Although the above oil painting, Lady Elizabeth Wriothesley, Lady Elizabeth Noel and an Attendant, was painted in around 1660, roughly 100 years before A Young Coachman, the image does show a more typical treatment of a black sitter in portraiture. Examples of this can be seen in paintings throughout the 17th and 18th centuries.
In this image, Lady Elizabeth is prominently positioned in the frame, bathed in light with her gaze directed towards the viewer, giving her a sense of importance. In contrast, her attendant almost blends into the background. He has no connection with the viewer. His eyes are transfixed on the task at hand. The contrast in position and treatment of the two sitters reinforces the disparity in their wealth and status.
With A Young Coachman, we see a rare instance of a black sitter being the sole subject of a portrait. Unlike Lady Elizabeth’s attendant, the coachman has been given a sense of prominence. He stands proudly defiant, holding the gaze of the viewer. His contemporary uniform gives him a professional air, often images of this era show black sitters dressed in exotic clothing and jewellery.
The sense of the coachman being a man of influence at Erddig, is further reinforced when you learn of the portrait’s origin story. A Young Coachman was commissioned by Phillip Yorke, Erddig’s owner in the late 18th century, but records suggest that the coachman may have been a member of staff at Erddig years before this. The coachman may have in fact worked for Phillip’s great uncle, and if this is the case it’s unlikely that Phillip and the coachman would have met. So what was it about the coachman that inspired Phillip to commission this painting all those years later?
What’s exciting for me about this image is what we don’t know. What was it about him that meant his likeness could be described for the portrait after so many years? Did he have an exceptional musical talent or personality? Or was he simply an exceptional coachman? For me, it’s the possibilities of who he might have been that makes this image so inspiring.
As the National Trust continues research into the background of this image, technology has created even more intrigue around our mystery coachman. 'Infrared scans revealed that the portrait of the coachman was actually painted over an existing portrait of a sitter called John Hanby,' says Alice Rylance-Watson, Assistant National Curator. 'The canvas was deliberately reused for the coachman's image. We will probably never know why Philip Yorke decided to do this, but he might have wanted to highlight the coachman's story at a time when the abolitionist movement was growing momentum. Yorke wrote a verse to accompany the portrait, and in it he suggests that the coachman's life might have been different had he not pre-dated William Wilberforce, a famous advocate for the abolition of the slave trade.’
George Saunders (1935–2015), Birmingham Back to Backs, Birmingham