Lot Essay
Although this picture has no known link to a finished painting by the artist, it dates to the 1760s and may be an unused study for a picture containing a classical urn such as Two Girls and a Negro Servant (c. 1769-70, private collection) or Miravan opening the tomb of his ancestors (1772, Derby Museum and Art Gallery).
William Bemrose was a great collector of Wright's pictures and wrote an important monograph on the artist in 1885, The Life and Works of Joseph Wright, A.R.A., commonly called 'Wright of Derby'.
William Bemrose was a great collector of Wright's pictures and wrote an important monograph on the artist in 1885, The Life and Works of Joseph Wright, A.R.A., commonly called 'Wright of Derby'.