Martha Howell Bennett Combe ( Edwards; 1806 - 27 December 1893) was a British art collector who was influential in supporting and promoting the work of the

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

Biography

Combe was born in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, one of the five daughters of a local ironmonger. In 1840 she married

Thomas Combe Thomas Combe (1796 – 30 June 1872) was a British printer, publisher and patron of the arts. He was 'Printer to the University' at Oxford University Press, and was also a founder and benefactor of St Barnabas Church, near the Press in Jeri ...

, then a superintendent at the

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

but who became a senior partner at the Press and also very rich in the process. This allowed the couple to support several local charities and also to build their art collection. In particular they met and befriended

Charles Allston Collins ''Convent Thoughts'' (1850–51; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford) Charles Allston Collins (London 25 January 1828 – 9 April 1873) was a British painter, writer, and illustrator associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Life and work ...

and

John Everett Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...

. Although the work of the Pre-Raphaelites' was being denounced by art critics, the Combes bought several substantial examples of their work. These included ''

A Converted British Family Sheltering a Christian Missionary from the Persecution of the Druids ''A Converted British Family Sheltering a Christian Missionary from the Persecution of the Druids'' is a painting by William Holman Hunt that was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1850 and is now in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. It was a compan ...

'' by

William Holman Hunt William Holman Hunt (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolism. ...

in 1850, ''

The Return of the Dove to the Ark ''The Return of the Dove to the Ark'' is a painting by Sir John Everett Millais, completed in 1851. It is in the Thomas Combe collection at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. The painting portrays a scene from the Bible. Two of Wives aboard Noah's ...

'' by Millais in 1851 and Collins' ''

Convent Thoughts ''Convent Thoughts'' is a painting by the Pre-Raphaelite painter Charles Allston Collins which was created between 1850 and 1851. Collins sent it to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1851 where it was exhibited. The painting shows a nun contemplatin ...

'' the same year. Two years later they acquired Hunt's '' The Light of the World'' for 400 guineas. ''Dante Drewing an Angel'' by

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...

was purchased in 1855 and ''The School-Girls Hymn'' and a version of ''The Afterglow in Egypt'', both by Hunt, in 1860 and 1861. After Thomas Combe died in October 1872, Martha bequeathed most of the paintings to Oxford University who placed them with the

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of ...

. She continued to collect, for example buying Hunt's ''London Bridge by Night'', and made further donations, most notably giving ''The Light of the World'' to

Keble College Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to th ...

. Martha Combe died in 1893 and is buried in

St Sepulchre's Cemetery __NOTOC__ St Sepulchre's Cemetery is a cemetery located on Walton Street, Jericho, central Oxford, England. The cemetery was opened in 1848 as a cemetery for the Oxford parishes of St Giles, St Paul, St Michael, and St Mary Magdalen. It was ...

in Oxford beside her husband. A

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

on the wall of St Barnabas Church in Oxford commemorates the couple.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Combe, Martha 1806 births 1893 deaths 19th-century British philanthropists English philanthropists People associated with the Ashmolean Museum People from Oxford