Maria West Leaves a Painting

Pondering her will, and contemplating the end of her days, Maria West took one more look at the framed painting hanging in her Lordship Road living room, and decided that on balance it could go straight back to where it presumably came from in the first place - George Wombwell senior. 

At any rate, this, as it turned out, may have been no minor bequest, and not the least of Maria’s erratic life choices. In 2005, a painting of a Bengal tiger, sold at auction at Christies for 11,400 pounds. The painting was the work of William Huggins (1820-1884) and was dated 1838. A much admired Victorian artist, often compared to Stubbs for his portraits of animals, Huggins was a frequent visitor to Wombwell’s menagerie and would follow the show in order to have live models for his work. 

By William Huggins (1820–1884) - Christie's, LotFinder: entry 4617011, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10529985. This portrait, or one very similar probably occupied pride of place in Maria West’s living room in Stoke Newington.

It is not inconceivable that the painting that was sold off at Christies is the very same one that occupied pride of place in Maria West’s sitting room in Lordship Street, Stoke Newington, nearly two centuries earlier, or at least was part of the same series. 

It is a salutary reminder also that the menagerie and thereby the family attracted the attentions of people from all reaches of society, from royalty to artists to naturalists, to journalists and more.