British canvas, stretcher and panel suppliers’ marks: Part 3, Thomas Brown, 1805-54

This resource surveys suppliers’ marks on the reverse of picture supports. Thomas Brown (c.1778-1840) was in business from 1805/6. He was followed by his son, also Thomas Brown. For fuller details, see British artists' suppliers, 1650-1950 - B. In their day, the Browns were the business of choice among many professional artists. In 1842 the younger Brown claimed that he, his father, and his father's predecessor, had between them supplied all the Royal Academy’s Presidents up to that time, and that they had been the favoured servants of the Academy since its foundation (The Art-Union, January 1842). Thomas Brown’s marks can be conveniently divided, more or less chronologically, according to addresses: High Holborn, then 163 High Holborn and finally and briefly 260 Oxford St. Such was the volume of Brown’s business that it is likely that several similar stamps were in use at any one time. Canvas stamps and stencils are treated first (sections 1 to 8). They have been subject to studies by Martin Butlin and Norman Muller (note 4). For panels and some stretchers Brown used a small label (section 9) or an impressed mark (section 10). Most of Brown's rivals preferred to use conspicuous printed labels, especially on millboards, a type of support Brown did not favour. Measurements of marks, given where known, are approximate and may vary according to the stretching or later conservation treatment of a canvas or the trimming of a label. Links are given to institutional websites where the dimensions of works can be found. Information on frame marks is given at note 5 and on date stamps and stencils at note 6. Compiled by Jacob Simon, March 2017, updated November 2018, February 2020, based on the pioneering work of Cathy Proudlove and the suppliers’ database created by Jacob Simon. With thanks to Dr Joyce Townsend for providing information on paintings in Tate, to Nicola Costaras at the Victoria and Albert Museum and to John Payne, National Gallery of Victoria.

Work details

Mark transcripts Product marks (not to uniform scale)

1. Canvas marked ‘High-Holborn’ and ‘LINEN’, often with frame mark

Three types normally found in association with a frame mark and so not later than 1831

Illustrated: Henry Fuseli, The Poet Observing Nerea with Her New Lover in Her Grotto, c.1810-13 (Victoria and Albert Museum) Also found on: Henry Fuseli, Salome with the Head of John the Baptist

(Egremont coll., Petworth), frame mark, 1810?

Stamp on canvas:

T. BROWN. High-Holborn

LINEN.

[‘T’ of T. BROWN to left of ‘H’ of High; marks left and right of ‘LINEN’ probably result from the way the stamp was applied]

Illustrated: Source: Courtauld - Colourmen Online database (note 3) Also found on: Charles Robert Leslie, Self-portrait, 1814 (National Portrait Gallery), frame mark See note 7 for examples dating from c.1807-1826.

Stamp on canvas:

T. BROWN. High-Holborn

LINEN.

[‘T’ of T. BROWN above ‘H’ of High]

Work details

Mark transcripts Product marks (not to uniform scale)

Illustrated: Richard Rothwell, Novitiate Mendicants, c.1837 (Victoria and Albert Museum), frame mark (the canvas thus 1831 or before) Also found on: Unknown artist, Samuel Watson, 1829 (Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery), frame mark

Stamp on canvas:

T. BROWN High Holborn

LINEN.

[‘LINEN’ with a large ‘L’]

2. Canvas marked ‘High Holborn’, often with two compartment date stamp

Recorded date stamps associated with this type date to 1831-35 (note 8)

Illustrated: Thomas Phillips, John Dalton, 1835 (National Portrait Gallery) Also found on: Richard Rothwell, William Huskisson, c.1831 (National Portrait Gallery), associated date stamp: 9- 31 John Constable, Hampstead Heath with a Rainbow, 1836 (Tate), associated date stamp: 10 32

Stamp, 7.2 cm wide, on canvas (and detail):

T BROWN. High Holborn

Associated date stamp, within frame:

2- 34

[‘T’ of T. BROWN to right of ‘H’ of High]

^

detail

3. Canvas marked ‘163 High Holborn’, often with two compartment date stamp

Recorded date stamps associated with the following type date to 1835-40 (note 9)

Illustrated (top): Henry Johnson, John Ferneley, 1838 (National Portrait Gallery) Also found on: James Ward, Study of Sheeps’ Heads, 1836 (Tate),

associated date stamp: 9- 35 David Wilkie, King William IV, 1837 (National Portrait Gallery), associated date stamp: 11-36

J.M.W. Turner, Seascape with Distant Coast, c.1840

(Tate)

Illustrated (bottom): Unknown artist, Martha Blackburn (Private coll., Canada, 2004, source: Cyndie Lack)

Stamp, 9.2 cm wide, on canvas (and detail):

T BROWN. 163 High Holborn

LONDON

Associated date stamp, within frame:

4- 37

Stamp, 8.3 cm wide, on canvas:

T BROWN. 163 High Holborn

LONDON

[smaller in size though identical in appearance]

^

Johnson, detail

^unknown artist

Work details

Mark transcripts Product marks (not to uniform scale)

4. Canvas marked ‘163, HIGH HOLBORN’

Three examples are given, the third smaller in scale. Other slight variations in lettering style and layout are found. It is likely that several stamps were in use at any one time.

Illustrated: J.M.W. Turner, The Dogano, San Giorgio, Citella, from the Steps of the Europa, exh. 1842 (Tate), associated date

stamp on separate painting canvas: TB 11? 40 (repr. below)

Also found on: Edwin Landseer, There is no place like home, 1842

(Victoria and Albert Museum) George Lance, Fruit, 1842

(Victoria and Albert Museum), with impressed stretcher stamp

Stamp, 7.8 cm wide, on reverse of loose lining canvas:

BROWN, 163,

HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON.

[the ‘3’ rounded at top; the final ‘N’ of LONDON below the ‘B’ of HOLBORN]

Illustrated: J.M.W. Turner, Lake Lucerne: the Bay of Uri from above Brunnen, c.1844 (Tate) Also found on: J.M.W. Turner, Scene in Venice, c.1840-45 (Tate, N05488)

Stamp, 8.6 cm wide, on reverse of loose lining canvas:

BROWN, 163,

HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON.

[the ‘3’ flat at top; the final ‘N’ of LONDON below the ‘O’ of HOLBORN]

Illustrated: George Lance, unknown work, 1855, ? Still Life of Grapes and Morning Glory, Sotheby’s Belgravia, 8 April 1975, lot 104, paper laid on canvas

Stamp, 4.9 cm wide, on canvas:

BROWN, 163,

HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON.

[smaller in size, used on a small canvas; the ‘3’ flat at top and below the ‘W’ of BROWN; without punctuation]

5. Other canvas marks

Illustrated: J.M.W. Turner, The Dogano, San Giorgio, Citella, from the Steps of the Europa, exh. 1842, 24¼ x 36½ ins (Tate), associated address stamp on separate loose lining canvas (repr. above)

Date stamp within frame, 8 cm wide, on canvas, with TB stencil at right angles, 2.8 cm wide:

TB 11? 40

[TB for Thomas Brown. Turner had canvases made up to non-stock sizes, which were sometimes differently stamped.]

Work details

Mark transcripts Product marks (not to uniform scale)

6. Canvas marked ‘163, HIGH HOLBORN’ with three compartment date stamp

Recorded examples associated with this three compartment type date to 1841-51 (note 10)

Illustrated: Margaret Carpenter, Patrick Fraser Tytler, exh. 1845 (National Portrait Gallery)

Date stamp on canvas, within frame:

TB 11 41

[TB for Thomas Brown]

Second stencil, 9 cm wide, on canvas:

BROWN, 163,

HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON

Illustrated: John Everett Millais, Christ in the House of His Parents, 1849–50 (Tate)

Date stencil on unprimed side of loose lining canvas, within frame:

TB 10 49

Second stencil on canvas:

BROWN, 163,

HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON

[the ‘D’ of LONDON now more below the ‘L’ of HOLBORN]

7. Canvas marked ‘163, HIGH HOLBORN’, with four compartment size and date stamp (note 6)

Recorded examples associated with this four compartment type date to 1843-51

Illustrated: Margaret Carpenter, William Smith, 1856, 30 x 25 ins (National Portrait Gallery)

Date stencil on canvas, within frame:

TB 2 51 ¾

[TB for Thomas Brown; 2 51 for the date; ¾ the canvas size, a ‘three-quarters’ at 30 x 25 ins, see note 11]

Stencil on canvas:

BROWN, 163,

HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON

Work details

Mark transcripts Product marks (not to uniform scale)

Illustrated: Edwin Landseer, John Landseer, exh. 1848, 36 x 27¾ ins (National Portrait Gallery)

Date stencil on canvas, within frame:

TB 4 46 KK

[TB for Thomas Brown; 4 46 for the date; KK the canvas size, a ‘Kit-Kat ‘(36 x 28 ins), see note 11]

Second stencil on canvas:

BROWN, 163,

HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON

Illustrated: Edwin Landseer, Alexander and Diogenes, exh. 1848, 44¼ x 56¼ ins (Tate)

Date stencil on canvas, within frame:

TB 10 43 BH

[TB for Thomas Brown; 10 43 for the date; BH the canvas size, a ‘Bishops half length’ (56 x 44 ins), see note 11]

Second stencil on canvas:

BROWN, 163,

HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON

To locate

The compiler is seeking examples with other marks of this type, probably with initials HL for half length or WL for whole length

Illustrated: George Hayter, Latimer Preaching at Paul's Cross, 1853, 66¼ x 87½ ins (Princeton University Art Museum, see Muller, cited in note 4, and note 11)

Stencil on canvas, within frame:

TB 7 43 LW

[TB for Thomas Brown; 7 43 for the date; LW probably the canvas size, a large whole length which was then cut to size by the artist, see note 11]

Second stencil on canvas:

BROWN, 163,

HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON

Third stencil on canvas, within frame:

ABSORBENT

[Absorbent indicates a ground or priming mainly made up of chalk]

Work details

Mark transcripts Product marks (not to uniform scale)

8. Canvas marked ‘260 OXFORD STREET’

At this address 1853-54

Illustrated: E.W. Cooke, Evening on the Lagoon, Venice, 1853 (Bonhams, 2 March 2016, lot 12) Also found on: John Ferneley, A Herd of Horses in an extensive landscape, 1854 (Christie's South Kensington, 1 December 2016, lot 187)

Stencil on canvas:

BROWN 260 OXFORD STREET

HYDE PARK END

Illustrated: Stephen Pearce, Robert McCormick, c.1856 (National Portrait Gallery)

Stencil on canvas:

BROWN 260 OXFORD STREET

HYDE PARK END [‘HYDE’ set slightly to right]

9. Panels with labels

Seemingly used in the 1820s but more examples are required to confirm this dating

Illustrated: Edwin Landseer, Scottish River Scene with Cattle in a Meadow (Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire, National Trust) Also found on: Edwin Landseer, A Deer fallen from a precipice, exh.

1828 (Sotheby’s, Gleneagles, 29 August 2007, lot 12)

Label, 5.0 cm wide, bevelled corners, on board:

PREPARED BY

T. BROWN, 163, HIGH HOLBOURNE.

10. Panels and stretchers with impressed name and often address

Several closely similar stamps. Found from about 1835; arranged here in date order

Illustrated:

John Linnell, Sir Robert Peel, 1838 (National Portrait Gallery) In use 1839-49 or longer; see note 12 for other examples.

Two impressed stamps, the second 5.0 cm wide, on panel:

BROWN

HOLBORN

[lettering with serifs; ‘BROWN’ applied unevenly, leaving a double impression]

Illustrated: Edward William Cooke, Dutch Boats in a Calm, 1843 (Tate)

Impressed stamp, final line 7.9 cm wide, on mahogany panel:

BROWN 163

HIGH HOLBORN

[lettering without serifs]

Work details

Mark transcripts Product marks (not to uniform scale)

Illustrated: Charles Robert Leslie, Sir John Everett Millais, 1852 (National Portrait Gallery) In use 1844-52 or longer; see note 13 for other examples.

Impressed stamp, 7.9 cm wide, on mahogany panel:

BROWN 163

HIGH HOLBORN [lettering without serifs; lettering differs from above example, e.g. the ‘R’ more rounded]

Illustrated:

C.W. Cope, L'Allegro, 1848 (Victoria and Albert Museum)

Impressed stamp on panel:

BROWN 163

HIGH HOLBORN

[as above but HOLBORN upside down, showing that two punches were used in the final line]

Illustrated: Edwin Landseer, Scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Titania and Bottom, 1848-51 (National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne) Click on link for an enlarged image of impressed stamp.

Impressed stamp on stretcher:

BROWN

163

HIGH HOLBORN [lettering with distinctive residual serifs, e.g. the v-top of the ‘1’ of 163]

Illustrated: Stephen Pearce, The Arctic Council planning a search for Sir John Franklin, 1851 (National Portrait Gallery)

Impressed stamp on stretcher:

BROWN

163

HIGH HOLBORN [lettering with slight residual serifs]

Illustrated: George Cruikshank, Cinderella, 1854 (Victoria and Albert Museum)

Impressed stamp on panel:

BROWN [lettering with slight residual serifs]

Notes For an historical survey with time chart and map, see Cathy Proudlove, ‘Technical focus: suppliers’ marks and labels’, The Picture Restorer: The Journal of the British Association of Painting Conservator-Restorers, no.55, autumn 2019. 1. Acknowledgments: With thanks to Dr Joyce Townsend for providing information on paintings in Tate,

collected by members of the Tate Conservation Department since the 1970s, Dr Tim Moreton, who for many years recorded canvas markings on the reverse of portraits at the National Portrait Gallery, and Nicola Costaras for access to conservation files at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Thanks also to Cyndie Lack and Sally Woodcock for providing images. Hayter’s Latimer Preaching is repr. courtesy Princeton University Art Museum, photo: Norman Muller.

2. Earlier research: In the early 1970s, Cathy Proudlove (née Leach) distributed copies of her unpublished list of artists’ colourmen. In the course of her professional career at the former Area Museums Service for South East England and with Norfolk Museums Service, Cathy has seen and recorded, or been sent by professional colleagues, details of many suppliers’ marks and labels, some from private collections. She has published on the subject: ‘19th Century Prepared Artists’ Canvases’, Antique Collecting, July 1973, pp.2-4, and ‘London Artists’ Colourmen. Part I: A to D’, The Picture Restorer, no.10, autumn 1996.

For a period, 1974-77, Alec Cobbe arranged for marks on paintings in sales at Sotheby’s Belgravia and Christie’s to be photographed (see his article on Winsor & Newton, Studies in Conservation, vol.21, no.2, May 1976, p.94). The photographs were later acquired by the late Richard Kissack, who planned to publish a book. Eventually he gave them to Cathy Proudlove, and images deriving from this collection have been reproduced when an image from a public collection has not been found.

3. Courtauld Institute database: A searchable database, Courtauld - Colourmen Online, was launched in 2011 and was frequently consulted in the preparation of the current compilation. An image from this database has been used here as indicated, with thanks to Aviva Burnstock.

4. References: See Martin Butlin, ‘Turner’s Late Unfinished Oils: some new evidence for their late date’, Turner Studies, vol.1, no.2, 1981, pp.43-5, and Norman Muller, ‘Addendum: Conservator’s Note’, Record of The Art Museum Princeton University, vol.53, no.1, 1994, pp.33-5 (on paintings by Sir George Hayter).

5. Frame marks: Canvas for artists was subject to taxation (see Part 1 of this guide; see also British portrait painters and their canvas sizes, 1625-1850, section 1.2, on this website).

6. Date stamps and stencils: After the duty on canvas was repealed by Parliament in 1831, Thomas Brown adopted a date stamp for his canvas, the first two digits of which apparently indicate the month and the second two the year. Brown sold canvas both in rolls and made up on stretchers to certain standard sizes which would be available for purchase on demand. Contemporary documentation does not survive but it would seem likely that the date was applied to the canvas when a batch of a particular size was produced. It would then be kept in stock until sold.

7. Canvas marked ‘High Holborn’ and ‘LINEN’ (section 1): Very similar stamps, sometimes indistinct, can be found on Thomas Lawrence, William Sotheby, c.1807 (National Portrait Gallery), John Constable, Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Ground, 1823 (Victoria and Albert Museum, FA.33), frame mark (1819), George Hayter, Baron Lynedoch, 1823 (National Portrait Gallery) and John Constable, Chain Pier, Brighton, 1826-7 (Tate).

8. Canvas marked ‘High Holborn’, with two compartment date stamp (section 2): Date stamps have been found from 1831 to 1835. In date order, Richard Rothwell, William Huskisson (National Portrait Gallery), date stamp 9- 31; James Lonsdale, James Smith (National Portrait Gallery), 9- 31; John Constable, Hampstead Heath with a Rainbow (Tate), 10 32; Thomas Sully, Frances Anne Kemble as Isabella in ‘Measure for Measure’, 1836 (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia), 4- 33; Solomon Hart, Procession of the Law (Jewish Museum, London), 6 33; Thomas Phillips, John Dalton, 1835 (National Portrait Gallery), 2- 34; Unspecified painting, 4 35 (repr. A.W. Katlan, American Artists’ Materials. Volume II, A Guide to Stretchers, Panels, Millboards, and Stencil Marks, 1992, fig.217).

9. Canvas marked ‘163, High Holborn’, with two compartment date stamp (section 3): Date stamps have been found from 1835 to 1840. In date order, Thomas Phillips, Lord Byron (National Portrait Gallery), 7- 35; James Ward, Study of Sheeps’ Heads (Tate), 9- 35; John Wood, Count d'Orsay (Hughenden Manor, Buckinghamshire), 2- 37; Henry Johnson, John Ferneley (National Portrait Gallery), 4- 37; Edwin Landseer, Queen Victoria on horseback (Christie’s, 24 October 1975, lot 84), 4- 37; Thomas Phillips, Thomas Arnold, 6- 37; Charles Eastlake, The Escape of Francesco Novello di Carrara (Tate), 8- 39; J. Bridges, unspecified saleroom, lot 135, 4- 40 (information from Cathy Proudlove).

10. Canvas marked ‘163, HIGH HOLBORN’ with three compartment date stamp (section 6): Stamps have been found from 1841 to 1851. In date order, Margaret Carpenter, Patrick Fraser Tytler (National Portrait Gallery), 11 41; J.M.W. Turner, Norham Castle, Sunrise (Tate), 10 44; John Everett Millais, Christ in the House of His Parents (Tate), 10 49; Harden Melville, The Squatter's Hut: News from Home (National Gallery of Australia), 8 50; W.H. Crome, Landscape, Farmhouse and Mill (Private coll., see note 2), 9 51.

11. Canvas marked ‘163, HIGH HOLBORN’, with four compartment size and date stamp (section 7): In the 1840s and early 1850s, Brown marked standard format canvases on stretchers with a code indicating

the size. ¾ for size 30 x 25 ins, requiring three-quarters of a yard of canvas, KK for size 36 x 28 ins, named after a dining club, the Kit-cat club, BH for size 56 x 44 ins, the so-called Bishops half length, and LW, possibly meaning a large whole length. For a fuller explanation of canvas sizes, see British portrait painters and their canvas sizes, 1625-1850 on this website.

12. Panels marked like Linnell’s Peel: C.R. Leslie’s Dulcinea del Toboso, 1839, Augustus Callcott’s Dordrecht, 1841, and C.R. Leslie’s The Toilette, c.1849 (all Victoria and Albert Museum)

13. Panels marked like Leslie’s Millais: C.W. Cope, Palpitation, 1844, C.R. Leslie’s Portia, c.1848 and George Smith’s Spring Flowers, 1851 (all Victoria and Albert Museum).

Copyright in this compilation, © National Portrait Gallery, London, March 2017, November 2018

and February 2020; copyright in individual images lies with owner, photographer or commissioner as may apply. Freely downloadable for research and personal use.