Art Detective strikes again (ctd.)

September 22 2014

Picture: Your Paintings/ Bury Art Museum

Sharp-eyed Art Detective specialist Barbara Bryant has spotted the above portrait of the 14th Earl of Derby (the first man to be Prime Minister on three seperate occasions) sans attribution at Bury Art Museum. She has identified the portrait with an engraving after Henry Perronet Briggs, and presumably the Bury picture must be that exhibited by Briggs at the Royal Academy in 1839. You can see more discussion about the discovery here. 

I'm especially pleased to see this discovery because I'm a bit of a Derby anorak. I wrote my PhD on Derby's son, the 15th Earl, who was Foreign Secretary under both his father and Benjamin Disraeli. I also own a marble bust of the 14th Earl by Matthew Noble, which is on display at the House of Commons. The last time I saw it, many years ago, someone had stuck a piece of chewing gum up his nostril. 

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