Bust (figure)

Description

New research suggests that this carved portrait bust of a man identified as K. Wood and dated 1824 belongs to a small group of carved portraits depicting members of a ship building family from the northwest coast of Cumbria, England. Kelsick Wood (1771-1840) first practiced as a shipbuilder in Workington until he relocated to Maryport. His firm there became K. Wood & Sons and flourished by the 1830s. Kelsick Wood was about 52 or 53 years old when his portrait was carved for display indoors, possibly at home or in his workplace. When this portrait bust was acquired by the museum its surface had been stripped of any paint or varnish; it received a new surface of white paint in 1968.