Phoebe Wright maybe born Phoebe Holmes (c. 1710s – November 1778) was a British embroiderer and designer. She founded and operated the "Royal School of embroidering females".
Life
Her early life is unknown. It is known that she married and that her name became Wright and that they separated. The main evidence of her family is a will that she wrote, probably before 1752. From that will it has been surmised that she had brothers named Benjamin and James Holmes. James married in 1742; he wove silk and gauze at his business in Cheapside. Benjamin was also in textiles as he made hosiery and gloves. Benjamin was to receive the major items which were a steel grate, her bed, some mahogany chairs and a table.
The first known reference to her embroidery concerns a comment made about
Caroline Fox, 1st Baroness Holland
Georgiana Carolina Fox, 1st Baroness Holland, of Holland (27 March 1723 – 24 July 1774), known as Lady Caroline Lennox before 1744 and as Lady Caroline Fox from 1744 to 1762, was the eldest of the Lennox sisters.
Family background
The Lenno ...
who was present at the celebrations for the
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
's birthday. The correspondent
Mary Pendarves (became Delany) wrote to her sister on 29 November 1742 in which she notes that Lady Caroline Lenox (later Baroness Holland) wore the finest clothes of "gold and colours on white, embroidered by
Mrs Wright".
[
Two years later she is noted in a trade dictionary among a group of designers of woven silk; she is known for the "correctness and elegancy of her drawing and her colouring".][Universal Dictionary of Trade and Commerce by Malachy Postlethwayt, 1744]
Her business was called the "Royal School of embroidering females" which was in her home in Great Newport Street.[ It was founded in 1760 and funded by Queen Charlotte and girls would be apprenticed there for two to three years. Wright was unusual because she made and manufactured the embroidery as others would employ an artist.][
]
Death and legacy
Wright died in Great Newport Street in November 1778. Her niece Nancy took over her business.[ Nancy appears to have worked from home in Bedford.][ There are now no known surviving examples of her work; however there is an example of her designs. ]Henry Arundell, 8th Baron Arundell of Wardour
Henry Arundell, 8th Baron Arundell of Wardour (31 March 1740 – 4 December 1808) was a British nobleman in the 18th century. He married Mary Christina Conquest, in 1763.
Biography
Henry Arundell was born on 31 March 1740, to Henry Arundell ...
had a set of church vestments made in Rome in 1777. These were embroidered in designs made by Wright and they are preserved at Wardour Castle
Wardour Castle is a ruined 14th-century castle at Wardour, on the boundaries of the civil parishes of Tisbury and Donhead St Andrew in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Salisbury. The castle was built in the 1390s, came into th ...
in Wiltshire.[
The Royal Collection also has a "State Bed" that was installed at Windsor in 1772. The embroidery designs are credited to Phoebe Wright but the headboard in particular was embroidered by her niece Nancy Pawsey, as her needlework was thought to be the best.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Phoebe
1710s births
1778 deaths
Year of birth uncertain
British embroiderers
People from London