Portrait of a man, called Thomas Borrow; half-length, turned slightly to the right, wearing a burgundy red coat with cloth-covered buttons, matching breeches, and a dark green waistcoat decorated with gold lace. He is seated, cross-legged, on a Chippendale-pattern chair, before a highly polished table on which is an open book. He leans on the book with his left arm and toys with the corner of a page. Behind him, a mustard yellow silk curtain hangs from ceiling to floor. Painted by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734 - 1797). Oil on canvas in gilded frame. Unglazed.

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

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

  • Thomas Borrow (Content)

    Display Date: British, 1709 - 1786

    Nationality: British

    Biography: Son of Isaac Borrow (d.1745), silk merchant, of Derby. Recorder of Derby. Married Ann Alt of Loughborough in 1757. They had a son, also called Thomas (1759-1838), who moved to Chetwynd Park, salop, in 1803 and changed his name to Borough.

  • Joseph Wright of Derby (Artist)

    Display Date: British, 1734 - 1797

    Nationality: British

    Biography: Artist.

Thomas Borrow

Date: 1762-1763

Medium: Oil on canvas

Object Type:Painting
Dimensions:Frame: 1454 × 1200 × 68 mm (57 1/4 × 47 1/4 × 2 11/16 in.) Support: 1270 × 1016 mm (50 × 40 in.)
Description:Joseph Wright returned to Derby in 1758, after training in London with the portraitist, Thomas Hudson, and started to establish himself as a professional portrait painter. Although his first sitters were often friends or family, his clients quickly came to include respected local gentlemen, merchants, and landowners as word of his artistic talent spread. Thomas Borrow and his wife Ann were painted during this early stage in Wright's career and were probably designed to be displayed together at the Borrow family home at Castlefields in Derby.
Provenance:Listed in Wright's Account Book as 'Mr. Borrow 12.12.0' among pictures of c.1762-65 (page 6v), entry crossed through and listed again (among the same pictures) as 'Mr. and Mrs. Borrow half L., £25.4.'; by descent through the Borrow (later Borough) family of Chetwynd Park, Salop; bequeathed to Derby Museums by Colonel John G. Burton Borough in 1961.
Viewing Status:Contact Us
Item Ref:1961-508/2
Browse Collection
Browse Collection