Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Browne, William (1748-1825)

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1315319Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 07 — Browne, William (1748-1825)1886Louis Alexander Fagan

BROWNE, WILLIAM (1748–1825), gem and seal engraver, obtained the patronage of Catherine II, empress of Russia, who gate him much employment and appointed him her 'gem sculptor.' In 1788 he was living in Paris, where he worked for the royal family, but in the outbreak of the revolution in the following year returned to England. He was a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy between 1770 and 1823 of classical heads and portraits. Browne's talents met with but little recognition in his own country, and the finest specimens of his art were sent to Russia. Some of his portraits of eminent persons are in the royal collection at Windsor. He died in John Street, Fitzroy Square, 20 July 1825, aged 77.

[Redgrave's Dictionary of Artists (1878); MS. Notes in British Museum.]

L. F.