Mary Pownall Explained

Mary Pownall, later Mary Bromet, (1862–1937) was a British sculptor. She was active from 1890 until 1937 and was particularly associated with Watford.^[1]

Biography

Pownall was born in Leigh in Lancashire in 1862. In the 1890s she was living in Birkenhead.She studied in Frankfurt in 1896 and in Paris from 1897 to 1898 where she was taught by Jean-Baptiste Champeil and Denis Puech.^[2] She was also tutored by Auguste Rodin. Pownall exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1893 to 1899 and received an honourable mention for her work at the 1899 Exposition Universelle.^[2] She then studied in Rome from 1898 to 1901. In Rome she lived at 53b Via Margutta.^[3] Between 1897 and 1925 she regularly showed pieces at the Royal Academy in London.^[2]

In 1902 she married Alfred Bromet, a barrister, but she continued to use her maiden name for her work. From 1903 to 1931 they lived at Lime Lodge, Pinner Road in Watford. Pownall was elected an associate member of the Royal Society of British Artists in 1932.^[4] In 1935 she wrote an illustrated autobiography, "Response", under the name Mary Pownall Bromet.^[5] She died in Oxhey in Hertfordshire on 25 February 1937.

Works

• Edward Villiers, 5th Earl of Clarendon (c.1900)^[6] first mayor of Watford
• The Harpy Celaeno, Kelvingrove Art Gallery (1902)
• Love or Money (1906)
• An Intruder (1906)^[4]
• The Great Specialist (1907)
• A Ragamuffin (1907)
• A Bolshevik Communist (1923)^[4]
• An Aviator (c.1925)^[7]
• Ralph Edward Thorpe (1927)^[8] second mayor of Watford
• Three bronze figures for the Watford Peace Memorial, Watford Town Hall (unveiled 1928 at the Peace Memorial Hospital)^{[9] [10]}
• Politics (1931)
• Acquedotts Claudio, Roma
• A Sunbeam
• The Kiss
• A La Recherche de la Brebis Perdu
• Mercury
• Maiden Meditation^[11]

Notes and References

1. Watford Observer: treasures of Watford Museum's storeroom
2. Book: Editions Grund, Paris. 2006. Benezit Dictionary of Artists Volume 11 Pinchon-Rouck. 2 7000 3081 8.
3. http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib5_1210004966 Mary Pownall (Bromet)
4. Book: James Mackay. Antique Collectors' Club. 1977. The Dictionary of Western Sculptors in Bronze . 0902028553.
5. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Mary-Pownall-Bromet/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3AMary%20Pownall%20Bromet Response. An autobiography. With reproductions of sculpture by the author
6. Web site: Bonhams : Mary Pownall Bromet, British (exh. 1889-1932): A bronze figure of Edward Hyde Villiers, 5th Earl of Clarendon. 20 January 2017.
7. Web site: Bonhams : Mary Pownall Bromet (Exh 1889-1932) An Aviator 77.5 cm. (30 1/2 in.) high (including verde antico marble base). 20 January 2017.
8. Web site: Watford Museum's website: Mary Bromet 'Aldenham Ralph Alfred Thorpe' sculpture from the Watford Museum Collection of Fine Art . Watford Museum, Watford, Hertfordshire, UK . [e-mail] . 20 January 2017 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160701033606/http://sculpture.watfordmuseum.org.uk/gallery_bromet_39.asp . 1 July 2016 .
9. Watford and South West Herts in the Great War, Eugenia and Quintin Russell
10. Web site: A look at Britain's neglected professional women sculptors. 23 November 2020. Pauline Rose. Art UK. 23 November 2021.
11. Web site: Mary Pownall (Bromet) - Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951. 20 January 2017.