History

Wrest Park Collection Highlights

Thomas, 2nd Earl de Grey (1781–1859), was responsible not only for designing the new house at Wrest Park but also for carefully furnishing its interiors. He scoured auction houses and dealers to find the perfect pieces to complement the 18th-century French style of the house. ‘Old Buhl’ cabinets, clocks and china purchased in Paris sat alongside newly commissioned sideboards, chandeliers and looking glasses supplied by the leading London manufacturing firms. 

The respect that de Grey showed for the gardens created by his ancestors, including the statues, also extended to the paintings which he inherited. He decided to gather together the family portraits at Wrest Park, moving them not only from the old house but also from his London property.

Although the majority of these collections were dispersed when the house was sold in 1917, full-length portraits still hang within massive gilt frames in the Staircase Hall, and the sitting room is furnished to reflect the original style of the 1840s. The gardens and dairy contain a remarkable collection of 18th- and 19th-century statues.

Sir Godfrey Kneller and Studio - Henry, Duke of Kent

Henry, Duke of Kent

  • Date: 1705
  • Type: Painting
  • Material: Oil on canvas
  • Place Made/Found: England
  • Artist: Sir Godfrey Kneller and studio

This painting celebrates Henry Grey's important position in the Court of Queen Anne. In 1704, two years after inheriting the estate at Wrest Park, he was appointed Lord Chamberlain. Kneller has painted him wearing the ermine-trimmed scarlet robes of his office, holding a white staff and with a jewelled key at his hip. This position was short-lived, as in 1710 Grey traded it in for the title Duke of Kent.



John Cheere - Venus and Adonis

Venus and Adonis

  • Date: Late 18th Century
  • Type: Sculpture
  • Material: Lead
  • Place Made/Found: London
  • Artist: John Cheere

This sculpture captures the moment when the young god Adonis leaves his lover Venus. Cupid is poised ready to release a dove, a symbol of love departing. The statue was made by John Cheere, a major manufacturer of lead statues in 18th-century London. It is thought to have been part of his remaining stock auctioned off at his death in 1787. It was brought to Wrest Park in about 1839.



Atlas

Atlas

  • Date: Early 18th Century
  • Type: Sculpture
  • Material: Portland Stone

Early 20th-century descriptions of Wrest Park's gardens record a statue of Atlas located at the centre of a circular pond covered with water lilies. The pond has since been filled in but the statue remains. According to Greek mythology, Atlas was condemned by Zeus to support the celestial sphere and he is shown here carrying a sphere upon his shoulders.



Sir Godfrey Kneller and Studio - Jemima, Duchess of Kent and her daughter Lady Jemima Grey

Jemima, Duchess of Kent and her daughter Lady Jemima Grey

  • Date: 1705
  • Type: Painting
  • Material: Oil on canvas
  • Place Made/Found: England
  • Artist: Sir Godfrey Kneller and studio

This is one of the full-length portraits which Thomas, Earl de Grey, hung around the Staircase Hall of the newly designed Wrest Park in the early 1840s. It shows his ancestor Jemima Crew, who had married Henry Grey, the future Duke of Kent, in 1695. One of their seven daughters sits at her mother's side. Jemima's crimson cloak and coronet signify her husband's position in the Court of Queen Anne.



Jacopo Amigoni - Sophia, Duchess of Kent

Sophia, Duchess of Kent

  • Date: c.1730s
  • Type: Painting
  • Material: Oil on canvas
  • Place Made/Found: London
  • Artist: Jacopo Amigoni

The Venetian artist Jacopo Amigoni produced decorative paintings for a house close to the London home of Henry Grey, Duke of Kent, in St James's Square. It may have been these paintings that prompted the Duke to employ Amigoni to paint this portrait of his second wife, Sophia Bentinck. According to Thomas, Earl de Grey, the child is Lady Sophia Grey.



Andrew Carpenter - Diana

Diana

  • Date: c.1720s
  • Type: Statue
  • Material: Lead
  • Place Made/Found: London
  • Artist: Andrew Carpenter
  • Lender: Purchased with the assistance of the Art Fund

This statue of Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt, and a greyhound is one of the few remaining lead statues bought for Wrest Park by Henry Grey, Duke of Kent, in the late 1720s. It is thought to have been purchased from the leading London statuary maker Andrew Carpenter. Many of the lead statues were melted down in 1809 by the then owner of Wrest, Amabel, Countess de Grey.



Jacopo Amigoni - Queen Caroline

Queen Caroline

  • Date: 1735
  • Type: Painting
  • Material: Oil on canvas
  • Place Made/Found: London
  • Artist: Jacopo Amigoni

This portrait of Queen Caroline, wife of King George II, was commissioned as a gift for Henry Grey, Duke of Kent. In the Declared Accounts of the Treasurer of the Chamber for 1735 is the entry 'To Amigoni for drawing two pictures of her majesty in whole-length as a present to the Duke of Kent and Dr Mead'. The portrait for Richard Mead is now in the National Portrait Gallery, London.



The Hawking Party

The Hawking Party

  • Date: 1839-57
  • Type: Statue
  • Material: Portland stone
  • Artist: Smith, and Terence Farrell

The statue of the horse at the centre of the sculpture group was made by a man named 'Smith' in 1839 and was intended for the entrance of the stable block. The Irish sculptor Terence Farrell was then employed by Thomas, Earl de Grey, to add the figures of the huntress and her attendant, transforming the sculpture into a hunting party.



Richard James Wyatt - A Nymph Going to the Bath

A Nymph Going to the Bath

  • Date: 1837
  • Type: Statue
  • Material: Marble
  • Place Made/Found: Rome
  • Artist: Richard James Wyatt

This statue was described by Thomas, Earl de Grey, as 'the prettiest and most graceful piece of modern sculpture I know'. Having seen the sculpture at an exhibition, he managed to purchase it, even though it had already been bought by another gentleman. He then commissioned Richard James Wyatt to provide a companion piece. The sculptures were positioned either side of the entrance to the Ante-Library at Wrest Park.



John Cheere - Columbine

Columbine

  • Date: Mid-Late 18th Century
  • Type: Statue
  • Material: Lead
  • Place Made/Found: London
  • Artist: John Cheere
  • Lender: Purchased with the assistance of the Art Fund

This statue is typical of the rustic figures produced by John Cheere's sculpture yard at Hyde Park Corner, London. In contrast to the classical figures he produced, which were painted white to imitate marble, these statues were painted with bright, lifelike colours, and traces of the original paint remain within the figure's nostrils and mouth. Columbine is a character from the Italian Commedia dell'arte, a masked theatrical performance.



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