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Commissioned by Reverend Thomas Gisborne (1758–1846), Yoxall Lodge, Staffordshire, the sitter [1], from Joseph Wright (1734–1797), of Derby, the artist, in 1786; by descent to his son, Thomas Gisborne MP (1794–1852); by descent to his son, Thomas Guy Gisborne (1812–1869) [2]; by inheritance to his wife, Emily Wingfield Gisborne (née Twistleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, later Griffiths) (1827–1917); by descent to her niece Emily Cecilia Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (1862–1934) [a] [3]; …; presumably acquired by William Haffety (1864–1934) by 1923 [b] [4]; purchased at auction by “Westmore” (dealer) [c] [5], at Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd., 8 King Street, St. James’s Square, London, March 26, 1926 (lot 127, as ‘A Gentleman and his Wife, in a landscape : He is in black dress, holding a crayon and portfolio, with his wife seated by his side under some trees holding an umbrella ; a greyhound in front’), in “Catalogue of Old Pictures and Drawings, the Property of Sir Miles Stapleton, Bart., of Grey’s, Henley-on-Thames; Old Pictures, the Property of the Late Hon. Mrs. James Byng, also Old Pictures and Drawings from Various Sources” [d] [6]; …; acquired by Florence Higinbotham Crane (ca. 1870–1949), Crane Estate, Ipswich, MA, by 1931 [7]; sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, Ltd., Castle Hill, Ipswich, MA, June 29–July 1, 1950 (lot 1005, as ‘Portrait Painting: The Rev. Thomas and Mrs. Gisborne. Full-length figure in black coat and breeches and white frilled jabot, seated under a clump of trees beside his wife, who wears an olive green dress with white fichu, and holds a green sunshade over their heads; he has a pencil in his right hand, and which his left, which rests upon a portfolio, he is caressing the head of a favorite greyhound.’), in “Important English XVII–XVIII Century Furniture, Paintings of British & Other Schools…from the estate of the Late Florence H. Crane” [e] [8]; …; acquired by Durlacher Bros., Ltd., New York; purchased by Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London, 1960 [f]; purchased by Paul Mellon (1907–1999), December 1960 [g]; by whom given to the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 1981.

Notes:
[1] Reverend Thomas Gisborne was an Anglican priest and poet who inherited Yoxall Lodge, Staffordshire, in 1779 after the death of his father, John Gisborne (1716–1779). He married Mary Gisborne (née Babington) (1760–1843) in 1784. Both are depicted as sitters in this painting, which was painted about three years after their marriage. The painting was hung at the Gisborne family home at Yoxall Lodge. In the artist’s MS Book of Sitters, the painting was listed as “A Conversation picture of Mr and Mrs Gisborne.” (Barker, Elizabeth E. “DOCUMENTS RELATING TO JOSEPH WRIGHT ‘OF DERBY’ (1734-97).” The Volume of the Walpole Society 71 (2009): 40. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41830757.)

[2] Thomas Guy Gisborne (1812–1869) was the son of Elizabeth Fyshe Gisborne (née Palmer) (1789–1823) and Thomas Gisborne MP (1794–1852), the son of Mary Gisborne (née Babington) (1760–1843) and Reverend Thomas Gisborne. He inherited Yoxall Lodge in 1852, per his father’s wishes in an August 1, 1851 will. https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/gisborne-thomas-1789-1852.

[3] Emily Wingfield Gisborne (née Twistleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, later Griffiths) was the first wife of Thomas Guy Gisborne (1812–1869), married in 1849. After his death in 1869, she married John Harward Giffiths (died 1885) in 1872. In an exhibition of the artist’s work at the Derby Corporation Art Gallery in 1883, the painting was lent by his widow, listed with cat. 82 as “The Hon. Mrs. E. W. Griffiths,” who had continued to live at Yoxall Lodge after his death and her second marriage. Upon her death in 1917, Yoxall Lodge passed to her niece Emily Cecilia Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (1862–1934), daughter of her brother Cecil Brownlow Twisleton-Wykeham-Finnes (1831–1870) and Mary Louisa Hardy (–1871). Yoxall Lodge was demolished in 1928, with the dispersal and sale of the property held both in advance and subsequently.

[4] William Haffety is listed as the lender of several paintings by artists including Joseph Wright of Derby for an exhibition to the Clifton Park Museum, Rotherham, where he lived. Given this timeline and the proximity of Rotherham to Yoxall Lodge, it’s possible that he is the anonymous collector known to have purchased this painting.

[5] The first name of this individual, a known dealer, is not yet known, though he appears very frequently as a purchaser of numerous artworks for sale at auctions in 1926 and 1927. An auctioneer firm under “Westmore & Young Auctioneers” operated from Crystal Street in these decades, but their connection cannot be verified.

[6] The painting was given as one property from various sources, unnamed.

[7] Florence Higinbotham (later Higinbotham Crane) (ca. 1870–1949) was the wife of Richard Teller Crane, Jr. (1873–1931), the youngest son of Richard Teller Crane (1832–1912). Her husband purchased the property of Castle Hill in Ipswich, MA, in 1910, and later commissioned architect David Adler (1882–1949) to construct new additions to the property in 1928. She inherited the estate in 1931 and bequeathed it to The Trustees of Reservations, MA, in 1949. Photographs of Crane Estate included in the catalogue for the Crane sale at Parke Bernet in 1950 show where this painting hung in the drawing room of the Great House between ca. 1930 and 1950.

[8] The main showroom and premises of Parke-Bernet Galleries were in New York at this time, but as this was a sale of the estate of Florence H. Crane, the auction took place on her property of Castle Hill, Ipswich, MA, over a period of three days from June 29–July 1, 1950. This painting sold on the final day of the auction, July 1. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015025370282.

Citations:
[a] Derby Museums & Art Gallery, Catalogue of the Paintings by Joseph Wright, A.R.A., commonly called "Wright of Derby", together with some Original Drawings, and a complete Collection of Prints after his Works on view in the Corporation Art Gallery, The Strand, Derby, Derby, 1883, no. 82, Fiche B41 (YCBA).

[b] “Rotherham: Winter Exhibitions” in The Connoisseur, an illustrated magazine for collectors, ed. C. Regional Grundy, vol. LXVII (September–December 1923), p. 55.

[c] Wright, Joseph. Portrait of Rev. Thomas Gisborne and His Wife Mary. 1754. Photograph, A.C. Cooper, London W2593 good Frick Art Reference Library, New York (FARL) negative. https://library.frick.org/permalink/01NYA_INST/d73c5u/alma991006543069707141.

[d] Christie, Manson & Woods. March 26, 1926. Catalogue of Old Pictures and Drawings, the Property of Sir Miles Stapleton, Bart., of Grey’s, Henley-on-Thames; Old Pictures, the Property of the Late Hon. Mrs. James Byng, also Old Pictures and Drawings from Various Sources. London, 1926, 22 pages. https://worldcat.org/en/title/171361640

[e] Parke Bernet, Inc.., New York, 1950. Important English XVII-XVIII century furniture, paintings of British & other schools, Ralph Wood Staffordshire ware, etchings, Georgian portrait mezzotints, Chinese jades & porcelains, Japanese prints, oriental rugs, early American furniture & decorations, garden ornaments and sculptures : from the estate of Florence H. Crane, including property removed from her Chicago residence, sold by order of the legatees (June 29–July 1, 1950). Public auction sale on the premises of “Castle Hill,” Ipswich, Mass. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015025370282.

[f] Judy Egerton, Wright of Derby, Tate Publishing, London, 1990, pp. 223-24, no. 146, NJ18 W95 +E54 1990 Oversize (YCBA) https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/orbis:3027868

[g] Ibid