Born in Boston, Mather Brown was the son of a well-known clock maker and a descendent of Cotton and Increase Mather.
He studied art with Gilbert Stuart at the age of twelve. During 1777 he traveled throughout New York and Massachusetts, selling wine and painting miniatures to acquire funds to support further study abroad. In 1780 he left for Europe, stopping in Paris before settling in London in 1781.
He subsequently received instruction from the American-born portrait and history painter Benjamin West and went on to make a name for himself as a portraitist, working in London and in such regional centers as Manchester and Liverpool. Brown depicted such notables as King George III, Thomas Jefferson, and Abigail and John Adams. He also produced historical subjects, at one point serving as the official history painter to the Prince of Wales.

Biography courtesy of Roughton Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/roughton