British canvas, stretcher and panel suppliers’ marks: Part 2, 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, and 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 at the National Gallery of Victoria. Please provide feedback on canvas and panel markings in
your collection to [email protected], either missing examples, or clear instances on dated paintings.
Work details
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?
Illustrated:
Source: Courtauld Colourmen Online
database (note 3)
Also found on:
Charles Robert Leslie, Selfportrait, 1814 (National
Portrait Gallery), frame mark
See note 7 for examples
dating from c.1807-1826.
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
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]
Stamp on canvas:
T. BROWN.
High-Holborn
LINEN.
[‘T’ of T. BROWN above ‘H’ of High]
Work details
Mark transcripts
Illustrated:
Richard Rothwell,
Novitiate Mendicants,
c.1837 (Victoria and
Albert Museum), frame
mark (the canvas thus
1831 or before)
Stamp on canvas:
Product marks (not to uniform scale)
T. BROWN
High Holborn
LINEN.
[‘LINEN’ with a large ‘L’]
Also found on:
Unkown artist, Samuel
Watson, 1829 (Norwich
Castle Museum and Art
Gallery), frame mark
2. Canvas marked ‘High Holborn’, often with
two compartment date stamp
Illustrated:
Thomas Phillips, John
Dalton, 1835 (National
Portrait Gallery)
Stamp, 7.2 cm wide, on canvas (and detail):
Also found on:
Richard Rothwell, William
Huskisson, c.1831 (National
Portrait Gallery), associated
date stamp: 9- 31
Associated date stamp, within frame:
T BROWN.
High Holborn
2- 34
[‘T’ of T. BROWN to right of ‘H’ of High]
John Constable, Hampstead
Heath with a Rainbow, 1836
(Tate), associated date
stamp: 10 32
^
detail
3. Canvas marked ‘163 High Holborn’, often
with two compartment date stamp
Illustrated (top):
Henry Johnson, John
Ferneley, 1838 (National
Portrait Gallery)
Also found on:
John Sell Cotman, Drainage
Mills in the Fens, c.1835
(Yale Center for British Art,
New Haven)
Recorded date stamps associated with this
type date to 1831-35 (note 8)
Recorded date stamps associated with the
following type date to 1835-40 (note 9)
Stamp, 9.2 cm wide, on canvas (and detail):
T BROWN.
163 High Holborn
LONDON
Associated date stamp, within frame:
4- 37
^
James Ward, Study of
Sheeps’ Heads, 1836 (Tate),
associated date stamp: 935
J.M.W. Turner, Seascape
with Distant Coast, c.1840
(Tate)
Illustrated (bottom):
Unknown artist, Martha
Blackburn (Private coll.,
Canada, 2004, source:
Cyndie Lack)
Johnson, detail
Stamp, 8.3 cm wide, on canvas:
T BROWN.
163 High Holborn
LONDON
[smaller in size though identical in appearance]
^unknown artist
Work details
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)
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)
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, source: Cobbe
coll, see note 2
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.
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]
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]
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),
Date stamp within frame, 8 cm wide, on
canvas, with TB stencil at right angles, 2.8 cm
wide:
associated address stamp
on separate loose lining
canvas (repr. above)
[TB for Thomas Brown]
TB
11? 40
Turner had canvases made up to non-stock
sizes, which were sometimes differently
stamped.
Work details
Illustrated:
Margaret Carpenter,
Patrick Fraser Tytler, exh.
1845 (National Portrait
Gallery)
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)
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)
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
Recorded examples associated with this
four compartment type date to 1843-51
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
Illustrated:
E.W. Cooke, Evening on
the Lagoon, Venice, 1853
(Bonhams, 2 March 2016,
lot 12)
Mark transcripts
Product marks (not to uniform scale)
8. Canvas marked ‘260 OXFORD STREET’
At this address 1853-54
Stencil on canvas:
BROWN
260 OXFORD STREET
HYDE PARK END
Also found on:
John Ferneley, A Herd of
Horses in an extensive
landscape, 1854 (Christie's
South Kensington, 1
December 2016, lot 187)
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
Illustrated:
Edwin Landseer, Scottish
River Scene with Cattle in
a Meadow (Anglesey
Abbey, Cambridgeshire,
National Trust)
Seemingly used in the 1820s but more
examples are required to confirm this dating
Label, 5.0 cm wide, bevelled corners, on board:
PREPARED BY
T. BROWN, 163, HIGH HOLBOURNE.
Also found on:
Edwin Landseer, A Deer
fallen from a precipice, exh.
1828 (Sotheby’s,
Gleneagles, 29 August
2007, lot 12)
10. Panels and stretchers with impressed
name and often address
Illustrated:
John Linnell, Sir Robert
Peel, 1838 (National
Portrait Gallery)
In use 1839-49 or longer;
see note 12 for other
examples.
Illustrated:
Edward William Cooke,
Dutch Boats in a Calm,
1843 (Tate)
Two impressed stamps, the second 5.0 cm
wide, on panel:
BROWN
HOLBORN
[lettering with serifs; ‘BROWN’ applied
unevenly, leaving a double impression]
Impressed stamp, final line 7.9 cm wide, on
mahogany panel:
BROWN
163
HIGH HOLBORN
[lettering without serifs]
Several closely similar stamps. Found from
about 1835; arranged here in date order
Work details
Mark transcripts
Product marks (not to uniform scale)
Illustrated:
Charles Robert Leslie, Sir
John Everett Millais, 1852
(National Portrait Gallery)
Impressed stamp, 7.9 cm wide, on mahogany
panel:
BROWN
163
HIGH HOLBORN
In use 1844-52 or longer;
see note 13 for other
examples.
[lettering without serifs; lettering differs from
above example, e.g. the ‘R’ more rounded]
Illustrated:
Impressed stamp on panel:
C.W. Cope, L'Allegro,
1848 (Victoria and Albert
Museum)
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.
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 distinctive residual serifs, e.g. the
v-top of the ‘1’ of 163]
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
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
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Lack and Sally Woodcock for providing images. Hayter’s Latimer Preaching is repr. courtesy Princeton
University Art Museum, photo: Norman Muller.
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, c.1975-77, 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.
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.
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).
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).
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.
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).
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; Solomon Hart, Procession of the Law (Jewish
Museum, London), 6 33; Thomas Phillips, John Dalton (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).
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; 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).
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.
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.
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)
Panels marked like Leslie’s Millais: other examples include 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.
Freely downloadable for research and personal use.