Brown, Millicent, Mrs

Introduction:

Mrs Millicent Brown was a prolific talented amateur of both bust and full length portraits. She is notable for using a single piece of paper to produce profiles freehand from memory, and using a unique slash cutting method.

Mrs Brown’s maiden name was Mathews and she married a Mark Brown in 1772, at Marylebone Parish Church. Marylebone records show that she worked from 15 Portland Square, London between 1796 and 1809, possibly producing in excess of three hundred profiles. These included an example of Georgiana, first wife of the Fifth Duke of Devonshire, and a full-length portrait of the actress Mrs Jordan, the morganatic wife of the Duke of Clarence (later William IV). To date there is little evidence that Mrs Brown signed her work and no trade labels have been found. It is noted that at least one of her miniatures was exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1783.

Mrs Brown’s work was usually cut from white paper then blackened. The base was often retained in its rectangular form to frame the piece, and is a recurrent feature of her work. She sometimes added sides and a top in solid black to enhance the frame more completely. Mrs Brown showed a particular skill in the cutting of flickering candle flames, in addition to well defined furniture. Her work is very well regarded today and still interesting to collectors – a self portrait was illustrated in the ‘Antiquarian’ October 1931.