Edward Heneage Dering (1826-1892), standing in an interior at Baddesley Clinton

This 1885 portrait of Edward Heneage Dering — standing in an interior at Baddesley Clinton — is among Rebecca Dulcibella Orpen's most important works, depicting the man who was effectively her patron and the owner of Baddesley Clinton. Dering, a devout Catholic convert and associate of John Henry Newman, shared the house with his wife and with Orpen and Marmion Ferrers in the remarkable four-person household that restored and preserved Baddesley Clinton in the 19th century. This standing portrait in an interior documents both Dering's patrician bearing and the authentic interiors of the house he helped preserve.

Orpen situates Dering within a recognizable interior of Baddesley Clinton, using the architectural setting to connect sitter to place. The figure is rendered with her direct, competent handling — good attention to the face and the characteristic posture of the sitter, with the surrounding interior handled as a documentary record.