Marmion Edward Ferrers (1813-1884): 'The Squire's Evening Walk'
Rebecca Dulcibella Orpen (1829/30 - 1923)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1870
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1067 x 902 mm (42 x 35 1/2 in)
Place of origin
Baddesley Clinton (Warwickshire)
Order this imageCollection
Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire
NT 343171
Caption
Rebecca Orpen was a talented amateur artist who married Marmion Edward Ferrers (1813-84) of Baddesley Clinton. She was prolific, working in both oil and watercolour, and much of her work remains in the house today. She and her husband lived at Baddesley with her aunt, Lady Chatterton and her husband, Edward Heneage Dering. They became known as ‘The Quartet’, revelling in art, history and their religion. On the death of their spouses, Rebecca and Edward Dering were married.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Marmion Edward Ferrers (1813-1884), 'The Squire's Evening Walk' by Rebecca Dulcibella Orpen (1830-1923), inscribed and signed: R. Ferrers. A coat of arms is painted at top right. A portrait of the artist's first husband standing full-length on a path beside the moat at Baddesley Clinton, the house seen behind him to the right. He is turned slightly towards the left and looks out at the spectator. He wears a brown jacket with plus fours, black stockings and black shoes with silver buckles. A black velvet cape is arranged around his shoulders and he wears a black, wide-brimmed hat above brown hair and a beard with a long moustache. He holds a cane in his right hand and under his left arm. There is a mooring post in the left foreground and a large tree on the path behind the sitter which spreads its branches into the sky above. The sky is darkening overhead and there is a reddish glow in the upper window of the gatehouse. Another portrait of the sitter, 'The Squire's Walk', see NT 343144, is very similar in setting and costume.
Provenance
Acquired through the National Land Fund and transferred to the National Trust in 1980
Credit line
Baddesley Clinton, The Ferrers Collection (acquired through the National Land Fund and transferred to the National Trust in 1980)
Makers and roles
Rebecca Dulcibella Orpen (1829/30 - 1923), artist