George Buckston Browne (1850-1945)
Reproduction
Object numberRCSSC/P 39
CollectionSpecial collections
CategorySculpture
Object nameBusts
TitleGeorge Buckston Browne (1850-1945)
DescriptionBust of George Buckston Browne by Charles Leonard Hartwell, signed, 1931.
Looking slightly to his right, he has a large moustache and wears a coat and waistcoat, with falling shirt collar and tie.
Browne was the son of Henry Browne MD, a physician, and was the fifth generation of his family to follow a career in medicine. He studied at University College London, but after taking his MRCS in 1874 he followed a career in private practice as an assistant to Sir Henry Thompson, who specialised in urology. Browne eventually started his own consultant practice and enjoyed a successful and highly profitable career. He was well-known as a host and connoisseur of the arts, and accumulated a significant private collection. After he retired from practice in 1909 he used his wealth to support numerous public benefactions, mostly in the medical field. He endowed the annual Buckston Browne dinner at the College in 1927, and 1931 donated a building and an endowment of £100,000 to create the Buckston Browne Surgical Research Farm at Downe in Kent. The farm was adjacent to the former home of Charles Darwin at Down House, which Browne had purchased for the British Association in 1928.
A number of other portraits of Browne are preserved in the College collection, as well as numerous objects and works of art from Browne's own collection which were presented by him to the College. Many of these were used to decorate the Buckston Browne Research Farm until its closure in the 1990s.
Production date 1931
Sitter/subject
presented
Physical Location
LocationNot on public display: contact museum for access conditions
Physical Information
Physical descriptionBronze, height 48cm, on a square green marble plinth 14cm high, 64cm overall.
George Bucktson Browne / FRCS. / Charles L Hartwell / 1931BUCKSTON BROWNE
