British artists' suppliers, 1650-1950

A selective directory, to be revised and expanded regulary, 1st edition June 2006, 2nd edition May 2008 (*entry revised, **new entry)
Contributions are welcome, to Jacob Simon at jsimon@npg.org.uk.
Resources and bibliography

William Badger, 97 Boundary Road, St John's Wood, London NW 1871-1887 as carver and gilder, 49 Dorset St, Portman Square 1877-1888 as manufacturing artists' colourman. Badger & Eatwell, 192 Broadhurst Gardens, Hampstead by 1892-1925 as picture dealers and artists' colourmen.

William Badger (b.1849) began trading as a carver and gilder at 97 Boundary Road. His predecessor as an artists' colourman at 49 Dorset Sq was William Eatwell (qv), as acknowledged on his canvas stamps, which read 'W. BADGER/ LATE EATWELL'. In 1877 he was listed both at Boundary Road as carver and gilder and in Dorset St as colourman but he gave up both businesses in the late 1880s, re-emerging as a picture dealer by 1891 (see below), and presumably a partner in the business going by the name of Badger & Eatwell, thus suggesting an ongoing link with the Eatwell family. Badger & Eatwell are generally listed in directories as artists' colourmen until 1899 and as picture dealers from 1900.

William Badger had an account with Roberson, March 1877 (Woodcock 1997). In the 1881 census he was recorded as 'Carver Gilder & Artists Colourman (Master)', of 97 Boundary Rd, age 31, married to Mary, with two young daughters and one son, William, age 4 (IGI). By the time of the 1891 census Badger, by now 41, was listed as Picture Dealer, living at 6 Gladstone's(?) St, Willesden, with two daughters and two sons, and he was again recorded as a picture dealer, but living at 14 Grange Road, Willesden, in the 1901 census.

Numerous Badger canvas marks are recorded from the 1870s and 1880s. In the National Portrait Gallery marked canvases include works by Henry Weigall (Sir William Quiller Orchardson, c.1878-81; Sir Moses Montefiore, 1881), Edwin Long (1st Earl of Iddesleigh, 1882) and Lowes Cato Dickinson (Sir Charles Lyell, 1883). Another artist is Edwin Hayes (Storm Clearing Off, exh.1883, Lady Lever Art Gallery, see Morris 1994). No canvases with the mark of the later business of Badger & Eatwell have been found.

Camille Barbe, Charles Barbe, Barbe Lechertier, see Lechertier Barbe

*Jabez Barnard 1841-1860, Jabez Barnard & Son 1860-1875, J. Barnard & Son 1876-1941. At 339 Oxford St, London 1842-1881, renumbered 1881, 233 Oxford St 1881-1886, 19 Berners St W 1870-1908, 82-84 Old St EC 1909-1941. Wholesale dept at 115 Great Titchfield St 1868-1870. Works at 11 Winsley St, Oxford St by 1857-1875, 67 Stanhope St, Hampstead Road NW 1868-1899, 141a Stanhope St 1903-1908. Artists' canvas makers at Sutterton Road, Caledonian Road N 1889-1891. Manufacturing artists' colourmen, printsellers and publishers.

Jabez Barnard (1800-94) advertised in 1842 that he had opened his Artists' Colour Warehouse with 'an entirely new and extensive Assortment of every requisite for Oil and Water-colour Painting; comprising Metallic and other Tubes for Oil Colours, and all the new Vehicles at present in use', and mentioning his 'fine White, prepared for Oil Painting' (The Art-Union January 1842 p.18), subsequently advertising materials for fresco painting prepared under the direction of Mr Aglio, and also a papier-maché palette (The Art-Union December 1843 p.301).

Jabez Barnard was born in December 1800 and christened in February 1801 at the Meeting House at Billericay. In the 1841 census he was listed in Oxford St as Colourman, wife Mary, in 1851 as Colourman, employing six hands, in 1861 at 339 Oxford St as Colourman, age 60, born at Great Bursted, Essex, wife Mary, a daughter and two shop assistants, George Smith and Leonard Pike. Both Jabez and his wife reappear in the 1881 census at the age of 80, now living at Chase Side Villa, Edmonton, Middlesex, with their widowed daughter, Nancy Fairhead (b.1835), who is described as Dealer in Fine Art, employing 15 people (IGI). From 1860, Jabez Barnard traded in partnership with his son William Barnard (qv), until the partnership was dissolved in 1875 (London Gazette 4 June 1875); thereafter, according to the London Gazette notice, Jabez Barnard continued to trade at 11 Winsley St, while William Barnard continued at 339 Oxford St and 19 Berners St. William Barnard also traded independently in Edgware Road from 1859, advertising some of Barnard & Son's materials. Jabez Barnard died in 1894 (London Gazette 7 September 1894).

Jabez Barnard advertised in his trade catalogue of c.1860 a wide range of materials for oil and watercolour painting and also photographic watercolours (Price Catalogue of Materials for Oil & Water-colour Painting & Drawing, 32pp, appended to Edwin Jewitt, Manual of Illuminated and Missal Painting, copy in British Library, 1267.b.5). Later trade catalogues can be found appended to other instruction manuals in the years before 1900. The business advertised in 1870 as "Manufacturing Artists' Colourmen, Drawing Paper Stationers. Lead Pencil Makers. Publishers of Works of Art. Importers of every Article connected with the Fine Arts', giving their addresses as 339 Oxford St, manufacturing steam works at Stanhope St and wholesale dept at 19 Berners St (The Artists' Directory for June 1870). Advertisements from 19 Berners St in 1892, now their main retail premises, featured their improved oil sketching box and superfine oil colours (The Year's Art 1892, and subsequently).

The business had an account with Roberson, 1862-1907 (Woodcock 1997). By 1893 and until at least 1900 another part of the business was separately listed as Barnard & Son, varnish and colour manufacturers, 183 Great Portland St and 67 Stanhope St (65 1/2 Stanhope St in 1900). Heaton & Son, glass painters' colours, shared Barnard's premises at 19 Berners St 1902-1908, subsequently being listed at 141a Stanhope St.

In 1908 a partnership between Harold King Smith and Noel Heaton, artists' colourmen and glass colour manufacturers, trading at 19 Berners St, 141a Stanhope St and 16 Cumberland Market as J. Barnard & Son and as Heaton & Son, was dissolved with Harold King Smith paying all debts (London Gazette 19 June 1908).

Customers included James Ward (Proudlove 1996, where a stencilled canvas as Barnard & Son is reproduced). Example of marked canvases are M.E. Ashburner's A duck and snipe on a shelf, 1896 (Bonhams 27 November 2007 lot 247), William Orpen's, Anita, 1905 (Tate, information from Sarah Morgan) and Jessie Algie's Pinks and Sunflowers, exh.1906 (Walker Art Gallery, see Morris 1996).

Sources: Peter Bicknell and Jane Munro, Gilpin to Ruskin: Drawing Masters and their manuals, 1800-1860, Fitzwilliam Museum, exh.cat., 1988, p.73; Katlan 1992 p.454; Proudlove 1996 and note by Cathy Proudlove.

*William Barnard, 59 Connaught Terrace, Edgware Road, London W 1859-1868, renamed and numbered 1868, 119 Edgware Road 1868-1899, 126 Edgware Road 1899-1926. Stationer, artists' and needlework repository.

William Barnard (b.1832) was the son of Jabez Barnard (qv) and Mary (IGI, non-conformist registers, Dr Williams Library); what may be his marriage, to Jane Mary Welby, at St James, Westminster was recorded in 1854 (IGI). He was listed in the 1861 census at 59 Connaught Terrace as Colour Manufacturer, age 29, with wife Jane, age 31, and no children. In London directories, he was listed as a Stationer in 1860, Artists' repository in 1869, and Fine Art repository in 1879.

William Barnard advertised c.1860 as 'Berlin Wool and Ornamental Needlework Repository', describing himself as a manufacturer and importer, (advertisement bound in with Jabez Barnard, Price Catalogue of Materials for Oil & Water-colour Painting & Drawing). Like his father, he published or advertised a number of handbooks, which featured his own products, including those related to needlework, as well as Barnard and Son's art materials. These handbooks include Photo-Chromography: an easy method of colouring photographs, 1868 or before (British Library, 787.c.68, with 6pp adverts), V. Touche's The Handbook of Point Lace, 4th ed., 1871 or before (British Library, 7742.b.47, with William Barnard's Catalogue, 10pp, describing the business as Artistic Needlework Repository) and Colibert's Terra Cotta Painting, 1883 or before (Bodleian Library, with Priced Catalogue of Colours and Materials for Painting, Drawings, &c, 22pp).

William Barnard also traded with his father, Jabez Barnard (qv) as Jabez Barnard & Son, artists' colourmen, until the partnership was dissolved in 1875 (London Gazette 4 June 1875); thereafter, according to the London Gazette notice, William Barnard continued to trade at 339 Oxford St and 19 Berners St, while Jabez Barnard continued at 11 Winsley St.

Barnhalt, see Care & Barnhalt

**Matthew Bateman, The Sugar Loaf and Pallate, Tower St, Seven Dials, London, 1743. Colourman.

'Matt. Bateman', advertised that he was leaving off house keeping, offering at prime cost primed cloths, brushes, pencils, all sorts of dry colours, poppy oil, fat oil, stones, mullers and pallates (Daily Advertiser 18 June 1743). He may possibly be the Mr Bateman whom Arthur Pond paid November 1739 to take mildew off a copy Guido by Goupy (Louise Lippincott, 'Arthur Pond's Journal of Receipts and Expenses, 1734-1750', Walpole Society, vol.54, 1991, p.250).

Thomas Baynham, active 1800s-1830s, 44 London Road, Southwark, London. Colour maker. A candidate for the next edition of this Directory. Contact Jacob Simon at jsimon@npg.org.uk.

Baynham & Hughes, Broad St, Bloomsbury, London c.1770. A candidate for the next edition of this Directory. Contact Jacob Simon at jsimon@npg.org.uk.

Charles Beale, King St? Covent Garden, London 1655-c.1659, Hind Court, Fleet St c.1659-c.1670, Next to the Golden Ball, Pall Mall from c.1670. Occasional dealer in colours.

Charles Beale (1632-1705) acted as studio manager for his wife, the portrait painter Mary Beale (1633-99). He supplied quantities of Lake of his own making and of Ultramarine to Peter Lely, 1671-6, and of Lake and Pink to Thomas Manby, landscape painter, 1677 (Vertue vol.4, pp.170, 172, 173, 175). He purchased colours and brushes from Phine (qv) and Smaley (qv), colours from Williams (qv) and canvas from Owen Buckingham (qv) and Dod (qv) (Talley 1981).

Portrait: For Charles Beale's portrait by Mary Beale, c.1663 (National Portrait Gallery), see www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?search=ss&sText=beale&LinkID=mp00309.

Sources: Talley 1981 pp.277, 284; Bustin 1999.

Thomas Beckwith (d.1786), see George Riley

*Samuel Bedford (active 1822-1833), Castle St, Bristol 1820, 73 Castle St 1822, 48 Corn St 1830-1840. Oilman and artists' colourman.

Samuel Bedford (c.1790-1841) advertised primed cloths, bladder colours, brushes, crayons, chalks and everything for painting and drawing in 1822 (Bristol Journal 2 March 1822, see Fawcett 1974 p.53), subsequently also advertising, from his Artists' Colour Shop and Repository, panels and millboards, easels, palettes etc (Bristol Mercury 21 June 1834). Bedford had an account with Roberson, 1830-33 (Woodcock 1997). In 1839 he was advertising London ground bladder colours, fresh every week, and watercolours by Rowney, Newman, Ackermann and Reeves (Bristol Mercury 4 May 1839). He died in Bristol at the age of 51 in 1841 (Bristol Mercury 5 June 1841). Betsy Bedford, who was listed at the Artists' Repository, 7 Wine St in Pigot's Directory, 1842, and who advertised from this address in 1844 (Bristol Mercury 11 May 1844) was presumably his widow.

Sources: Pigot's 1830 Gloucestershire Directory, see www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/GLS/Bristol/Pigot1830.html.

*G.C. Beissbarth Son, 115 Leadenhall St, London EC 1877-1878, 7 Snow Hill EC 1879-1883, 39 Farringdon Road 1883-1887, retail at 12 Victoria Buildings, Pimlico 1881, 13 Victoria Buildings 1882-1887. Wholesale and retail brushmakers.

Advertising that their 'Superior Artists' Brushes, Artists' Colours & Materials are sold by Artists' Colourmen throughout the Kingdom' (The Year's Art 1884-5, reproducing their trademark in 1885). The business had an account with Roberson, 1882-6 (Woodcock 1997).

Julias Beissbarth, a 28-year-old American brush merchant, born in Bavaria, was listed with his wife Amalie in the 1881 census at 5 Vinnie Villas, Belvoir Rd, Camberwell (IGI). He was manager or owner of G.C. Beissbarth Son, and probably also of the slightly later business of J.M. Beissbarth & Co, brushmakers, 6 King St 1888, 22 St Mary Axe EC 1889, and 14 St Mary Axe 1890.

David Bellis (active 1737-1750), The White Bear, Long Acre, London. Colourman and picture restorer.

David Bellis worked for Arthur Pond (qv), 1737-50, restoring and supplying canvases (Lippincott 1983 pp.78, 92, 94, 184 n.49, Lippincott 1991). There would appear to have been a family of colourmen by the name of Bellis. David Bellis, colourman died in 1739, leaving his stock in trade to his son, also named David, as well as making bequests to his wife and other children (PCC wills). It is probably this son who was recorded as having voted in the 1749 Parliamentary election from an address in Long Acre (A Copy of the Poll Book for Westminster, 1749, p.208). Edward Bellis, colourman of the parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields, died in 1769 (PCC wills).

*William Benham, 9 Devonshire Terrace, Notting Hill Gate, London 1863-1888. Artists' colourman, printseller, picture framemaker etc.

William Benham (1811-1885?) began business in the East End, initially as a cutler and furnishing ironmonger and then as a bookseller and stationer, trading from 37 Assembly Row, Mile End, where he was recorded in the 1851 census, as age 39, with a son, William A. Benham, age 6, and two younger daughters. He was first listed in Notting Hill Gate in 1863, in the same year as his final listing at Assembly Row. His new premises had been occupied by another artists' colourman in 1860, John Symons & Co, and then briefly by a firm pursuing a different line of business. Benham was listed in the 1871 census as an artists' colourman. He had an account with Roberson, 1872-83 (Woodcock 1997). He was subject to liquidation procedures in the bankruptcy court in 1883 (London Gazette 10 April 1883). Following his death, the business was managed by his son, William A. Benham, who was recorded as a stationer, age 36, in 1881 census.

A marked canvas has been recorded, Peter Graham's The Seabirds' Home, 1879, with address Whitehall, and additional stamp of Winsor & Newton (Walker Art Gallery, see Morris 1996).

Sources: Proudlove 1996.

Silas Bentley, see Daniel Green

*Lewis Berger by 1777-1797 or later, Lewis Berger & Sons 1799-1879, Lewis Berger & Sons Ltd from 1879. At Shadwell Market, London by 1777-1780, 5 Ave Maria Lane 1781-1783 or later, 44 Bow Lane, Cheapside from 1785 or before, 7 Well Court, Queen St, Cheapside 1794-1928 or later. Factory at Homerton by 1780. Manufacturing colourmen.

The business was founded in the 1760s by a German immigrant, Lewis Berger (1741-1814), born Louis Steigenberger. Berger's partnership with Philip Thomas Hoggins, trading as Berger & Hoggins, colour manufacturers of Homerton, was dissolved in 1781 (London Gazette 2 October 1781).

By the early 19th century, Berger was a significant supplier to Rudolf Ackermann (Ford 1983 p.46), James Newman (Berger 1910 p.10; see also Harley 1982 pp.112-3) and Roberson (Carlyle 2001 p.42). The business had an account with Roberson, 1830-80 (Woodcock 1997). Its premises in Well Court extended through to Bow Lane (Berger 1910 p.15). This company of paint suppliers became part of Crown Berger Europe Ltd.

As a firm of manufacturers supplying the trade, rather than a direct supplier of artists, this business is not examined in detail here.

Sources: Thomas B. Berger, A Century & a Half of the House of Berger, 1910; Bristow 1996, especially p.204; S. Carew-Reid, Lewis Berger & Sons (1766-1960): an English colour manufactory, unpublished diploma dissertation, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, 1997 (not consulted).

*George Blackman 1790-1819, G.F. Blackman 1818-1823. At 31 Frith St, Soho, London 1790-1792, warehouse 482 Strand 1792-1793, 3 or 12 Hemming's or Hemen's Row, St Martin's Lane 1794-1795, 403 Oxford St 1795-1801, 27 Berkeley Square 1798, 362 Oxford St ('near the Pantheon') 1799-1823. Artists' colourmen.

George Blackman was primarily a watercolour supplier. He claimed to be son-in-law of William Reeves and tutor to James Newman. He advertised in 1790 that 'he had opened a shop, No. 31 Frith Street, Soho, for the sale of superfine watercolours that are equal if not superior to those of Mr Reeves', offering every other article for drawing (Whitley papers vol.3, p.288, quoting the Morning Herald 28 July 1790), later advertising from the same address as 'Superfine Cake Color Manufacturer to their Majesties' Academies, also Sole Inventor of the Original Royal Liquid Blue' (Morning Herald 10 May 1792). Blackman's contemporary trade card depicts a Bluecoat boy holding a scroll on which is written, 'G. Blackman/ SUPERFINE/ COLOUR MAN/ No 31/ Frith Street/ SOHO/ From Reeves.' (British Museum, Banks coll. 89.3, with added date 1790), while in a particularly elegant card, dating to about 1800 or 1801, he advertised as 'G. BLACKMAN/ No 362 Oxford Street/ SUPERFINE OIL & WATER CAKE/ COLOUR Preparer to the ROYAL/ FAMILY her SERENE HIGHNESS the/ PRINCESS of ORANGE, Son in Law &/ 14 Years Assistant to Mr. REEVES and/ Tutor to Mr NEWMAN, Gerrerd St/ SOHO.' (Banks coll. 89.1, with added date 1802, repr. Clarke 1981 p.16).

In 1793, Blackman advertised his newly Invented Oil Colours (Morning Chronicle 6 July 1793). A year later, in June 1794, he was awarded the greater silver palette and 20 guineas by the Society of Arts for his method of making Oil Colour Cakes, which had been tested by Richard Cosway, Thomas Stothard and Mr Abbot over the course of the previous year (Transactions of the Society of Arts, vol.12, 1794, pp.271-9; see also Carlyle 2001 pp.113-4). Subsequently, in 1819 Blackman wrote to the Society concerning colours for painting on glass (Royal Society of Arts archive, PR.AR/103/10/262).

Blackman moved premises several times in the 1790s. He was listed at 3 Hemming's Row in Wakefield's Merchants and Tradesman's General Directory of London, 1794. He advertised in 1795 that he was moving from his house in Hemen's Row to 403 Oxford St, and in 1798 that he had opened a shop at 27 Berkeley Square (Morning Chronicle 8 September 1795, True Briton 2 April 1798). He was listed as superfine colour preparer at 362 Oxford St in Kent's Directory from 1801 and as superfine colourman to her Majesty in the 1806 Post Office Directory. Blackman issued unusual advertising vouchers from 27 Berkeley Square and 403 Oxford St (Banks coll. 89.2, with added 1798; see also NPG archive, typescript history of Reeves, supplied by Brian D. Wild, 1960).

George Blackman was presumably born in the 1750s or early 1760s, given his claim to have been an assistant to Reeves for 14 years before setting up independently in 1790. It would appear that by 1820 he had been succeeded by his son. This son is not necessarily to be identified with George Frederick Blackman, born 3 July 1798 and christened at St Anne, Soho, the son of George Blackman and Louisa Williams (IGI), since Blackman claimed to be Reeves's son-in-law. Evidence of the son's activity comes from the publication by G. Blackman Junr of a caricature from 362 Oxford St in June 1817 (BM Satires no.12955), and by G.F. Blackman of J. Bulkley's A Treatise on Landscape Painting in Oil, 1821, an early instance of an instruction manual published by an artists' colourman; the volume contains a single page at the end advertising, 'Every article requisite for Painting, either in Oil or Water, may be had at Mr. Blackman's, sign of the Blue Coat Boy, 362 Oxford Street', referring to his oil colours in cakes which had won the Society of Art's silver palette. However Blackman was not listed at this address after 1823 and in this final year he was described as G.F. Blackman jun. He was succeeded at this address by William Chapman, artists' colourman, who was listed in Pigot's directory from 1823 but not after 1827.

From 1826 an individual by the name of George Blackman, whether related or not, traded variously as watercolour manufacturer and as juvenile colour maker from 13 St John St Road 1826-29, 47 St John St Road 1831-47 and 53 St John St Road 1846-8, to be followed by Mrs Rebecca Blackman at 53 St John St Road 1849-50 and 126 St John St Road 1851-2. This George Blackman, succeeded by Mrs Rebecca Blackman, had an account with Roberson, 1820-36, from 13, 58 and 47 St John St Road (Woodcock 1997). George Blackman, watercolour manufacturer of the parish of St James's, Clerkenwell, died in 1845 (PCC wills). Rebecca Blackman was recorded in the 1851 census at 126 John St Road, as a widow, age 56, colour manufacturer, with a 21-year-old nephew Louis Noris.

Sources: Whitley 1928, vol.2, p.362, Katlan 1992 p.454.

*John James Bonhote (active 1763-1780), The Star, Hayes's Court, Soho, London 1766-1780. Linen draper, hosier, hatter and glover; also pastel supplier.

John James Bonhote, of French-speaking Swiss origin, advertised on a receipt dated 7 June 1766, 'Jn. James Bonhote, (successor to Mr. Pache) hosier, hatter and glover, at the Star in Hays's Court, the lower end of Greek Street, Soho, London; sells all sorts of silk, cotton, thread and worsted hose,... The genuine Arquebuzade water from Switzerland,... Sells besides, the noted pastels, or Swiss crayons, by Bernard Stoupan, recommended for the best in Europe' (Shakespeare Centre Library, Stratford-upon-Avon, Leigh MSS.DR.18/5, see Simon 1998).

The predecessor business, Lewis Pache & Co (qv), merchants, was listed at Hayes's Court, 1765-67. Bonhote was described by John Russell in 1772 as the original importer of brilliant green crayons from Lausanne (Simon 1998). By 1773, Bonhote was advertising that his pastels, or Swiss crayons, were now being made by Charles Pache (qv) in London, formerly a partner with Bernard Stoupan at Lausanne, noting that Pache had obtained a premium from the Society of Arts and Sciences (London Evening Post 8 April 1773). Pache set up in business on his own the following year.

Bonhote would seem to have married twice, firstly to Susanna, by whom he had children in 1763 and 1765, and secondly to Alexandrine Etienette Boinod in 1769 at St Anne's, Soho, by whom he had children in 1770, 1777 and 1779 (Non-conformist BMD, IGI). His son, Paul, born in 1770, was christened at the Swiss church in London, with godparents Paul and Magdaline Burnard.

*Boots Ltd, 1 Angel Row, Chapel Bar, Nottingham, Boots Cash Chemists Ltd, Station St, Nottingham. Chemists; also artists' materials retailers and picture framemaker c.1894-1963 or later.

Jesse Boot, later Lord Trent (1850-1931), met Florence Rowe, the daughter of a bookseller and stationer in Jersey in 1885, marrying her the following year. She took an interest in the retail side of Boot's business. New lines were introduced, such as books, stationery, fancy goods, artists' materials and picture frames.

Boots Ltd advertised as printsellers, carvers and gilders, picture frame manufacturers, artists' colourmen from 1 Angel Row, Nottingham (The Year's Art 1894, 1895). The business had an account with Roberson, 1901-7 (Woodcock 1997). Various Winsor & Newton products and Gunther Wagner Pelican inks were listed in Boots Cash Chemist Ltd's 1908 trade catalogue (Price List of Artists' Materials, 64pp). Boots were still selling artists' materials as recently as 1963 (The Artist's Guide, 7th issue, 1963, p.xxvii).

A marked canvas has been recorded, 1900 (Proudlove 1996). L.S. Lowry is said to have bought his materials from the Royal Exchange branch of Boots in Manchester (Elizabeth Walker, 100 years of shopping at Boots, 1877-1977, [1978], p.16).

Bourgeois Ainé, Paris, see Lefranc & Co, Thomas Pavitt and G.H. Saunders

*George Bowden, later sometimes listed as Bowden & Co, 1 or 1a Little Queen St, Holborn 1848-1856, not listed 1857-1859, 314 Oxford St ('corner of Harewood Place') 1860-1875. Also at 9 Holden Terrace, Pimlico 1871-1873. Artists' stationer and colourman.

In the 1851 census George Bowden was listed at 1 Little Queen St, as artists' sketchbook maker, age 25, employing three men, in 1861 at 314 Oxford St, as artist stationer, age 35, wife Ann Elizabeth, age 32, and son George William, age 9, and in 1871 as artists' colourman, also listing four other younger sons and a daughter. As early as 1848, G. Bowden was advertising an easel drawing desk, describing himself as a maker of improved solid sketchbooks and every description of binding for artists, architects, etc (The Art-Union Advertiser October 1848 p.cxlvii). His partnership with Henry James Hall, trading as Bowden & Hall, artists' colourmen, at 1a Little Queen St, was dissolved in 1854 (London Gazette 28 March 1854). George Bowden was subject to insolvency proceedings the following year (London Gazette 12 June 1855). A further partnership, between George Bowden and John Reed Dickinson at 314 Oxford St was dissolved on 1 January 1869 (London Gazette 30 April 1869) and Bowden was again subject to liquidation proceedings in 1871 (London Gazette 31 March 1871). As Bowden & Co, the business had an account from 314 Oxford St with Roberson, 1871-2 (Woodcock 1997). It was succeeded at this address by George Squire (qv) in 1876.

George Bowden and John Reed Dickinson took out a patent for 'improvements in apparatus or means for protecting the points of brushes and pencils' in 1868, and George Bowden took out further patents in 1872 for 'a new or improved writing and drawing slate' and in 1885 for printing an image for a painting on canvas etc (London Gazette 29 May 1868, 31 May 1872; Patents for Inventions; see also Katlan 1992 p.488).

The son, George William Bowden (b.1851), set up in business as an artists' colourman, trading at 47 Brompton Road 1878-99, moving to 194-6 Brompton Road in 1900. The business became Bowden Bros, being described as fine art dealers from 1892. It is worth noting the watercolour drawing dealer, George W. Bowden, who advertised as having been established in 1850 (The Year's Art 1920). He was at 740 Fulham Road from 1897, subsequently trading from 35 Duke St, St James's 1915-39 or later.

A canvas mark, apparently 'GH Bowden', can be found on Thomas Benjamin Kennington's Daily Bread, 1883 (Walker Art Gallery, see Morris 1996).

Thomas Bowen, The Golden Pallet, Shugg Lane, opposite Haymarket, London c.1768-1772. Painter and gilder, printseller, publisher and stationer.

Thomas Bowen advertised, among many other products, watercolours, black lead and hair pencils (trade bill, Heal coll. 100.18, another example Johnson Collection). The sale of the stock-in-trade and house of the late Thomas Bowen, stationer and printseller, was announced in 1780 (Morning Herald 15 November 1780).

Sources: Maxted 1977.

Charles Bradley, see George Squire

*Brandram, Templeman & Jaques 1782-1803, Brandrams, Templeman & Co 1803-1819. At 12 Budge Row, London by 1783-1787, 17 Sise Lane, Budge Row from 1788, as colour merchants. Brandram Brothers & Co 1815-1841 or later, 17 Sise Lane, as merchants, rather than colour merchants.

A leading colour manufacturer and supplier to the trade. The partnership of Brandram, Templeman & Jaques was formed in 1782 between Samuel Brandram, Thomas Templeman and Richard Lister Jaques, and followed on an earlier partnership. It was dissolved in 1803 and replaced by another partnership, named as Brandrams, Templeman & Co, made up of Samuel Brandram, Thomas Templeman and two other members of the Brandram family. In turn, this partnership lasted until 1819, when it became Brandram Brothers & Co (London Gazette 13 July 1782, 2 July 1803, 2 January 1819).

In 1789, James Turner appointed Brandram, Templeman & Jaques as sole vendors of his patented mineral yellow colour, known by the name of the Patent Yellow (London Gazette 11 August 1789). Brandram & Co's green paint was recommended in 1795 (Practical Treatise on Painting in oil colours, 1795, p.33, copy in British Library, 7854.e.36). Joseph Farington and George Dance called on 'Brandrom' in 1798 to look at Ultramarine, priced at 4, 5 and 7 guineas an ounce (Farington vol.3, p.1076). Berger (qv) held stocks of Brandram's 'Brown pink' in 1810 (Bristow 1996 p.43). Quite whom Farington and Dance met in 1798 is uncertain, but it was probably Samuel Brandram, who was married at St Antholin, Budge Row in 1775, being listed at 17 Sise Lane in 1800 and who died in 1808 (IGI, Boyle's Directory, PCC wills).

**Robert Briggs by 1841-1882, R. & C.R. Briggs 1848, Charles Robert Briggs 1852-1856 or later, Robert Briggs & Son 1860-1899. At 57 Poland St, London 1841-1851, 1A Welbeck St 1851-1886, 8 The Terrace, High Road, Kilburn by 1891-1900. Tailors and lay figure makers.

In 1848 R. and C.R. Briggs advertised from 57 Poland St as lay figure makers, claiming that for the last 12 years, 'a majority of the figures imported into this Country from Paris have been chiefly of his own make, he, during that period, having been the principal artist and superintendent of one of the first establishments in that Capital' (The Art-Union Advertiser January 1848 p.xvii). Robert Briggs (b. c.1804) had been active as a tailor from this Poland St address from at least 1841. By 1851, the business was located at 1A Welbeck St where both Robert Briggs & Son, lay figure maker, and Robert Briggs, tailor, were located, an arrangement which continued as late as 1875.

The birth of Charles Robert Briggs, the son of Robert and Margaret Briggs, is recorded in 1828 and his christening later the same year at St James Westminster (IGI), but his age as given in census records would imply that he was born in about 1833. Charles R. Briggs (1828/c.1833-1914?) was listed in the 1851 census as a tailor, in 1861 as a lay figure maker, living at 18 Charles St, and in 1871 and 1881 as a tailor at 1A Welbeck St, employing two men in 1871. By 1899, R. Briggs & Son was advertising from Kilburn, as lead figure makers, claiming '40 Years in Welbeck Street' (Art Journal, March 1899, advertisements p.8). Charles Robert Briggs was listed as a builder at the same address in 1896 and subsequently. The business both supplied and repaired lay figures for Roberson (Woodcock 1998 p.462 note 30).

*John Clater Brodie 1839-1850, Brodie & Middleton 1851-1946, Brodie & Middleton Ltd from 1945. At 69 Long Acre, London 1839-1840, 79 Long Acre ('two doors from Drury Lane') 1841-1981, 68 Drury Lane WC2 from 1982. Artists' colourmen, wholesale brush manufacturers and canvas preparers.

John Clater Brodie can probably be identified with J.C. Brodie, brushmaker, listed at 36 Bullesland St, Hoxton in 1838 and 1839. He was recorded in Long Acre in the 1841 census as John Brodie, brushmaker, age 20 (ages were rounded down to the nearest five in this census). Also listed were James Brodie, cooper, age 60, Ann Brodie, also age 60, and Mary Clator, age 65. John Brodie was listed in directories as artists', painters' & grainers' brush manufacturer in 1842, additionally describing himself as artists' colourman in 1845, which became his main designation in 1846. He died in 1849, making complex arrangements for his business to be carried on by his mother, Ann Brodie, and his 'present assistant', Thomas John Middleton (PCC wills). The business was listed in 1850 as 'John Clater Brodie (exors of)', becoming Brodie & Middleton in 1851. Ann Brodie, age 76, was resident at 79 Long Acre at the time of the 1851 census.

Thomas John Middleton (1817-89?) was recorded in the 1851 census as artists' colourman, age 33, at 32 Wakefield St, Grays Inn Road, with wife, Ann, age 36. Ann Middleton was given as a partner in the business in 1851 trade directories. By 1854 Thomas John Middleton was listed in her place. He was living on the premises at 79 Long Acre at the time of the 1871 and 1881 censuses. He remained a partner in the business until 1887, but also traded independently as Thomas John Middleton (qv) from 1875 until 1882.

In their trade catalogue of August 1873 Brodie & Middleton described the business as established 1840, and advertised in sections as follows: superfine watercolours, colours and materials for illuminating, superior photographic watercolours, glass painting watercolours, drawing papers including Turnbull's Bristol and London boards, brushes for watercolour painting, earthenware, enamel colours, etching and copperplate materials, oil colours, oils, varnishes, etc, brushes used in oil painting etc, easels and handbooks on art (Catalogue for Department No.1. Illustrated List of Colors & Materials for Oil and Water Color Painting, &c., 80pp, appended to James Callingham, Sign Writing and Glass Embossing, 1874, 2nd ed.). Other Brodie & Middleton trade catalogues from this period can be found as appendices to instruction manuals.

The business passed to Frank Trotman in 1887 when Thomas John Middleton reached the age of 70. It advertised as 'the old established Artists' Colourmen' (The Year's Art 1888, and subsequently). It had an account with Roberson, 1871-1908 (Woodcock 1997). By 1913 Trotman was claiming to have greatly expanded Brodie & Middleton's trade, especially among scenic artists (Whitley papers vol.3, p.301, letters to Whitley from Frank Trotman, 29 September 1913, and his son Howard, 22 September 1913).

Frank Trotman also owned James Tillyer & Co (qv). He would appear to have left his relatives to manage Brodie & Middleton: Frederick Trotman was listed at 79 Long Acre in the 1901 census as artists' colourman, age 49, born in London, wife Elizabeth, also age 49, with two sons Ernest and Leonard, age 23 and 20, and two younger daughters, while Howard Trotman, Frank Trotman's son, was managing the business in 1913. By 1938 Brodie & Middleton were no longer listed as artists' colourmen, but rather as 'colourmen, sheet gelatine makers, colour merchants, & arts & crafts', with D.G. Trotman and C.V. Trotman listed as partners or managers until 1946, at which point the business may have changed hands to become Brodie & Middleton Ltd. In 1946 the business was additionally described as theatrical colour merchants, which became the primary description by 1953. It donated a colour grinding mill to the Museum of London (Mireille Galinou and John Hayes, London in Paint, 1996, p.140).

Derek Jarman has left a description of the business, calling on his memories of the late 1950s, 'Trips up to London in the holidays to Brodie and Middleton, Colourmen of Covent Garden, makers of cheap oil paint in tins. "Brunswick Green" my cheap favourite. Vermilion, très cher mes amis, très cher these reds' (Jarman 1994 p.4).

Brodie & Middleton now supplies the theatrical trade from premises jointly occupied with Russell & Chapple Ltd. The name continues as one of three historic businesses listed in the Companies House register as at February 2005 as incorporated at 105 Great Russell St, London WC1B 3RY: Brodie and Middleton Ltd, incorporated 1945, L. Cornelissen and Son Ltd, incorporated 1980, and C. Roberson & Co. Ltd, incorporated 1985.

Sources: Proudlove 1996 (repr. a view of the exterior of the shop, c.1974); Carlyle 2001 p.340.

Brookman & Langdon, see Jeremiah Freeman, Thomas Reeves & Son

*Thomas Brown, 163 High Holborn, London 1805/6-1853, 260 Oxford St ('Hyde Park end') 1854. Artists' colourmen.

In 1805 or 1806 Thomas Brown took on the business which had belonged to William Legg (qv) and, prior to him, James Poole (qv). He was described in 1807 as 'Brown T., Colour and Primed Cloth Manufactory, 163, High Holborn, Successor to Mr Legg, late Poole' (Post Office Directory). Thomas Brown, sometimes known as Old Brown, died in 1840 leaving a lengthy will (PCC wills), in which his business and stock in trade as artists' colourman went to his eldest son, also Thomas Brown, known as Young Brown. The father's will makes it clear that he owned freehold property in Kentish Town and at Cowcross St. Young Brown was not living at 163 High Holborn, a leasehold property, in the 1841 or 1851 censuses.

Brown was trading from 260 Oxford St in 1854, when there was a fire on his premises in which his 20-year-old daughter, Eleanor Brown, lost her life (Morning Chronicle 7 April 1854). He ceased trading shortly thereafter whereupon William Eatwell (qv) set up in business, describing himself as 'from Browns' and taking with him various customers (Proudlove 1996). The Browns had an account with Roberson, May 1828-September 1853 (Woodcock 1997).

In 1841 Young Brown was the first colourman to introduce oil colours in collapsible metal tubes, as patented by John Rand (qv). He advertised his patent collapsible colour tubes as 'at a price very little exceeding Bladder Colours', identifying practical advantages, also stating that he now manufactured watercolours (The Art-Union June 1841 p.111, July 1841 p.128 as 'metallic tubes', December 1841 p.207 with additional details). Henry Mutton (qv), Cambridge, advertised as an agent for T. Brown's patent collapsible metallic tubes. Brown's colours were also available in America: M.J. Whipple, trading from 35 Cornhill, Boston, advertised 'Brown's Superior London Oil Colors, Put up in collapsible Tubes of various sizes' (Catalogue of Artists' and Drawing Materials, n.d. but c.1848-54, 4pp). An oil colour box by Thomas Brown dating to before 1841 belongs to Winsor & Newton (repr. Harley 1982 p.46).

Artists using Brown's materials: In 1842 Young 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 Royal Academy since its foundation (The Art-Union January 1842 p.18).

The Browns supplied many leading artists. David Wilkie obtained colours from Brown in 1809 to send to Sir George Beaumont (Whitley 1928, vol.1, p.335), and in February 1823 ordered a pot of asphaltum and some colours to be sent to a friend (William T. Whitley, Art in England 1821-1837, Cambridge, 1930, p.44). Brown supplied John Trumbull (Sizer 1950), who in 1814 requested a friend to order flake white etc from 'my Colourman Brown in Holborn, opposite the new buildings near Broad Street St. Giles' (Theodore Sizer, The Autobiography of Colonel John Trumbull, Yale, 1953, p.344). William Etty, writing from Italy in 1823, expressed his regret that there was 'no Brown's colour shop' in Venice (Whitley 1928, vol.1, p.335); Etty's biographer states that his canvases were always prepared by Brown who also supplied his colours (Alexander Gilchrist, Life of William Etty, R.A., 1855, vol.2, p.192). Benjamin Robert Haydon referred to using materials from Brown's for glazing a picture, 1831 (The Diary of Benjamin Robert Haydon, ed. W.B. Pope, vol.3, 1963, p.508). John Linnell, see below, purchased canvas and Cremnitz white for 9s, as documented in an account dated 8 September 1846 (John Linnell Archive, Fitzwilliam Museum); the account is headed 'PATENTEE OF COLLAPSIBLE METALLIC TUBES/ COLOURMAN TO ARTISTS', and has an appended note by Joseph R. Jordan, 'We know no other white to compete with the Cremnitz for colour, but we have Nottingham White, which has more body, but is not so good a colour'. Brown was also used by Thomas Lawrence, John Constable, J.M.W. Turner, Edwin Landseer (Whitley 1928, vol.1, p.335) and other well-known artists, see below.

Canvases with Brown's mark are relatively common, indicating the extent of his business. From the 1810s and subsequently, Thomas Lawrence's Baron Crewe and Lady Crewe, c.1810 (Sotheby's 22 March 2005 lot 64), Lady Callcott, 1819, marked canvas and stretcher (National Portrait Gallery), Frederick Duke of York, c.1822, marked canvas (Sotheby's 6 July 2007 lot 209), Martin Archer Shee's Agnes Fairlie, tax mark 1811 (Bonhams 7 December 2005 lot 90), John Constable's Stratford Mill from a lock on the Stour, marked stretcher, c.1811? (Victoria and Albert Museum, see Reynolds 1960 p.68), Yarmouth Jetty, 1822, The Chain Pier, 1827, and Hampstead Heath with a Rainbow, 1836 (all Tate, see Reynolds 1984 pp.109, 117, Butlin 1981), and C.R. Leslie's Self-portrait, 1814 (National Portrait Gallery). Constable made payment for a bill due to Brown in September 1825 (Beckett 1966 p.133).

From the 1820s and subsequently, John Jackson's Samuel Prout, 1823 (National Portrait Gallery) and Thomas Phillips's 'Louisa Jane', 1827 (Christies 14 November 1997 lot 43), George Lord Byron, c.1835, and John Dalton, 1835 (both National Portrait Gallery). George Hayter used Brown's, visiting him for colours on 6 August 1838 (Diary, typescript, National Portrait Gallery Library); marked canvases include his The Trial of Queen Caroline, 1820-3 (National Portrait Gallery), Baron Lynedoch, 1823 (National Portrait Gallery) and his much later Latimer Preaching at Paul's Cross, 1853 (Princeton University Art Museum, repr. Muller 1994).

Edwin Landseer used Brown's canvases and panels; examples include A Deer fallen from a precipice, exh.1828, panel with printed slip, 'PREPARED BY/ T. BROWN, 163, HIGH HOLBOURNE.' (Sotheby's Gleneagles 29 August 2007 lot 12), Hon. E.S. Russell and his brother, 1834 (Kenwood, see Bryant 2003 p.269), John Landseer, c.1848 (National Portrait Gallery), Dog with Slipper, panel, c.1848 (Sudley, Liverpool, see Bennett 1988) and Alexander and Diogenes, exh.1848 (Tate, see Butlin 1981).

From the 1830s onwards the stencil formats used by Brown have been codified (see Butlin 1981). In the 1830s and 1840s Turner obtained most of his supports from Brown (Townsend 1994 pp.145-6). Examples include various paintings in the Tate, see Butlin 1981: Ancient Rome: Agrippina landing with the ashes of Germanicus, exh.1839; The Dogana, S.Giorgio, Citella, from the Steps of the Europa, exh.1843; The Son of Venice going to Sea, exh.1843; Shade and Darkness and Light and Colour, exh.1843; Venice Quay, Ducal Palace, exh.1844; Whalers, exh.1845; Norham Castle, Sunrise, marked 'TB 10 44', and hence 1844 or later. John Linnell, who had earlier used Robert Davy (qv), seems to have turned to Brown from the late 1830s, for example, Sir Robert Peel, panel, 1838 (National Portrait Gallery) and The Orchard, c.1852 (Sotheby's 30 November 2000 lot 151).

Examples from the 1830s and subsequently on the work of other artists, on canvas unless stated, include Richard Rothwell's William Huskisson, c.1831 (National Portrait Gallery), James Lonsdale's James Smith, c.1835 (National Portrait Gallery), Thomas Sully's Queen Victoria, 1838 (Wallace Collection, see Ingamells 1985), Child Asleep: The Rosebud, 1841 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, see Caldwell 1994 p.357) and an unspecified portrait, 1853 (repr. Katlan 1992 p.457), James Ward's Study of Sheeps' Heads, 1836 (Tate, see Butlin 1981), Henry Johnson's John Ferneley, 1838 (National Portrait Gallery), John Martin's Coronation of Queen Victoria, 1839 (Tate, see Butlin 1981) and H.P. Briggs's Charles Kemble, 1830s (National Portrait Gallery). Thomas Creswick used Brown's panels for some of his work including Hartlepool, 1837 or later, Comme Dhuv, the Black Valley, Kerry, by 1838, and The Lower Lough Erne, c.1836-7 (all Sudley, see Morris 1996).

From the 1840s and subsequently, William Boxall's Lewis Cubitt, panel, 1845 (National Portrait Gallery), John Partridge's Sir John Forbes, c.1847 (Royal College of Physicians of London, see Gordon Wolstenholme et al., Portraits Catalogue II, 1977, p.106), John Everett Millais's Landscape, Hampstead, panel, late 1840s (Sudley, see Bennett 1988), Christ in the House of His Parents, begun 1849 (Tate, see Butlin 1981, Townsend 2004 p.97) and Return of the Dove to the Ark, 1851 (Ashmolean Museum, see Townsend 2004 p.125) and Charles Eastlake's Escape of the Carrara Family, 1849 (Tate, see Butlin 1981).

From the 1850s, Margaret Carpenter's William Smith, 1856 (National Portrait Gallery), Frederick Richard Lee's An Overshot Mill, 1854 (Christie's 23 November 2005 lot 81), Frederick Sandys's Landscape with ruin, c.1859, marked panel (National Gallery of Canada, see Elzea 2001 pp.125, 340), Stephen Pearce's The Arctic Council, 1851, Sir Edward Inglefield, exh.1853, and Robert McCormick, c.1856 (all National Portrait Gallery). Robert McCormick bears the canvas stencil, 'BROWN/ 260 OXFORD STREET/ HYDE PARK END', indicating a canvas supplied from Brown's premises in Oxford St which he took for a short time following almost 50 years business, father and son, in High Holborn.

Sources: Whitley 1928, vol.1, p.335; Katlan 1992 p.456 figs 215-7; Proudlove 1996; Muller 1994 pp.33-5.

Alexander Browne (active 1659, died 1706), The Pestle and Mortar, Long Acre, and other London addresses as below. Miniaturist, drawing master, colourman, auctioneer, print publisher and printseller.

Drawing master (to Samuel Pepys's wife among others), and author of drawing manuals (the first in 1660) and of a treatise on art (Ars Pictoria, 1669). In the second edition of Ars Pictoria, 1675 (Appendix p.39), he advertised colours and other painting materials to be had from his lodgings and from the bookseller, Arthur Tooker (qv), stating that he had been collecting pigments over 16 years: 'Because it is very difficult to procure the Colours for Limning rightly prepared, of the best and briskest Colours, I have made it part of my business any time these 16 Years, to collect as many of them as were exceeding good, not onely here but beyond the Seas. And for those Colours that I could not meet with all to my mind, I have taken the care and pains to make them my self. Out of which Collection I have prepared a sufficient Quantity, not onely for my own use, but being resolved not to be Niggardly of the same, am willing to supply any Ingenious Persons that have occasion for the same at a reasonable rate, and all other Materials useful for Limning, which are to be had at my lodging in Long-acre, at the Sign of the Pestel and Mortar, an Apothecary's Shop; and at Mr. Tooker's Shop at the Sign of the Globe, over against Ivie Bridge in the Strand.' It has been suggested that this is probably the earliest extant advertisement for artists' colours in England (see Harley 1982 p.17).

Browne published engravings from 'ye Blew Balcony' in Little Queen St near Lincoln's Inn Fields, c.1680-6, and was later an art auctioneer conducting sales at his premises in Gerrard St, Soho.

Portrait: For Arnold de Jode's engraved portait of Browne after Jacob Huysmans, 1669 (example in National Portrait Gallery), see www.npg.org.uk/live/search/portrait.asp?search=ss&sText=Alexander+Browne&LinkID=mp50191&rNo=1&role=sit).

Sources: Talley 1981 pp.185-8; see also The early history of mezzotint and the prints of Richard Tompson and Alexander Browne on the National Portrait Gallery web site.

J. Bryce Smith, see Smith

Owen Buckingham, The Swan, Bread St, London, 1681. Linen draper and canvas supplier.

Buckingham supplied canvas to Charles Beale (qv), 1681 (Talley 1981 p.284). He is probably to be identified with Sir Owen Buckingham (c.1649-1713), MP 1698-1708 and Lord Mayor of London in 1704, a self-made merchant who is known to have had interests in canvas supply and to have lived in Bread St.

Sources: Eveline Cruickshanks et al., The History of Parliament. The House of Commons 1690-1715, vol.3, 2002, pp.389-91.

Eliza Burnard, 23 Cross St, Hatton Garden, London, John Thomas Burnard, 23 Cross St 1859-1879. Brush and artists' tool manufacturers.

John Thomas Burnard (c.1825-83), hair pencil maker, age 46, and his wife, Eliza (c.1824-77), age 47, were listed at 23 Cross St in the 1871 census. E. Burnard, presumably Eliza Burnard, advertised brushes and decorating tools (Sable, Fitch, Camel Hair Pencil, and Artist's Tool Manufacturer, trade sheet, as late M.A. Styring). She would appear to be the woman of this name who died in Lambeth in 1877 and her husband in 1883 (BMD).

William Anderson Styring (c.1807-55) was listed at 23 Cross St as a camel hair pencil manufacturer, 1835-54, and was followed by his sister, Mary Ann Styring (c.1803-74), who was listed as camel hair pencil and artists' tool manufacturer 1856-8 and as artists' canvas maker 1859. Other members of the Styring family were working from 5 Cross St as early as 1818 when a pencil maker by the name of Styring was the subject of an insurance policy (Sun Insurance policy registers).

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