Joseph Wright of Derby, A.R.A. 1734-1797

Bought in the 1930s from Appleby Brothers by M. S. Crabbe;
Acquired from the above in 1976 by D. C. Cooke from whom bought by the late owner. 

Wright painted this imposing portrait of the celebrated cotton manufacturer and inventor in circa 1787 when he had become well established as a leading figure in Derby.  From 1769 until 1782 Strutt had been in partnership with Richard Arkwright whose famous portrait is one of Wright’s greatest masterpieces and is on loan to Derby Art Gallery.  Both Strutt and Arkwright were successful self made men and were characters with whom Wright felt particular affinity and whom he painted with particular insight. 

Strutt was born near Alperton in Derbyshire in the small village of South Normanton.  His father was a local farmer and maltster.  He became apprentice to Ralph Massay, a wheelwright at nearby Findern, boarding with a local nonconformist family, the Woollatts.  He progressed to becoming a journeyman wheelwright and moved to Leicester.  In 1754 his fortunes changed when he inherited farm stock from his uncle and the next year he married Elizabeth, daughter of his erstwhile landlords, the Woollatts.  This nonconformist connection was to prove important in the furtherance of his career.  It was his brother in law William who brought to him an idea for a device to be fitted to the front of the knitting frame in order to manufacture ribbed stockings, apparently the “rude and unperfect idea” of “an indolent fellow” called Roper.  With the help of his wife and brother-in-law and using the Woollatt’s nonconformist links he set up a business which soon flourished.  In 1758 they became partners with two Derby hosiers John Bloodworth and Thomas Stanford, and in 1762 with the Nottingham hosier Samuel Need, all of whom were fellow nonconformists.  In 1762 Strutt became a freeman of Nottingham and he moved his family to St Mary’s Gate in Derby.  The Society of Arts took interest in his now celebrated “Derby rib machine” the patent for which Strutt had to defend in court in London.

Thomas Need introduced Strutt to Richard Arkwright in 1769, and Strutt and Need each took shares in the partnership of Richard Arkwright & Co which had been set up to exploit Arkwright’s patent.  Strutt played an important part not only in the manufacturing process but also in helping to reduce excise duties on calico and to defend Arkwright’s patent.  He also took part in a programme of extensive mill building.  By 1782 when the partnership dissolved Strutt had himself built up an empire which included a calico factory at Derby and factories at Belper and Milford.  He lived between Milford House, his chief mansion, and Derby and in 1795 bought Exeter House in Derby.  A number of his family worked with him on the business including the eldest son William, born in 1756, who worked on the technical side of the business and showed his own inventive flair, becoming in 1817 a member of the Royal Society. 

The prime version of this portrait descended from the sitter to Edward Strutt, Lord Belper, his grandson and is now at Derby Art Gallery.  This portrait was probably painted for another of his five children.  Correspondence with the late Benedict Nicolson regarding the portrait is included with the lot.