J. Wade Male Portrait Studies

Frances Blurton Webb Collection

This picture forms part of a beautiful collection of works that we have for sale compiled by Frances Blurton Webb (1810–1888) from 1824. Frances was eldest daughter of John Webb of Nuttall-house, Barton-under-Needwood, Staffordshire, who was a wealthy land and mill owner and one of the founders of Blurton's bank in Burton-upon-Trent.

In 1839 Frances married Wieldon Bird Baddeley (1800–1851), a solicitor, at Rocester, Staffordshire, and they had two sons, both of whom were literary. Richard Whieldon Baddeley (1840–1876) was a novelist and poet. Mountford John Byrde Baddeley (1843–1906) was a distinguished writer of guidebooks; his guide to the Lake District was particularly highly regarded and continued in print well into the 1970s. Her husband's grandfather was the significant English potter Thomas Whieldon (1719–1795) who played a leading role in the development of Staffordshire pottery.

The collection of works as a whole exemplifies the artistic tastes of early 19th-century England, comprising finely drawn topographical and picturesque subjects, botanical illustrations and portrait sketches. Decorative subjects include pictures on ornate embossed paper and a fine pin-prick picture. There are a number of artists of note amongst the collection, including George Hayes RCA (c.1823–1895), the engraver Thomas Sherratt (1812–after 1879), Yorkshire painter George Nicholson (1787–1878), and, most notably, John Varley (1778–1842).