Painting of a woman sitting within a landscape, titled 'The Widow of an Indian Chief watching the arms of her deceased husband'. She rests her head against her right hand and, in her other hand, holds a stick with a string attached to the end. She wears a purple cloth garment and a feathered headdress. Behind her is a tree adorned with a range of items including a quiver of arrows, a tomahawk axe, a knife sheath decorated with beads and quillwork, a human scalp stretched on a metal hoop, and an animal hide. The landscape she inhabits appears inhospitable and the weather is turbulent; a plume of smoke emitted by a distant volcano combines with dark storm clouds and flashes of lightening. Her head appears almost as a silhouette against a vortex of bright sunlight beyond. Inscribed to recto, lower left: 'I. W. 1785'. Painted by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734 - 1797). Oil on canvas in gilded frame.

Exhibitions:

  • Title: Pictures Painted by Joseph Wright, of Derby
    Venue: Mr Robins' Rooms, London
    Dates: from 15/04/1785 to 15/04/1785
  • Title: Angelika Kauffmann und ihre Zeitgenossen
    Venue: Vorarlberger Landesmuseum, Bregenz
    Dates: from 15/07/1968 to 15/10/1968
  • Title: English Landscape Painting of the 18th and 19th Centuries
    Venue: National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo
    Dates: from 15/04/1970 to 15/04/1971
  • 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 15/04/1990 to 15/04/1990
  • Title: Lumière, Transparence, Opacité
    Venue: Nouveau Musee National de Monaco
    Dates: from 27/09/2006 to 26/11/2006
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby: Bath and Beyond
    Venue: The Holburne Museum of Art
    Dates: from 25/01/2014 to 05/05/2014
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby: Bath and Beyond (2)
    Venue: Derby Museum and Art Gallery
    Dates: from 24/05/2014 to 31/08/2014
  • Title: Simon Starling (part of The Grand Tour, Season Two)
    Dates: from 19/03/2016 to 26/06/2016
  • Title: Exhibition Held for the Benefit of the Town and County Museum
    Dates: from 15/04/2026 to 15/04/2026

Publications

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

Related People

  • Joseph Wright of Derby (Artist)

    Display Date: British, 1734 - 1797

    Nationality: British

    Biography: Artist.

The Widow of an Indian Chief watching the arms of her deceased husband

Date: 1785

Medium: Oil on canvas.

Object Type:Painting
Dimensions:Frame: 1350 × 1621 × 115 mm (53 1/8 × 63 13/16 × 4 1/2 in.) Support: 1016 × 1270 mm (40 × 50 in.)
Description:Joseph Wright completed this painting shortly after the War of Independence between Britain and its North American colonies. It was included in his solo exhibition of 1785. Wright's painting reflected the widespread British curiosity in other cultures of the time. It was a period of aggressive European expansion abroad and goods from around the world flowed into Britain. Wright never travelled to America but took inspiration from 'A History of the American Indians' by James Adair, 1775. Adair lived and traded among the indigenous peoples of the Southwestern Woodlands for 40 years and described their way of life in detail. His writing reflects his position as a white observer unable to fully understand those he describes. He compared their clothing to classical robes in an attempt to explain it for his British readers: ‘Indian men and women…wrap a piece of cloth round them, that has a near resemblance to the…Roman toga.’ Wright may also have taken inspiration from North American objects in the private collections of local, wealthy men of status.
Inscriptions:'I. W. 1785' recto, lower left.
Provenance:Listed in Wright’s Account Book as ‘An Indian Chiefs Widdow £63.0.0’; remained unsold during Wright's lifetime; offered at Wright’s posthumous sale, Christie’s 6 May 1801 (lot 64, as 'The Indian Widow'), whereupon purchased by Thomas Borrow (later Borough) of Derby and later Chetwynd Park, Salop, for £73.10.0; by descent to Colonel John G. Burton Borough of Chetwynd Park, Salop; by whom bequeathed to Derby Museums in 1961.
Viewing Status:Contact Us
Item Ref:1961-508/6
Browse Collection
Browse Collection