Public Catalogue Foundation, 2008
Public Catalogue Foundation, 2008
Public Catalogue Foundation, 2008

Exhibitions:

  • Title: Pictures Painted by Joseph Wright, of Derby
    Venue: Mr Robins' Rooms, London
    Dates: from 22/07/1785 to 22/07/1785
  • Title: Wright of Derby
    Venue: Tate Gallery, London
    Dates: from to
  • Title: Angelika Kauffmann und ihre Zeitgenossen
    Venue: Vorarlberger Landesmuseum, Bregenz
    Dates: from to
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby: Bath and Beyond
    Venue: Derby Museum and Art Gallery
    Dates: from to
  • Title: English Landscape Painting of the 18th and 19th Centuries
    Venue: National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo
    Dates: from 22/07/1970 to 22/07/1971
  • 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: Lumière, Transparence, Opacité
    Venue: Nouveau Musee National de Monaco
    Dates: from 27/09/2006 to 26/11/2006
  • Title: Simon Starling (The Grand Tour, Season Two)
    Venue: Nottingham Contemporary
    Dates: from 19/03/2016 to 26/06/2016
  • Title: Exhibition Held for the Benefit of the Town and County Museum
    Venue: Athenaeum Hall, Derby
    Dates: from 22/07/2026 to 22/07/2026

Publications

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