Dickinson Brothers
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Dickinson Brothers of Brighton & London
William Robert Dickinson (1815-1887) - Lowes Cato Dickinson (1819-1908) - Gilbert Bell Dickinson (1825-1908)
Dickinson Brothers of Brighton & London William Robert Dickinson (1815-1887), Lowes Cato Dickinson (1819-1908) and Gilbert Bell Dickinson (1825-1908) were the three eldest surviving sons of Joseph Dickinson (1780-1849), a stationer and print-seller who had a fine art business at 114 New Bond Street, London.
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[ABOVE] A portrait of Lowes Cato Dickinson (1819-1908), the artist and portrait painter who, with his brothers William and Gilbert, operated the firm of Dickinson Brothers in Brighton and London. [ABOVE] A notice published in The London Gazette announcing the dissolution of the partnership between Lowes Cato Dickinson, Gilbert Bell Dickinson and William Robert Dickinson, who were trading as "Artists and Photographers and Print Sellers and Publishers" at 107 King's Road, Brighton, and 114 New Bond Street, London, under the name of Dickinson Brothers (The London Gazette, 3rd January 1868). |
Carte-de-visite Portraits taken at the Dickinson Brothers Studios in Brighton & London |
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[ABOVE] Carte-de-visite portrait of a man seated beside an occasional table and reading a newspaper, photographed at one of the Dickinson Brothers' studios, either in Brighton or London (c1863). The credit on the reverse of this carte-de-visite reads: Dickinson Bros., Photographers of 70 King's Road, Brighton, and 114 New Bond Street, London. In 1865, Dickinson Brothers moved from No. 70 to No. 104 King's Road, Brighton. |
[ABOVE] A photographic portrait of James Watney junior (1832-1886), the eldest son of the brewer James Watney senior (1800-1884). A carte-de-visite produced by Dickinson Bros of 70 King's Road, Brighton, and 114 New Bond Street, London. The subject of the photograph was a partner in the beer brewing firm of Watney Combe & Reid. James Watney junior was elected MP for East Surrey in 1871. |
[ABOVE] Two versions of the Dickinson Brothers' trade plate as printed on the reverse of carte-de-visite portraits produced at their Brighton and London studios between 1862 and 1868. The Dickinson Brothers moved from No. 70 to No. 104 King's Road, Brighton, around 1865. | [ABOVE] A full-length portrait of a woman in profile, photographed at the Dickinson Brothers' studio (1867). The photography firm of Dickinson Bros. operated studios at 107 King's Road, Brighton, and 114 New Bond Street, London between 1865 and 1867. |
To view a selection of carte-de-visite portraits taken at the Dickinson Brothers studios in Brighton and London, click on the link below: |
Carte-de-visite Portraits by Dickinson Brothers of Brighton & London |
Lowes Cato Dickinson (1819-1908) Portrait Painter, Lithographic Artist and Photographer
Lowes Cato Dickinson
was born in Kilburn, North London, on 27th November 1819,
the fourth child and second eldest surviving son of Ann Rowden Carter
and Joseph Dickinson, a stationer, print-seller and lithographic
publisher. Lowes Cato Dickinson received his unusual first name
courtesy of his paternal grandmother Mrs Jane Lowes Dickinson. Lowes Cato Dickinson showed artistic talent at an early age and when he was in his early twenties he was producing lithographic portraits for his father's print publishing business in Old Bond Street, London. (See examples below).
Between 1850 and 1853 Lowes Cato Dickinson studied art in Italy under the patronage of Sir Robert Michael Laffan (1821-1882), an Irish military officer and engineer. Returning to England in 1853, Lowes Cato Dickinson took a studio in Portland Place, London. Whilst working as an artist in London, Lowes Cato Dickinson made the acquaintance of the artist Ford Madox Brown (1821-1893), the painter John Everett Millais (1829-1896), the artist and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882), the writer and art critic William Michael Rosetti (1829-1919) and other members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. On 15th October 1857, Lowes Cato Dickinson married Margaret Ellen Williams (born 1826, London). The couple went on to produce a number of children, at least five of whom reached adulthood - Arthur Lowes Dickinson (born 8th August 1859, Marylebone, London), Margaret May Dickinson (born 1861, Marylebone, London), Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson (born 6th August 1862, Marylebone, London), Hester Fanny Dickinson (born 1865, Hanwell, Middlesex) and Janet E. L. Dickinson (born 1866, Marylebone, London). At the time of his marriage, Lowes Cato Dickinson was an established portrait painter. Lowes Dickinson went on to exhibit over a hundred oil paintings and crayon drawings at the Royal Academy between 1848 and 1891. When the 1861 census was taken, Lowes Dickinson was residing with his wife (Margaret) Ellen and their two young children at Langham Chambers, Portland Place, St Marylebone, London. On the census return, Lowes Dickinson is described as a forty-one year old "Artist & Painter".
In 1864, Lowes Dickinson, together with his wife Margaret Ellen and their three children, Arthur, Margaret and Goldsworthy, moved to the west London district of Hanwell in Middlesex. Hanwell was located in a rural area, and according to a contemporary description was set in "beautiful and picturesque scenery", yet it had its own railway station and was situated less than 8 miles west of Paddington. Lowes Dickinson resided with his family at Spring Cottage, Hanwell. A daughter, Hester Fanny Dickinson, was born in Hanwell during the first quarter of 1865. When the census was taken six years later on 2nd April 1871, Lowes Dickinson and his wife Margaret were residing at Spring Cottage, Hanwell with their five surviving children - Arthur (aged 11), Margaret May (aged 10), Goldsworthy (aged 8), Hester (aged 6) and Janet Dickinson (aged 4). On the census return Lowes Cato Dickinson is recorded as a fifty-one year old "Artist & Portrait Painter". In 1879, Lowes Dickinson and his family moved into a newly-built house at No. 1, All Souls Place, Langham Place, Hanwell. When the census was carried out on 3rd April 1881, Lowes Cato Dickinson, described as a sixty-one year old "Artist-Painter" was up in Scotland, visiting the family of Archibald Campbell, a steel manufacturer of Barony, Lanark. At the time of the 1881 census, the artist's spouse, fifty-four year old Mrs 'Millie' Dickinson, described on the return as a "Portrait Painter's Wife", was recorded at 1, All Saints Place, Hanwell, with her three daughters. Both of Lowes Dickinson's sons were living away from home - Arthur Lowes Dickinson was an undergraduate studying Mathematics at King's College, Cambridge, and eighteen year old Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson was boarding at Charterhouse School in Godalming, Surrey.
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[ABOVE] A portrait of the artist and painter Lowes Cato Dickinson (1819-1908), a calotype photograph (Talbotype) taken around 1853 when the artist was in his early thirties.
[ABOVE] Lowes Cato Dickinson (1819-1908), photographed around 1903 by Frederick Hollyer (1838-1933). This photograph shows Lowes Dickinson when he was in his early eighties and was published in 1904. Lowes Dickinson died on 15th December 1908 at the age of 89. |
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Lowes Cato Dickinson's Composite Sporting Pictures of the 1880s
Composite Subscription Pictures Produced by Dickinsons of 114 New Bond Street, London
* The Diary of Ford Madox Brown - Edited by Virginia Surtees (1981) |
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Dickinson Brothers - Print Publishers of New Bond Street |
The Great Exhibtion of 1851: Coloured lithographs by Dickinson Brothers of New Bond Street depicting the Displays and International Galleries at The Crystal Palace |
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[ABOVE] France: French Art and Design on display at the Great Exhibition of 1851, a coloured lithographic print published by Dickinson Brothers of 114 New Bond Street, London, one of fifty-five plates published in two volumes in 1854 under the title of "Comprehensive Pictures of the Great Exhibition of 1851". | [ABOVE] United States of America: American Art and Design on display at the Great Exhibition of 1851, a coloured lithographic print published by Dickinson Brothers of 114 New Bond Street, London, one of fifty-five plates published in two volumes in 1854 under the title of "Comprehensive Pictures of the Great Exhibition of 1851". |
Walter Chappell Dickinson (1832-1916)