter of Light' (1968), vol 1, p.50 (note 3), and vol 2, plate 98].
Inscriptions:Inscribed on recto, top left (handwritten in ink): '238'.
Provenance:...; with William Bemrose in 1883(?); by descent to Herbert Cheney Bemrose; thence to his wife, Florence May Bemrose (nee Prince); thence to her second husband, Major Lousada, by whom bequeathed to Derby Museums in 1954.
Viewing Status:Contact Us
Item Ref:1954-224/4
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