Lot Essay
The present bust of Erasmus Darwin has recently come to light after having been stored in the attic of the Mechanics Institute, Derby, for over a century. The Institute, founded in 1825 with donations from local families, was an educational centre for those who wished to 'improve themselves' through studies of either the sciences or the humanities.
Among the families involved in the support and administration of the Institute were the Strutts, a prominent Derbyshire family whose fortune was amassed in the eighteenth century by Jedediah Strutt, principally from the invention of a stocking-frame which could mass-produce ribbed stockings. Jedediah's son, William, shared his father's mechanical genius, was active in the scientific community of Derbyshire, and was an intimate friend of Erasmus Darwin.
Darwin, better-known today as the grandfather of Charles Darwin, was a physician, and a figure of considerable importance in the scientific community in his own right. His relationship with Strutt is well-documented, the latter having commissioned at least one portrait of Darwin from Joseph Wright of Derby, which is still in the collection of Strutt's descendants (Nicolson, op. cit, II, no. 54).
Although no documentary evidence has come to light surrounding the manner in which the bust came into the possession of the Mechanics Institute, it is traditionally said to have been donated by a member of the Strutt family, possibly on the occasion of a large exhibition held there in 1839. The attribution to William Coffee (fl. 1790-1846), also by tradition, is highly plausible, as Coffee is known to have produced a bust of Darwin in artificial stone in 1804, as well as a bust of William Strutt (Gunnis, loc. cit). What is clear is that the Strutt family, active members of the Derbyshire community, were friends of Darwin and patrons of Coffee, who was working in Derby from 1792. It seems likely, therefore, that this bust was commissioned from Coffee by either Jedediah or William Strutt in the 1790's, and it was presented to the Mechanics Institute in the early nineteenth century by a member of the Strutt family, who continued to be patrons of the Institute decades after its foundation.
We would like to thank Mr. R. Willingham, of the Mechanics Institute, for his assistance in the preparation of this note.
Among the families involved in the support and administration of the Institute were the Strutts, a prominent Derbyshire family whose fortune was amassed in the eighteenth century by Jedediah Strutt, principally from the invention of a stocking-frame which could mass-produce ribbed stockings. Jedediah's son, William, shared his father's mechanical genius, was active in the scientific community of Derbyshire, and was an intimate friend of Erasmus Darwin.
Darwin, better-known today as the grandfather of Charles Darwin, was a physician, and a figure of considerable importance in the scientific community in his own right. His relationship with Strutt is well-documented, the latter having commissioned at least one portrait of Darwin from Joseph Wright of Derby, which is still in the collection of Strutt's descendants (Nicolson, op. cit, II, no. 54).
Although no documentary evidence has come to light surrounding the manner in which the bust came into the possession of the Mechanics Institute, it is traditionally said to have been donated by a member of the Strutt family, possibly on the occasion of a large exhibition held there in 1839. The attribution to William Coffee (fl. 1790-1846), also by tradition, is highly plausible, as Coffee is known to have produced a bust of Darwin in artificial stone in 1804, as well as a bust of William Strutt (Gunnis, loc. cit). What is clear is that the Strutt family, active members of the Derbyshire community, were friends of Darwin and patrons of Coffee, who was working in Derby from 1792. It seems likely, therefore, that this bust was commissioned from Coffee by either Jedediah or William Strutt in the 1790's, and it was presented to the Mechanics Institute in the early nineteenth century by a member of the Strutt family, who continued to be patrons of the Institute decades after its foundation.
We would like to thank Mr. R. Willingham, of the Mechanics Institute, for his assistance in the preparation of this note.