]Watford Museum presents...
The Cassiobury Collection
The Earls of Essex, their wives and children at Cassiobury House
Cassiobury House
A View of Cassiobury Park
John Wootton
c.1748
One of the most exciting acquisitions ever for Watford Museum, the painting shows Cassiobury House and Park, and the 3rd Earl of Essex, his family, friends and servants. Among those portrayed are Lady Clarendon; Lady Mary Forbes; Dr Johnson, Bishop of Worcester; Elizabeth, Countess of Essex; William, Earl of Essex; Lady Caroline Egerton, sister to the Duke of Bridgewater; the Duke of Bridgewater; Lady Anne Capel; Lady Diana Capel; a black servant and a gamekeeper.
With support from the National Art Collections Fund, Resource/V&A Purchase Fund, The Otto Brookman Bequest, Capital Shopping Centres Ltd (The Harlequin Centre), The Friends of Watford Museum, The Friends of Cassiobury Park, Lord Evans of Watford, Ann Wayne, Malcolm and Sheila Jones, Ellie and Alan Burtenshaw and Roy Stockdill, the painting was bought at auction in New York in December 2002 for $120,000.