Mrs. Robert Gwillym
- Date
- 1766
- Material
- Oil on canvas
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- European Art to 1800
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 202
- Dimensions
- 49 3/4 x 39 3/4 in. (126.4 x 101 cm)
- Credit Line
- Funds given by Martha I. Love in memory of Mr. Daniel K. Catlin
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 72:1965
NOTES
This portrait records Mrs. Robert Gwillym as a winsome person of upper-class English society. The exquisite handling of her golden chains, laces, and satins testifies to Wright's talent in recording the details of the visible world. Ladies of fashion embraced the new English guitar beginning around 1740. The instrument, more akin to a cittern than a modern guitar, was plucked with the fingers rather than strummed. Although the artist took pains to make sure that Mrs. Gwillym's fingers have been positioned correctly, suggesting her knowledge of the instrument, she seems to present herself posed with the guitar rather than actually playing it.
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.