H. Brierley, Mechanical Engineer

Painting. [H. Brierley] / HP Crichton PXT. 1866. Oil on canvas; 30x25ins/76.5x63.5cm in gilt frame. Signed and dated, brc. Inscribed on verso former stretcher: Portrait of H Brierly Mechanical Engineer. To be placed in the Patent Office Museum South Kensington. - Portrait, HL to L

This portrait formed part of the Bennet Woodcroft Bequest, which was among the founding collections of the Science Museum. Woodcroft had developed a 'National Gallery of Portraits of Inventors, Discoverers and Introducers of the Useful Arts’ combining gifts, loans and purchases of portraits, while acting as the first curator of the Patent Museum.