All about Sarah Biffin, the English miniaturist who painted without hands

HER contribution to the history of art has long been overlooked, like that of many women artists. Yet Sarah Biffin left her mark on the Victorian era with her portraits, which she painted holding her brush between her teeth due to her disability. Now, the Philip Mould & Co gallery in London is paying tribute to the artist through a major exhibition.

Visitors to "Without Hands: The Art of Sarah Biffin" will be able to admire nearly 25 works by the English painter. These include a series of self-portraits, commissioned portraits, still life works, and letters written by Sarah Biffin, all created "without hands."

This is how Sarah Biffin made most of her creations, defying the phocomelia that led her to be born with no arms or legs. This congenital malformation did not prevent her from developing a real talent for painting and sewing from a very young age.

Sarah Biffin was born in 1784 into a farming family in Somerset. She gained independence at the age of 20, after contracting herself to a certain Mr. Dukes. She then went on to perform at country fairs and shows throughout England with her impresario, who described her as the "eighth wonder" of the world.

For 15 years, crowds of spectators came to see her sew, write and paint watercolors using her mouth and shoulder.

At a fair in Edinburgh, George Douglas, the 16th Earl of Morton, asked Sarah Biffin to paint his portrait. He took the work away with him between sittings to ensure that there was no trickery involved, and later arranged for her to take painting lessons from William Marshall Craig, a painter at the prestigious Royal Academy of Arts.

Her talent now recognized, Sarah Biffin exhibited her work all over England and carried out commissions for British nobility and royalty. "Sarah Biffin was the most extraordinarily inspirational figure," explains gallery owner Philip Mould in a promotional video about the exhibition.

"She overcame such challenges -- her rural background in Somerset, the fact that she was a woman artist in an age dominated by men, and those extreme physical challenges that she transcended to become a luminary in her profession."

The "Without Hands: The Art of Sarah Biffin" exhibition was organized with the help of Alison Lapper, a contemporary artist born with the same birth defect as Sarah Biffin. Philip Mould & Co. Gallery began organizing it two years ago, following the unexpected success of a self-portrait by the Victorian artist at Sotheby's in 2019. It sold for a record £137,500, after receiving a high estimate of just £1,800.

Visitors will be able to view it, along with all of Sarah Biffin's works featured in the "Without Hands" exhibition, through December 21 in London.