Sir Richard Arkwright Joseph Wright 1789-90

Richard Arkwright was an entrepreneur who in 1771 built the first water powered cotton-spinning mill at Cromford to the north of Derby. By applying Enlightenment principles of reason and rationalism to an industrial process he created a model for mechanised manufacturing, which became pivotal in the development of the Industrial Revolution.
Of Arkwright it was said that he not only knew how to make money, but also how to keep it. A self-made Lancashire man with few airs and graces, he gained immense wealth, which he ostentatiously displayed to the disapproval of polite society.
The working conditions in his mills were severely criticised for long working hours, poor ventilation and the use of child labour. Arkwright also ran into trouble regarding the industrial patents he had taken out. Various court cases were brought against him during the 1780’s, resulting in his patents finally being laid aside.
One disputed invention sits on the table next to Arkwright – a set of cotton-spinning rollers. Might its inclusion in the painting be a final act of defiance by Arkwright, asserting for posterity his exclusive patent rights?

William Shakespeare William Duesbury & Co c1765

This porcelain figure of Shakespeare is after a marble statue by Peter Scheemaker in Poet’s Corner, Westminster Abbey. On a scroll to which Shakespeare points is a quote from Prospero in The Tempest -

The cloud capt towers,
The gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples,
The great globe itself,
Yea all which it inherit
Shall dissolve and, like
This insubstantial pageant
Fade leaving not a rack behind.

Augmentation

Whilst playfully reminding theatregoers that the play before them is an ‘insubstantial pageant’, Shakespeare’s text also comments on the transitory nature of our lives and material possession, which ‘shall dissolve’ leaving not a puff of smoke behind.
Juxtaposing the self-satisfied and prosperous figure of Arkwright with Shakespeare’s text creates a moral critique which accords with Enlightenment ideas regarding philanthropy. It was argued that with the acquisition of wealth came a responsibility to be charitable to others and perform good deeds in order to build harmonious communities.