Elizabeth Pigot (1726–1766)

The portrait of Elizabeth Pigot, painted around 1760 and now in the Danum Gallery in Doncaster, forms a pair with the companion portrait of William Pigot, following the standard practice of commissioning matching husband-and-wife portraits. Wright's early portraiture served the provincial gentry of Derbyshire and the surrounding counties, providing the financial foundation for his career before his innovative candlelight paintings brought wider recognition. He had trained in London under Thomas Hudson, the most successful portrait painter of mid-18th-century England and the teacher of Reynolds, before returning to Derby around 1753. Hudson's influence is visible in the conventional three-quarter format and careful attention to costume that characterize Wright's early portraits, though even at this stage his warm, direct observation of his sitters distinguishes his work from more mechanical productions. Elizabeth Pigot's portrait belongs to the busy decade of the 1750s and early 1760s when Wright was establishing his local reputation, before the candlelight subjects that he exhibited at the Society of Artists from 1765 onwards transformed his career and his standing in the wider British art world.

The female portrait matches the companion piece in scale and format, with Wright's careful attention to costume, complexion, and character creating a dignified record of provincial gentility.