Mrs. Edward Brown

Horace Hone learned the art of miniatures from his father, artist Nathanial Hone (English, 1718–1784). At the age of 16, in 1772, Horace began to exhibit at London’s Royal Academy. He went to Ireland in 1782 at the invitation of a patron, and soon attracted a large and fashionable clientele for his miniature likenesses.

The identity of Mrs. Edward Brown is not yet known, but it is likely that she was an upper-class woman in Dublin during the artist’s time there in the 1780s.

Hone frequently positioned high-society women against this olive-brown background, ornamented with strands of pearls in their hair and dress. His female sitters were painted with distinctively large, dark eyes and rosy cheeks.