Chalk study on paper: 'Portrait Study of a Young Woman, possibly the Artist's Sister Hannah, by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797), circa 1753-55. Mounted.

Exhibitions:

Title: Drawings by Joseph Wright of Derby
Venue: Derby Museum and Art Gallery
Dates: from 31/03/1990 to 22/04/1990
Title: Joseph Wright of Derby, 1734-1797: Bicentenary Exhibition
Venue: Derby Museum and Art Gallery
Dates: from 21/06/1997 to 28/09/1997
Title: Joseph Wright of Derby: Life on Paper
Venue: Derby Museum and Art Gallery
Dates: from 23/05/2025 to 07/09/2025

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.
Hannah Wright (Content)
Display Date: British, 1732 - 1810
Nationality: British
Biography: Elder sister of the artist Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797).

Portrait Study of a Young Woman, possibly the Artist's Sister Hannah

Date: 1753-1755

Medium: Black and white chalks on blue laid paper.

Object Type:	drawing
Dimensions:	Support: 349 × 273 mm (13 3/4 × 10 3/4 in.)
Description:	Portrait study in chalks of a young female. The sitter could be the artist's sister Hannah (1732-1810) as Wright is known to have painted various portraits of his family during the period 1753-6. The costume too, appears to add weight to the attribution, it is very similar to costume worn by Wright's mother, Hannah, in a known portrait of her by Wright (c.1753) in a private collection. Both sitters wear day caps and rather demure dresses, very different in style and character to the low-cut, pearl decorated dresses of the Wright archive from around the same period. This is a portrait of a woman dressed in her best for her portrait, but the costume evidence suggests that she is from a very different social sphere from Hudson's fashionable London sitters. [Wallis, J. 'Joseph Wright of Derby 1734-1797' (1997), p.65.]
Provenance:	With Mrs Romana Lock of Little Lypiatt Farm, Neston, Wiltshire, in 1979 (according to Joseph Wright photograph archive at Derby Museums); by descent to H Rowena Lock (?), a descendent of the artist, from whom purchased by Derby Museums in 1985.
Viewing Status:	Contact Us
Item Ref:	1985-128/2