Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1981.25.202
Gallery Label:
Thomas Browne was a noted land surveyor at a time when landowners pursued improvements by adopting new agricultural techniques, including mechanization and enclosure, to maximize productivity and efficiency. This was often at the expense of the rural poor, who saw common land taken away and themselves reduced to agricultural wage laborers. This portrait shows Browne at work overseeing a ploughman on his country estate at Essendon, Hertfordshire. It was probably painted to commemorate his promotion in 1774 to Garter Principal King of Arms in the College of Arms, making him the most senior authority on heraldry in Britain. Browne wears his medal of office around his neck. Despite his position, Browne is shown quite literally as down to earth, with a spud in his hand to remove bark from felled trees and a faithful dog at his side. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016
