.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The sitter succeeded his brother, Andrew Corbet, to the estates of Sundorne, Legh and Albright Hussey, Shropshire, in 1740. The Corbets were of Norman descent, Roger, their ancestor, had accompanied William the Conqueror. Another ancestor, Robert Corbert of Caus Castle, Wattlesborough, accompanied King Richard I to the siege of Acre and thereafter he and his descendents bore two ravens on their coat of arms, one of which is apparent on the coat-of-arms on the plinth in this picture. The Old English for a crow is Corbie, pronounced the same way as Corbet in French.
John Corbet sold the estate of Legh and married firstly in 1742 Frances, daughter of Robert Pigott, of Chetwynd, Sheriff of Shropshire, and secondly, Barbara Letitia, daughter of John Mytton, of Halston. The earliest form of his second wife's arms, a pierced cinquefoil, is shown on the coat-of-arms on the stone plinth. By his second wife, John had two sons, John, who succeeded at his father's death in 1759, and Andrew, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Army, and one daughter, Mary.
The sitter's eldest son and successor, who was Member of Parliament for Shrewsbury from 1774-1780 and High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1793, travelled to Italy in 1772 where he was painted in Rome in 1773 by Pompeo Batoni and also by Philip Wickstead (in two conversation pieces, one of which is at Ham House).
A 1740s staircase is all that remains of the old house at Sundorne which the sitter's son enlarged and altered to create Sundorne Castle. Early photographs show a crenellated building which was demolished in the later part of the 20th century.
John Corbet sold the estate of Legh and married firstly in 1742 Frances, daughter of Robert Pigott, of Chetwynd, Sheriff of Shropshire, and secondly, Barbara Letitia, daughter of John Mytton, of Halston. The earliest form of his second wife's arms, a pierced cinquefoil, is shown on the coat-of-arms on the stone plinth. By his second wife, John had two sons, John, who succeeded at his father's death in 1759, and Andrew, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Army, and one daughter, Mary.
The sitter's eldest son and successor, who was Member of Parliament for Shrewsbury from 1774-1780 and High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1793, travelled to Italy in 1772 where he was painted in Rome in 1773 by Pompeo Batoni and also by Philip Wickstead (in two conversation pieces, one of which is at Ham House).
A 1740s staircase is all that remains of the old house at Sundorne which the sitter's son enlarged and altered to create Sundorne Castle. Early photographs show a crenellated building which was demolished in the later part of the 20th century.