Mystery over servant's portrait preserved at Wentworth Woodhouse
Even the identity of the artist has been lost in time
A generations old mystery over a Wentworth Woodhouse portrait is to be put under the public gaze.
A portrait of Victorian butler William Denton is to go on show in a new exhibition at the house next month – but there remains no clear explanation of why it was ever commissioned.
Even the identity of the artist has been lost in time, but visitors to the Echoes of the House: Stories in Light and Motion exhibition, which runs from July 7, will have the opportunity to see the painting, which as survived the twists and turns of the stately home’s fate – because it ended up in the hands of Mr Denton’s family and now it is back at the ‘big house’ on public display, though it remains in family ownership.
“William’s descendants brought the picture to us when we asked the public for memories and artefacts of servant and estate worker life at the house and we were really excited,” said Victoria Ryves at Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust.
“It is pretty rare to see the faces of working class people from that period.
"Usually only the wealthy could afford to have portraits painted or opt for the latest invention, photography, which had only arrived in Britain in the late 1830s. We think William’s story and his portrait will be very popular at Echoes Of The House.”
William’s painting was kept in an attic for many decades, but now hangs in the Hoyland Common home of his great-great-grandson, 85-year-old Don Rose.
“My dad, Harry Denton Rose, inherited it from his mum. But my mum was scared by it - she said she felt William’s eyes followed her around the room and insisted it went in the attic,” explained Don. “When it came to me, I had it cleaned and framed and hung on the landing,” he said.
“We don’t know who painted it, or why. There's a signature on the cork of the wine bottle William is pictured opening, but it is indistinguishable. We took it to Sheffield’s Weston Park Museum and they told us it wasn't valuable and may have been done by a visiting artist. But it’s valuable to us. It’s part of our family’s history.”
Echoes of the House:Stories in Light and Motion, an Arts Council England-funded exhibition, will run until November.
