The art of John Henry Brown

Magazine Antiques, Nov, 2004 by Anne Verplanck

Miniatures gradually shifted from oval to rectangular; particularly during the 1820s and 1830s; although in the 1840s a significant number of extant Philadelphia miniatures are still oval and are not appreciably larger than their counterparts from the 1820s. Examples include Brown's portraits of Mrs. John Willis Ellis (Pl. XII) and himself (Pls. I, Ia). (15) The lockets of some of Brown's miniatures from the 1840s retain a space on the verso to hold a lock of hair, as is typical of earlier lockets. (16) Other sitters had their oval portraits housed in rectangular cases or in open frames (see Pl. IX), while some wore their miniature on a bracelet, (17) a practice largely discontinued after the 1780s. In 1849 Brown records: "In the evening I had the occasion to go to my case maker to order work," (18) indicating that the housings for at least some of his miniatures were custom made. These traditional housings offset the novelty of the frontal or near-frontal poses and the painting styles employed in many of Brown's miniatures.

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Brown accommodated a range of conventions and aesthetic considerations desired by his sitters. His miniature of Mrs. John Jordan Jr. (Pl. IX), for example, which probably was done at least in part from life in 1848, shows her turning slightly to the side, more closely resembling the miniature of Elizabeth Kinsey Brick (Pl. VII) attributed to Anna Claypoole Peale than the fully frontal pose adopted in many daguerreotypes or miniatures derived from daguerreotypes. Jordan's face is set back further from the picture plane than is the case in some of Brown's other extant portraits, such as his self-portrait (Pls. I, Ia). (19) The miniature of Jordan exhibits gradations of relatively strong colors, and the details of the sitter's clothing, such as her collar and the folds of her dress, are precisely rendered. The clouds behind her head are found in many early nineteenth-century miniatures, but the picture of Jordan has a smooth, glassy quality that is not apparent in earlier miniatures by other artists (see Pls. VI, VII). Moreover, her portrait fades toward the edges, like a daguerreotype.

Brown painted Sally Roberts Coles twice, in 1853 and 1855 (Pls. II, III). In both portraits her face takes up an equally small part of the overall image but is farther from the picture plane than Jordan's, produced in the previous decade. The 1855 version is also presented in a three-quarters pose, with a nearly frontal head. The 1853 version (Pl. II) is one of Brown's most highly colored: the rich texture of the black dress contrasts sharply with the multicolored shawl, and the white collar sets her face off from the green background. The facial features of Jordan and Coles (in both portraits) are delineated with seeming precision, but they lack the aura of honesty found in Brown's self-portrait or in his portrait of Ellis Lewis (1798-1871). (20)

Brown's use of proportion also became more accurate over time, probably reflecting the influence of photography, and all his miniatures from the 1850s manifest a wide range of flesh tones and individualized facial features. Coles's hair, like Jordan's, is rendered with precision and a high degree of finish. However, in terms of the sitter's placement on the picture plane, degree of frontality, and precise rendering of features and clothing, neither the early Jordan portrait nor the late Coles miniature differ appreciably in treatment. All his miniatures, however, are distinct from daguerreotypes in their use of vibrant color.