Mr. Robert Gwillym
- Date
- 1766
- Material
- Oil on canvas
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- European Art to 1800
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 202
- Dimensions
- 50 x 39 15/16 in. (127 x 101.4 cm)
- Credit Line
- Funds given Martha I. Love in memory of Mr. Daniel K. Catlin
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 71:1965
NOTES
This painting is from a pair of portraits depicting 25-year-old Robert Gwillym and his wife of three years, Henrietta Maria Legh Gwillym. They took the surname Atherton from their Herefordshire estate in 1779. As was customary, Robert is shown leaning on an architectural element. The artist deviated from accepted practice, however, by placing Gwillym at a crumbling balustrade instead of a perfect one, perhaps opting to appeal to the 18th-century love of ruins rather than display Gwillym’s wealth.
Provenance
1766 - 1961
Robert Vernon Atherton Gwillym (1741-1783) and Mrs. Robert Gwillym (d.1787), Atherton, Lancashire, England; Henrietta Maria Vernon Atherton (d.1820) and Thomas Powys, 2nd Baron of Lilford, Warrington, Herefordshire, England, by inheritance; Baron Lilford family, by inheritance; George Vernon Powys (b.1931), 7th Baron Lilford, Le Grand Câtelet, St. John, Jersey, England, by inheritance [1]
1961 - 1965
Sabin Galleries Limited, London, England, purchased from George Vernon Powys
1965 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis, MO, USA, purchased from Sabin Galleries Limited [2]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is the 1999 exhibition catalogue [Egerton, Judy. "Wright of Derby." London: The Tate Gallery, 1990, cat. no. 36]. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
The painting is one of a pair of portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Gwillym (71:1965 and 72:1965). Both share the same provenance.
[1] The paintings were presumably commissioned by the sitters. Mrs. Robert Gwillym, born Henrietta Maria Legh of Lyme Hall, County Chester, married Robert Gwillym in January 1763. The portraits were inherited by the couple's eldest daughter, Henrietta Maria Vernon Atherton, who then married Thomas Powys, 2nd Baron Lilford, on December 5, 1797. The pictures descended in this family until Sabin Galleries Limited acquired the works from the 7th Baron Lilford in 1961.
[2] Invoice dated November 12, 1965 from Sabin Galleries Limited [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control and Associate Members of the Board of Control of the City Art Museum, October 7, 1965.
Robert Vernon Atherton Gwillym (1741-1783) and Mrs. Robert Gwillym (d.1787), Atherton, Lancashire, England; Henrietta Maria Vernon Atherton (d.1820) and Thomas Powys, 2nd Baron of Lilford, Warrington, Herefordshire, England, by inheritance; Baron Lilford family, by inheritance; George Vernon Powys (b.1931), 7th Baron Lilford, Le Grand Câtelet, St. John, Jersey, England, by inheritance [1]
1961 - 1965
Sabin Galleries Limited, London, England, purchased from George Vernon Powys
1965 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis, MO, USA, purchased from Sabin Galleries Limited [2]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is the 1999 exhibition catalogue [Egerton, Judy. "Wright of Derby." London: The Tate Gallery, 1990, cat. no. 36]. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
The painting is one of a pair of portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Gwillym (71:1965 and 72:1965). Both share the same provenance.
[1] The paintings were presumably commissioned by the sitters. Mrs. Robert Gwillym, born Henrietta Maria Legh of Lyme Hall, County Chester, married Robert Gwillym in January 1763. The portraits were inherited by the couple's eldest daughter, Henrietta Maria Vernon Atherton, who then married Thomas Powys, 2nd Baron Lilford, on December 5, 1797. The pictures descended in this family until Sabin Galleries Limited acquired the works from the 7th Baron Lilford in 1961.
[2] Invoice dated November 12, 1965 from Sabin Galleries Limited [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control and Associate Members of the Board of Control of the City Art Museum, October 7, 1965.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.